Artist Profile: Meghan Maloney

We are beyond honoured to share our 2nd Artist Profile on our blog. This time, we've been lucky enough to feature the amazing Meghan Maloney - talented businesswoman, photographer and mum. You're sure to have scrolled through some of her amazing photographs on Facebook, or have been lucky enough to grab one of her 2019 calendars (which have nearly sold out)! We wrote to Meghan to ask her to share about her life and some of her top tips for successful photography. 

Meghan Maloney somehow manages to do it all. As CFO of Evolution Cycles and an extremely talented landscape photographer, when I first saw her work I couldn't help but ask "how does she do it?". 
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Meghan is excited to announce that in 2019 she will be launching weekend photography workshops to enable her to share her expertise with others. With a driving passion for photography, it's no wonder Meghan would like you all to feel the same joy and excitement when you grab the perfect shot - while also enjoying the process which goes into it. 

To celebrate this announcement, we asked Meghan some questions about her career, her passion, and how she manages to do it all.

1. What does your ideal Sunday Routine Look like?

​"Every Sunday is different for me! Some Sundays I’m out the door while it’s still dark in the hope of capturing a sunrise and on those mornings I always look forward to coming back and sitting down to relax with my daily smoothie and coffee and often take a few minutes to look through the images I’ve taken."

"If the weather is no good or I really need to catch up on sleep from the week, Sunday is a lovely excuse for a lovely lie in and to leisurely enjoy that smoothie and coffee at a slower pace. During winter Sundays are more hectic as we have our oldest son playing football in a Waikato/Bay of Plenty wide competition so we are often out the door early travelling for the game but I love supporting him and we always try to go to games together as a family."

2. What drew you to your work as a photographer?

"When my two boys were young, I kept a family blog which allowed our extended family who live a long way away to see what we’d been up to. Writing articles for the blog and taking photos for that developed my photography skills to the point where I invested in a better camera and started branching out from just documenting our family life."

3. Why is landscape photography your favourite to shoot rather than say a portrait shot?

"I’ve always had an affinity for big sweeping landscapes and I love travelling and seeing new places so realising I was able to capture landscapes in a way that brought me joy and that others admired too was really motivational. 

As much as I love meeting up with other photographers to travel to classic NZ locations or taking my family on awesome adventures, the best moments for me are those scenes that capture my eye unexpectedly when I’m out and about on my own that I wasn’t even intending to take a photo of but I just happened to be in the right spot to capture the moment. I really love that I can shoot the exact same spot multiple times and get a completely different result each time like these mornings at Lake Karapiro."

4. Where are your favourite photo spots?
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"This is SUCH a tough question! If you’re talking NZ wide, then I love images with views of Mount Taranaki, the huge variety of photographic opportunities at Mount Cook and the incredible reflections at Lake Matheson that have to be seen to be believed."

"Locally, I love Lake Karapiro and the view from Maungakawa and the foothills of Pirongia. Oh and I’m pretty partial to the Coromandel as well!"

5. 3 Must Haves for any photography excursion

"Firstly, patience! I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been ready to come home thinking that the sunrise was a flop when all of a sudden the light changes and the scene has a magical quality that didn’t exist five minutes earlier like in the shot below at the Lavender Farm - so my advice is don’t pack up too early!"

​"Secondly, the right clothing for the occasion. It can be DARN cold being a photographer in winter and I suffer from the cold terribly as it is. But since I discovered these little disposable foot warmers you can put under your toes which keep them from turning numb after standing in one spot for a long time I’ve been much happier about being out in sub zero conditions!"

"Lastly, the right gear. To photograph waterfalls or scenes during sunrise and sunset a tripod is a must, and having filters (to even out the contrast between light and dark or to take long exposures) and a remote control for the shutter helps hugely too especially if you want to put yourself in any shots."

6. How do you manage to balance your career with your passion and hobby?

"I won't lie it's a massive juggling act - I’m very lucky to have a super understanding husband who does the lion’s share of the household tasks (including cooking and cleaning - I know he’s a keeper!) so it frees me up to concentrate on my photography in the evenings and on the weekend. I’ve seen the photography grow from just a hobby to a steady part-time job this past couple of years and more opportunities are coming my way all the time, so I really hope that I can continue to balance my role at Evo Cycles as CFO with the photography as it grows over time."

"In 2019 I’m launching weekend landscape photography workshops that will be based locally around waterfalls, lakes, beaches and capturing the night sky so I’m super excited about this new chapter in my journey and being able to share some of my skills with others who are keen to learn new skills in some great locations so keep an eye out for that!"

To check out more from Meghan, here are her social media links!
Website: www.meghanmaloneyphotography.co.nz
Instagram: www.instagram.com/meghanmaloneyphotography
Facebook: www.facebook.com/meghanmaloneyphotography

Many thanks to Meghan for allowing us to feature her. It's amazing to be able to uncover the background stories of the amazing creators in our community. Be sure to keep an eye on Meghan and her exciting future plans for 2019 by following her social accounts. 

With Warmth,