Rubii Design Q&A (Part 2)

Today I'm sharing the second part of a Q&A that I did with Mel of Rubii Design. If you've just arrived, I'd love you to check out the first part here :)

Mel is a local Bendigo photographer that specialises in capturing newborns, little ones and their families. She has a beautiful gift for light filled natural photography...and also loves capturing similar moments in her own family. She accompanies these photos with a lovely and honest writing style that documents the life they share in her twice-a-year "photo a day" project. 

Where do you find ideas or things that inspire you to mix it up/try new things?

I always love to read lifestyle blogs. They may not have anything to do with photography as such, but sometimes just something someone writes, or an idea they post is enough to spark an idea and re-ignite my thinking to another level.  

Do you do any other personal projects like your photo a day?

I am just doing the ‘photo a day’ at the moment, and have decided to do it every six months.  So in January and in June each year. I love looking back and seeing the difference that 6 months makes in both my kids and my writing. It’s very intriguing to go back and look at their photos and what I’d written, to remember those moments again. I do have a few other ideas that I would love to put into progress that involves mothers and their babies, documenting this somehow in a new project, but at the moment they are just ideas running around in my head.  Hopefully one day will become something. 

Best thing about being a photographer of little ones…and most challenging thing?

Best thing is seeing a mother and her newborn baby, those first raw emotions that follow and being the one that one to capture that moment and emotion. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. Most challenging, there can be a few things… with newborns it’s if they don’t sleep or are completely unsettled.  Makes it a little difficult, and especially when the mums worry about their baby not settling.  With kids, it’s always those inquisitive two year olds that are the challenge. They want nothing more that to run and explore and do their own thing, and sometimes that can be a little tricky to photograph. Certainly keeps me on my toes.  But I do love the challenge. 

Favourite thing about being a Mum….and most challenging thing?

Oh gosh, favourite thing… there are so many.  But I think for me my most favourite thing, is that I actually am a mum. Our journey to becoming parents was a long, unexpected, extremely hard, emotionally draining road that we never thought would end with two babies in 12 months. So I feel extremely blessed just being a mother. Most challenging thing is learning to let go more often. Learning that sometimes it’s better to have a messy, toy scattered house with loads of laughter and fun, than to have a spotlessly clean and organised house, yet a heavy heart and no laughter. 

One piece of advice for anyone exploring photography & wanting to improve?

Take your time, practice as much as you can. But try to feel the photograph from your heart and not your head. Don’t try and replicate someone else’s photo, try to create your photograph that captures that emotion that you felt within you first. 

Best thing about living in Bendigo?

Love Bendigo! Have always lived here. Love that it’s a small town, but not so small (if that makes sense).  A beautiful place to raise a family. 


One of my favourite things ever is to read/write/share about creative people, and the spaces in which they create...especially if they are locals and share my love of writing and photography...which is why I've been super excited to share a little piece of Mel's story and her crazy-gorgeous talent in these two blog posts :) Thank you for letting me pester you with questions Mel! And thank you for reading :)

You can follow Rubii Design on Facebook here, and official website including blog here.

All photography on this post by Rubii Design used with the permission of Mel.