A place to call Time2Shine home

I’m Laura from Time2Shine Photography, and our first blog post will be on how we got to where we are today.

The year was 2012, and I was studying software development. February Quake rocked the city of Christchurch and our campus was closed for a few months. Still itching to study, I thought about an online course and how much I loved taking pictures of my rollies and all my nieces and nephews. A photography online course it was! Studying the passion I love made sense! This was the start of a whole new adventure.

My initial start up was Shots4Tots, but soon I was getting asked about ladies sessions and weddings. Shots4Tots was expanding before I even really started out! A name change was in order, so my bestie Alyshia and I brainstormed. We came up with a few names but one really stood out.  Time2Shine Photography, with the slogan “It’s Your Time to Shine.” It sounded fabulous, and I loved it. Everyone did!

So with that, Time2Shine Photography was formed. I soon after got myself a little studio attached to a friend’s garage. My girlfriends Krystal and Bonnie gave me a hand to give it a quick spruce of paint. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t fancy, but it was a place to call Time2Shine home for now. Especially in the winter months ahead.

Skipping forward to Spring, our friend with the studio was moving house, so back outdoor for summer. It was beautiful! We were living out in Brooklands by this time and it was a beautiful place for portraits. The scenery was very inspiring. Once Winter started to come around again, we realised that living in a wee one bedroom flat in the red zone was not enough. We needed to find a home fast.  Two Rollies, One business trying to find a new home. It wasn’t easy, and it never is. We gave up hope. We didn’t have human babies; we know they get priority over fur-babies.

We tried one last time, and that was all we needed! We found a home! We moved in and the following weekend we got to work on the master bedroom that would soon be the new studio. New carpet from the Red Zoned house that got demolished and a new fresh coat of white paint on all the walls, this time help from my Mum. Voila! A nice area for our wonderful clients. But for how long?

A couple of weeks in our house, we got a call from a family friend asking if we were interested in renting out their abandon home in the east. This house on the east had true potential. 50s style home, with an attachment added to the front of the house. Entrance from the street to these two bedrooms that lead to the house. And also the potential to buy.

How could we move in just three weeks of signing a year’s contract? Could we do that to our new landlord? We felt horrible, confused and anxious. What do we do? The house on the east sounded perfect but it needed a lot of work. We had just moved a couple of weeks ago and renovated a master bedroom for our studio!

 We spoke to our landlords, they knew it was a good idea so we found someone to take over our lease and we were on the move again! Again? Why would you do it!

Well after we cleaned up both places and moved in to our new home, again. This time on the east.  We knew we made the right decision. A large specious place to call Time2Shine home. Not only did Time2Shine Photography get another studio but also an office and separate entrance too! Some no more gaps, a fresh coat of paint and yes, our carpet from the red zoned house that we also took from our previous house. This time thanks to Mum, Kevin and Anton too!

It was a lot of work, the house wasn’t straight, so a few doors needed to be shaved down. But nothing we couldn’t work with. In June 2013 we got to have a wee opening night, it was amazing! A year in business and we have a two room place to call Time2Shine home. The hard work was worth it all.

But it didn’t end there. We got the option to buy; we had till Christmas to buy our home. Long story short, (because it is a very long story), we managed to buy it after a long rollercoaster ride. It wasn’t easy; it never is. But once coming through the storm it was totally worth every bit to see the rainbow you wake up to every morning. Our place to call home.

During Christmas 2013 prior to buying the place, we ripped out a wall (pictured to the left), and then we whipped one up when the house went on the market (I hadn’t told the landlord I had knocked the wall out! But never fear we had a builder there). We then knocked it back out when we got the all clear to actually buy it.

 Our friend Mel plastered and painted our beautiful large 6.6x4.4m studio. Tough job being a beautiful old place and a leak during the rough weather we had! Nothing ever comes easy, especially in the house of Time2Shine Photography.

Once plastered and painted we designed the studio and did the rest of the work ourselves. The hard wooden flooring clips together, and was delivered in a truck on a pallet! I was on top of the world when it arrived, what a great way to start the weekend that had been, along with our flashy new backdrop system, that had arrived that same day!

We spent three late nights after work and one Saturday morning putting the floor together ourselves with help a friend motivating and passing us boards. Our knees are bad and blood, sweat and tears went into this studio. And they were all mostly mine! Totally worth every last bit but it wasn’t finished. The floor and the beautiful painted walls. Oh My! It was amazing.

New wardrobe/storage/Makeup area was next on the list. I had an image in my head and I wanted to create it, so we set again to work. But this took time; being new home owners we had to spend wisely. Dad helped me pick up about 12 sheets for our wardrobe and it wasn’t in one hit. Each week we would get a couple more pieces and we would get a little bit further.

The start was a long bench for entertaining and to lay out all the beautiful garments for sessions.

The next step was a set of clothing racks for our ever-growing (mostly ladies and girls) wardrobe, and storage for all our gorgeous props for maternity, newborns and children’s sessions.

All the work was worth every bit. It is the most rewarding and relaxing place we’ve ever created, with the help of so many beautiful people. Words cannot say how amazing it is to have all your support. This is the place Time2Shine calls home. And our doors here are always open for you to feel at home too. Book today come see what all the fuss is about and feel all the love around you.

I hope you enjoyed our First Blog Post here at Time2Shine Photography and I thank you for taking the time to read our First Blog Post. I do apologize for it being so long, but some of the best stories are. Feel Free to comment, ask questions or leave some feedback on our first blog post!

Look forward to hearing from you

With Love
Laura. A