Faqs

Geordie McRae, owner and principal photographer of Aussie Shots, started photography when he was 14 years of age.

In 1987 he started working full time at Australian Colour Laboratories, learning all the technical and behind the scenes work that goes into the photographic process.

He attended Sydney Technical College and received his Associate Diploma of Arts (Photography) (credit) in 1991.

During this time he worked as a wedding photographer, a commercial photographer, and then as a Publicity photographer for Channel TEN Sydney and SBS Sydney.

In 1994, he went freelance and Aussie Shots was born.

He has shot for TCN Nine Sydney, Foxtel, Optus vision, and Pacific Publications. His work has been published in Vogue, Woman's Weekly, front page images for the SMH, The Telegraph and the Australian and Cover shots for TV week, to name a few.

That said, he is just as happy being involved in the less “glamorous” side of photography, shooting products from fasteners ( zippers to you and me), engine parts, an asphalt paver at 2am for industry publications, retaining walls for production reports, books and CDs for Catalogues, to Corporate officers for Annual returns.

In 1995, Geordie took over Aerial Photographic Services. This has since been absorbed into Aussie Shots. Over the years he has done aerial photography all over Sydney, and also special assignments in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Regional NSW including Orange, Dubbo and Tamworth.

The studio (located in residential North Ryde, approximately 20 minutes from Sydney CBD) has been designed to be "stress free" environment. We have an area dedicated to product photography, with studio lighting and also areas flooded with natural light for differing effects.

Clients are welcome in the studio but they can relax on the lounge and watch Foxtel, a DVD, or listen to some music while we shoot.

A working kitchen is also available.

You can take a break outside in the courtyard or on the verandah, and there is plenty of room inside on days the perfect Sydney weather is less than perfect.

The house provides many location opportunities, both inside and out.  Large north facing French doors mean available natural light style shooting is always available.

Generally speaking any digital image requires some form of post production work after capture.

This can vary from standard prepress or web sharpening and colour correction to intricate retouching and compositing.

As a good rule of thumb, for every hour spent taking the images, another hour needs to be spent in post production.

Call Aussie Shots at 02 9888 9310 give us an idea of what you are after, and you will often find we can give you a very good guide of costs and a timeframe during your inital phone call.

On more complex briefs we are happy to come and meet with you, scout the location and discuss the best time to shoot.

Then it is just a matter of choosing a time and away we go.

Often a contentious issue! So there is no confusion, on full payment of the invoice Aussie Shots will transfer the complete rights to the images over to you.

We don’t need by-lines, photo credits or print run quoters. Our desire is to make the best possible images for you, and then let you use those images to further your business.

If you use the images more than once, we are thrilled, and won’t be coming with our hand out asking for more money, because we believe in doing a good job the first time. By doing this we are confident that you will come back and use us again and again.

Full irrevocable rights to the images are passed across to you, the client on full payment of the invoice.

Short answer yes, long answer no.

With over 20 years worth of shooting we do keep a lot of images on file.

But generally we find it is more cost effective for our clients, for Aussie Shots to just shoot what they require and supply the images with full rights (see previous copyright FAQ). With stock imagery usage charges, projected audiences etc, make stock images prohibitivly expensive.

Yes, with some clients it makes more sense to pack up our lights, cameras, laptops and backgrounds and come to you.

This can be the case where a single portrait is needed of that busy executive who only has 5 minutes spare or it could involve products that are easily available at your showroom but difficult to pack and bring to our studio.

If you need professional photography, you usually have an end product in mind. A few years back this was usually a printed brochure, however now it is more likely to be a website.

In 1998, we decided to offer both web design and web hosting to our clients. This is a case of vertical integration or “do you want fries with that?”

We can offer both cost effective design, and also web hosting. The main advantage is that we can offer all these services under one roof with one point of contact. No more playing “Chinese whispers” with multiple providers.

With many years experience, Aussie Shots has worked with many graphic artists. We are more than happy to put you in touch with one of our associates.

The benefit to you is that these are people we regularly work with, and together we can guarantee your work from concept to completion.

At Aussie Shots, we are prepared to go anywhere, anytime and assist our clients to get the best out of their site, product or event.

Aussie Shots is experienced in a wide variety of styles and types of photography which means that they can cater to your needs, whatever they may be and however large or small the job.

At Aussie Shots, you are sure to get friendly, helpful advice and service. Geordie is known for his “can do” approach. He is energetic, enthusiastic and will always go out of his way to help his clients.

Our practical, realistic attitude towards copyright makes Aussie Shots pretty unique in the photographic industry. It reflects our genuine desire to work WITH our clients.

Years of experience on TV sets has trained Geordie to be able to shoot under pressure in limited timeframes. This means that shooting time is kept to a minimum, fuss is kept to a minimum and costs are kept to a minimum.

He is punctual (almost to a fault!) reliable and deadline oriented, qualities which are essential for good business relationships.

Unlike some of the “artistes” in the industry, Geordie has a solid technical background and his knowledge of every phase of production ensures the images you receive are of the highest quality.

Also unlike the previously mentioned “artistes”, Geordie is refreshingly unpretentious. He’s a “nuts and bolts” kind of guy. If you want “glam” he can do it (he’s photographed Helena Christensen, Linda Evangelista and Kate Fisher) but he’s also shot construction workers with nearly as much cleavage!

Geordie has trained his team at Aussie Shots to his level of professionalism so if his schedule does not permit him to deal with you personally, you will certainly be looked after in the same way. Nothing leaves the studio without his approval.

Aussie Shots is conveniently located in residential North Ryde, close enough to be accessible to most business areas but without parking hassles.

We look forward to assisting you with your photographic requirements in the near future.