Black Sand Studio

As a family we'd never really had any 'decent', professionally done pics. In fact, even pre-kids the last ones we'd had were from our wedding... So to mark the occasion of our 20th wedding anniversary - and the fact that those years had presented us with some pretty epic challenges - we decided to remedy this! We took our time choosing our photographer - we wanted to get it right. We were not disappointed. Lianna from Black Sand was everything we could've hoped for and more. Super friendly, incredibly obliging with epic amounts of talent. We have 2 sons with special needs plus we wanted to include their grandparents. Lianna took it all in her stride. She encouraged us to make the whole experience about more that just taking photos. It was about capturing us as a family and our journey thus far, and the end result certainly did that. We couldn't be happier. If you're seeking an exceptional experience to capture your love in pictures, then look no further than Lianna and Black Sand Studio.

Lianna is amazingly talented at unobtrusively capturing life, personalities, and the beautifulness in those 'everyday moments' with a young family, that will too soon be in the past. Having this collection of photos documenting a day at home, as it is, is so special to look back on. I do not hesitate to recommend Lianna to anyone who doesn't want to forget the precious details.

Lianna managed to put my naturally shy three year old completely at ease, and captured some wonderful photos of our family that will forever remind us of these special times that are passing by oh so quickly. She was so dedicated to capturing the best photos, I wish I'd had the camera to get a shot of her waist deep in the river trying not to slip off the rocks!

Lianna is amazing! We've had several lots of family photos captured by Black Sand Studio, and we'll never go anywhere else again! She has an eye for spotting the little moments you'll want to remember for years to come, and capturing them in such an artistic way. Our kids LOVE poring over the photos and reliving the memories. We've just moved house, and I'm so stoked to have our Day in the Life photos from our previous property so that our kids will have visual memories of it to look back on. Photos with Lianna are one investment you'll never, ever regret.

Lianna is very good at her job, with quick responses and she’s also super informative about the process of what she does, and tries her best to make it work for everyone in any way she can.We signed up for a story telling album with our sons daycare and she definitely understood the assignment, these photos were the last kindy pics of my son before he goes to school - these small memories go a long way and are something our whanau will cherish!Thank you Lianna, 10x over!

Can't recommend Liana highly enough. As well as being an all-round lovely human being, she did a wonderful job documenting our youngest's 1yr celebration. She captured all the different personalities and relationships there that day, as well our daughter's energy and joy in the people and happenings around her. The photos she gave us include some of our all-time favourites.

Lianna photographed my son at Kindy, and the photos are gorgeous, a mix of him sitting looking at the camera & also observing him as he was playing and doing other activities. The class photo, with over 20 3 year olds, has everyone looking at the camera, an amazing achievement to have them all engaged! I would definitely recommend Lianna for family photos.

Lianna from Black Sand Studio went above and beyond to fit our family in for a real-life session, as we had grandparents staying and had an opportunity to get some very special family shots. She was really open and understanding about our requirements. I really appreciated the information she provided prior to the shoot and the questions that she asked, to help make it as successful as possible. We're a pretty camera nervous family, but you wouldn't know looking at the photos. She made us all feel really comfortable. As to the photos, we absolutely adore them. Our boys regularly ask to watch the photo reel and those we've had printed so far made a grandma burst into tears of joy at Christmas. Need I say more. These will be such a precious (and priceless) memory of this fleeting (and busy) time with our wee ones going forward. Thank you so much!

Lianna is so great to work with. Awesome with the kids and made us feel super comfortable too. Stunning photos. Highly recommend!

Life as a parent (especially of young children) feels like a rolling clip of tiny moments. Some you want to hold onto forever and some you might rather forget. It can be hard to step back and see the bigger story of your family and the love, laughter, tears, and bond that you share. Lianna gave us the best gift anyone could ever give us by capturing those moments and making them into a tangible thing that I can hold in my hands and sit with however long I want to. She told our story for us in such a beautiful way - making every tiny moment beautiful (even the ones that feel dreadful in the moment). Even in those tough moments - Lianna showed us the joy, connection, love, comfort, and beauty. Spending 3 hours with her capturing our story in photograph is such a energizing, soul satisfying, and FUN experience that that's what feels like the gift but THEN there's the actual gift of the photographs. Words cannot express my gratitude to her and my appreciation and awe of her talent. I could not pay her enough money to equate the gift that her time and talent has given me. She is a shining star and you will absolutely not regret a session with her. There's a 95 percent chance you'll cry when you see your photos.