A Little Milestone for Naturalee Photography: The Local Business Awards

I realised I never actually shared this properly on my website, so I thought I'd finally do it.

Naturalee Photography was nominated for the Local Business Awards 2026 in the Sole Trader category for the Maitland and Newcastle region, and I ended up being named a finalist.

Which was pretty cool, to be honest.

When you run a business by yourself, you don't really have anyone around to tell you that you're doing a good job. It's mostly just you, your laptop, about 47 tabs open, and constantly wondering whether you're doing enough.
The support i have had around me through this journey has just been so mid blowing and with every step forward im grateful for the people cheering me on.

So finding out I'd made it through as a finalist was a really nice surprise.

And then came the awards night.

I actually got to get dressed up for once (which doesn't happen very often being a toddler mum haha) and head along to the awards night with everyone else.

There were heaps of local businesses there, and it was just nice seeing so many people who are also putting everything they have into their own little businesses.

I didn't win my category, but I'm still really glad I got the experience to even be invited to attend.

I think it's easy to look at something like an awards night and think the only part that matters is whether you hear your name called at the end. But being nominated in the first place was something I was genuinely proud of.

Naturalee Photography is just me.

There's no big team behind it. No office full of people. It's me photographing the sessions, answering the emails, editing the galleries, updating the website, doing the social media, sorting out the admin and trying to remember everything else that comes with running a business.

And I actually really love it.

The photography side is obviously the reason I started, but over the years I've realised how much I enjoy the people side of it too.

I get to meet families when they're expecting a new baby, photograph kids who are absolutely determined to make the session as chaotic as possible, document weddings, work with local businesses and generally be invited into some pretty special moments in people's lives.

That's the part that makes all the other stuff worth doing.

So no, I didn't come home with an award.

But I did get to sit in a room full of other local business owners and realise that this little business I've built had made it there too.

And that's something I'm pretty proud of.

A very belated little celebration for Naturalee Photography — finalist in the Local Business Awards Sole Trader category for Maitland and Newcastle.

And a big thank you to everyone who's supported me along the way. Whether you've booked a session, recommended me to someone, shared my work or simply followed along, it really does make a difference.

I'm very lucky to be doing this.