S2 Eps 6 Creative Work That Lasts with Rachel Hadfield

I sit down with photographer and creative director Rachel Hadfield (https://www.rachelhadfield.com) and talk honestly about what it takes to build a long-term creative career while staying true to your life outside the work. 

Together we dig into film vs digital, access in action sports, and why community and relationships beat hype every time.
• early creative spark and being supported without being pushed
• why separate niches and accounts can protect clarity and joy
• film photography as a slower practice that trains your eye for light
• how weddings and sports work arrived through saying yes early
• turning ideas into action through learning, access and genuine relationships
• riding bikes, risk, and building life around what matters
• the pressure and logistics behind a Red Bull shoot
• Depth of Field (https://depthoffield.co.nz) and creating a supportive network for women in outdoor media
• the unseen reality behind Instagram highlights and late-night edits
• online presence, shrinking budgets, and choosing what to focus on next

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Transcript

Welcome And Big Introductions

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hey there, I'm Louis. And I'm Bridget.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to the Bolton Ink Effect Podcast, where we are navigating new horizons. Each week we're pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to build something remarkable, a business, a life, and a legacy.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

So join us as we share honest conversations about relationship, entrepreneurship, video production, and the art of building a life together in a new land.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Because sometimes the biggest risks lead to the greatest rewards. How can we help? Can I ask you a question?

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Hello folks, and welcome back to the Bolton Inc Effect Podcast where I'm your host, Louie Bolton, and it's been a busy week for me. I've had quite a few guests on the show, but today, particularly, I have someone who I'm very honored to have on the podcast. She is an incredible human being with a depth of knowledge that um beats mine hands down. She is a very well-connected, adventurous, brilliant photographer, and it's none other than Rachel Hatfield. Welcome to the studio.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

Wow, what an intro. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

It's well deserved, right? It's well deserved because I have been following you for a while, and I love what you do. Your photographs and everything about you just smack of like doing what you love with passion. And I love that. But I have a question. We were supposed to do this earlier in the week. Yeah. And something happened, and I was

The Bike Crash Night

SPEAKER_01 1:29

so like looking forward to it. And you didn't rock up.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Yeah, sorry about that. I stood you up. You stood me up, bro.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

What happened?

SPEAKER_03 1:37

Well, this I'm gonna blame the long weekend.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

But a bit of a funny story. I um I was sleeping and I I didn't put my bike. My bike lives in the living room and it just hangs on the wall. But when I put it back up the night before, it must not have gone on properly because at 1 a.m. I just heard this like huge sound. And my my daughter woke up and she's like, what smashed? And I'm like, I don't know. So we kind of like snuck out into the living room. I mean, I don't know what we're gonna do. We were like just full of adrenaline, ready to confront some intruder in my house. And luckily, straight away I saw the bike on the floor, and also it didn't damage the floor or the bike, which is the biggest bonus. But I definitely it definitely took me a while to get back to sleep after that. So yeah. I need a dog.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

All right, you need a dog. Well, you're forgiven. You're here now, you're forgiven. So I'm glad everything was alright, then there was an intruder that the bike is.

SPEAKER_03 2:31

Indeed. So thanks for having me back.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

It's my pleasure. Um, Rachel, there's so much to actually speak about. I mean, essentially, you are a creator, you are a photographer, you're a filmmaker, you're a creative director, you're a mom. Um, and the world that you operate in is as an exciting one, but it's also a hard one. So, my invitation for this conversation with you is to talk about obviously the highs, but also the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff that happens on a day-to-day basis when you're actually shooting and filming and and sitting in an edit suite trying to, you know, make those photographs look perfect for the clients and that.

Early Cameras And Creative Parents

SPEAKER_01 3:09

So, one of the first questions I've got is that you started with a 35 mil point and shoot very young, like at age eight.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

You've read my website, I love it. Good version.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

I've done the research. Yeah. I've done the research. But like most photographers talk about their like first serious camera. Yeah. But I'm curious to know of what you actually remember that you to take that you to take photos of at that age.

SPEAKER_03 3:32

So my earliest memories of a camera was my dad used to always have his cameras sitting on the like his drawers. And I just remember as a young person always being quite intrigued by that. So when I was a little bit older, they got me, I don't even know what it was, just like a plasticky point and shoot sort of situation. But I used to make little cute bags for it. And I would, everywhere I went, the camera would come with me. And I remember sort of taking weird abstract photos of things at the park and probably seagulls at the beach and all sorts of um rubbish. I don't have any of those photos, which is probably not a bad thing. But I I just remember the the camera was always a part of my life.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

My dad, my dad was a photographer, but not in the professional sense. He just loved taking photos.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

And he's So, what did he do for a living then?

SPEAKER_03 4:25

So my dad, he actually used to sell photocopiers. He had a photocopy franchise business, but he's always a he's the creative in our family. My mum, my mum isn't as much of a creative, she's she's just like a beautiful human. She's now a uh social worker and she was a pharmacist in her previous career. So yeah, so I th I think I definitely got that from dad.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Okay, so did you through you know growing up, and like you say, your dad was a creative one, or the photography for him was like a hobby. How did your folks did you find like nurture that aspect, or was it something that you were just always interested in?

SPEAKER_03 5:03

I just think they just let me run with whatever I was into. Okay, and that just happened to be cameras, and that's something I try and do with my kids as much as I'd love my daughters to ride bikes, they're just not that into it. So I like I like to just let people, you know, let them bring out their own personality. And they my parents they did that to me.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

It's a it's a it's a tough one. I mean, my my daughter, she's 15, and as a parent, it's a privilege to be a parent because it's the biggest mirror and um life rebounding off another person, reflecting your own inequalities or inabilities. But it's sometimes, you know, I find you're right. I can't push I call her Miss 15, I can't push her into anything that I didn't do. I've got to nurture that, whatever she has shining through. And it must be very a similar thing for yourself going, I just need to support, just be there. Yeah, you know, for you know for your kids, just like your parents were for you.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yeah. Okay, so you you you found that kind of creative spark and you enjoyed taking photos.

Three Instagram Accounts And Niches

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah. Fast forward to like today, where you run like three completely separate Instagram accounts. Okay, you've got and and they're very different genres of work. And a lot of photographers uh they try and have like one cohesive brand, or they say you must niche down into one sort of brand. W why have you deliberately kept them apart? And has this has this ever cost you in any area?

SPEAKER_03 6:36

I still think the advice to niche down is a good one.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Do you? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

I do. However, I mean I'm I'm 14 years deep in this career. And my wedding, so I have a wedding business, and then I have an action sports business, and then I have this sort of like third space that I'm not really sure exactly where to go with it. It started as my place to share my film photography because that was something I really loved. There was a time in my career where I thought I was going to be a fashion film photographer, but I very quickly realized that that wasn't actually an industry I wanted to work in. And it was better to keep that as my hobby. And it's it still is something I really love doing.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

So does that okay? So you've got, like you say, you've got the the mountain bike stuff, you've got the fashion, well, the the the stuff that that keeps you kind of interested

Why Film Still Matters

SPEAKER_01 7:28

in what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

How do you I mean like just the film side of things? You started in film. I don't know much about film. My first camera, I actually won in a contest, and it was a film camera. And I had to go and buy the film, and you do it, and you realize very quickly that you've got to be pretty on point with with what you're doing. So you you learn about your craft. You actually learn about what it means to actually take a good photograph rather than digital, which is just like click, click, click, click, click, click.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

So the marriage between like having film and then digital with with that third space, that must be quite sacred to you then.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

Yeah, I I just think it's I actually still enjoy all aspects of my job, but for me, film is like I love the result, I love the slowing down and the consideration of the whole process. I know this is all very cliche, but it is it is really a lovely process. And it I think it's good for anybody that shoots stills to to understand that process, and it really makes you consider light in a much different way. Film renders light, I mean, film handles bright sun better than I I think better than digital can. But yeah, it's it's just it is it is, I guess it's sacred to me, but I think it it's just more like my time because there's never generally a client when I'm shooting film, so that's just for me.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

So you will shoot, so most of your clients that you shoot for, you'll shoot digital, you won't necessarily shoot film or something. Occasionally I throw it in.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Yeah, with weddings, sometimes I do a bit of a hybrid job where I'm doing some film and some digital, but generally it's just digital in my in the work sense

Falling Into Weddings Then Sports

SPEAKER_03 9:04

for me.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

How did you get into like like obviously, you know, you've had a an amazing career, but like when did you know that this was a business? When did you know that you were not going to work a nine-to-five?

SPEAKER_03 9:18

So I it's quite funny. I kind of fell into this, and I don't think this is a normal story. I I won't go too deep into this story, but I was working in the Philippines with my mum. I took some photos of these kids playing on the street, I put them on Facebook, and this girl was like, Oh, would you like to shoot a wedding? And I'm like, Oh, a wedding. Okay. And I I literally shot one wedding and then booked six. And then I was just almost overnight, that became my job. At that time, I had an online sort of art and design store. And within about six months, I had realized, oh, hang on, this is um, this has taken over that. So I went all in on my photography business, and then the same sort of happened when I started to shoot sports. This my whole most of my career, I loved bikes, but I had never mixed the two together. Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

And they would be they were two separate very separate.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

And to be honest, I was kind of scared of sports photography. I was used to shooting the fastest subject I would shoot was a bride walking towards me.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Very different to a to a mountain biker coming over a rampage. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

It's it's a it's a slightly different skill set, and I was just no, don't want to touch it. And then I was asked to enter Deep Summer, which is the Crankworks competition, and somehow won that, which was very unexpected to everyone involved. Uh, and then again, like by accident, I sort of become a sports photographer. So my career has sort of taken some interesting turns, but I'm really happy where it is now. And also, even from this is only three and a half years I've been shooting bikes. So I am a baby in that industry. Like I acknowledge that. But even in that amount of time, I've got heaps of clarity on where I want to go and what I don't want to do. And it's it's this year is for me, it's all about trying to refine my process and who I work with and and just basically making my whole life suited to what I want to do, which is I want to do really good projects, but I also want to spend time with my family. And I just want to ride my bike as well, which I kind of lost this last six months. So okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

But Roach, you've I'm curious to know how how they came

Turning Ideas Into A Real Plan

SPEAKER_01 11:35

about. I mean, you've done the work. Is there a lot of and forgive me for saying this or asking this, but is there a lot of like manifestation or or or or or planning or pro or I know you I know you said I know you said like you fell in you fell into it because you know you took the pictures and someone saw it, and then the wedding business kind of like was there, and that's what you followed. But now, and then you wanted to keep the mountain biking separate from the photography. Yeah, you've got a successful business. And I know it keeps it take it takes it takes a lot of work. What how does that come about? How do you how for myself, like how do I get that going? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Yeah, I as much as I am a strategic thinker, that is generally guided by opportunities that present itself and I sort of just run with it.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:27

But if I was giving advice to you or anyone listening, I would, I would, if you're like me and you get a lot of ideas, because I'm my brain is a it is always active. I'm always thinking about new things I could be doing. I mean, my first step is if that's if that's you, and that's not everyone, luckily, you know, have a little ideas pen in your brain where you really just mull things over before you talk to people, before you write them down, just like have them in like I call it my like ideas pen. And I sort of sit on them for a while. And then if I decide that one needs to be let out of that holding phase, then talk, you know, talk to the people you care about that you trust.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

And then once once you you decide that, okay, I want to be a sports photographer. For example, you know, I mean, just you could you could write down a whole steps of what you need to do, but just start at the bottom. Obviously, the most obvious is learn your camera like inside and like it's your cell phone, like you know everything about it, you know. All that information is available online for free. If you know, I mean, obviously you need to be discerning with where you learn that from. And then I guess start to talk to people in that industry and and sort of gain information from them on how they got in. But ultimately, for me, everything good in my career has come from relationships I've created. And I don't do it, I don't, how do how do I say this? I don't do it in like a like I'm not trying to meet people to climb a ladder. Like I just genuinely enjoy, you know, meeting people, creating relationships, and from that good things happen.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

But also recognising the opportunities when they put in front of you and running with it, as you said, but also recognizing what's a dead end. I think yeah, it's a very important part of it, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 14:19

I think and like film is a prime example for me when I wanted so this is just before COVID. I was really keen. I loved, I had a cute little 70s A-frame. My friend Steph and I, oh you know, Steph, we were shooting weekly with we would just either approach girls on the street or our friends say, Hey, you want to come shoot with us? This is our theme.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

I remember the A-frame.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Yeah. Uh so we were shooting film and I was just loving every minute. And I was like, this is what I want to do. I want to be a, I want to be a film photographer. I want to shoot international campaigns. I did do a few really fun jobs, like I did one from Wrangler. I did some stuff that I'm really proud of, but I realized to make that a full-time thing for me, I would have to work in places I didn't really want to work.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

And also the, to be honest, the people weren't all amazing. I just realized it wasn't my world. I feel much more comfortable in the sports world. Um, but yeah, so it's about there's nothing wrong with trying something and then pivoting if it doesn't work. But it's good to to have enough intuition to know when that is a dead end. Yeah. Go somewhere else.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

But there's a self-awareness piece there, Rachel, which which I think comes from a deep understanding of knowing who you are and what you're about and what you will do and what you won't do.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

You know, and it also gets to the point I find with you know, finding out um who's who in the zoo for lack of a better word, but also following those opportunities to the point of going, I want to be able to do this and doing it in a way that's ethical and also beneficial, you know, either for yourself or for the other partner.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

And and I think you can bump heads along the way, but it's being self-aware enough, self-aware enough to know no more. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

Yeah, I think I am naturally like I like having conversations with people. So maybe it's easier for me than some to create these relationships. But all I would say is do it in a very genuine way. You're not don't only talk to people because you think you can get something out of them. That's quite gross. But yeah, it's about it's about just talking to people who are doing it and then making a plan for yourself. I I was actually the podcast you mentioned before, I was chatting about how somebody could get into sports photography. And I said, you know, start with that low-hanging fruit. And the best example I can think of that, because it's really, you know, there's there's lots of different things go into making a really great photo, but access is when you're starting one of the hardest things, you know, you don't have instant access to these athletes. Crankworks, for example, you can turn up as a spectator with your camera, you can be one meter away from where I'm shooting with a full, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

I have full access. Whereas one meter, you walk in, you got your camera, you have the same access to that photo I have, essentially. So start with that low-hanging fruit and then sort of just like work your way up, start talking to people, talk to the athletes.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

You know, they are just great advice because I'm listening to you, and I mean I'm down my down my path. So I really appreciate you sharing this, Rachel. I really do. Seriously.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Yeah, I mean, I hope it helps somebody to me.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

It's helping me already.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Uh I think we people get scared of maybe speaking to athletes because they can be intimidating, but they're actually nice. They're really nice people. Uh, and some of them they're shy themselves, and that might come across as being a bit egotistical, but mostly they're just doing their thing.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

I've got a question later that I'm gonna um ask you, ask you about that. But I I I appreciate that because I think one of the things that has that's held me back, there's a few reasons, but one of them is being just fear, just stuck in my own head of not being able to you know ask those questions. But also the business side of things, I never really learned that. I never really learned the business side of things other than I'm very good with a camera and I can obviously point it and I can work with it. But the business side I never even considered until much later on. And now I'm sitting in a situation going, I don't want to work for somebody else. I don't want to go get a job, I want to follow, I love taking photos and I love filming and I love documentary and longer form kind of documentary. It's where it's where my wheelhouse is. I love talking to people and finding out what's happening underneath the surface and telling that story. So that's up to me. So listening to you saying, you know, just do it in a genuine, genuine way is a reaffirmation for me to be able to just just go for it, just ask that person, and if it comes across genuine, it will it'll be met with the same kind of energy and same kind of respect.

Riding Bikes And Managing Risk

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Riding bikes, Rachel. Tell me about that journey because I mean, a lot of your people, you know, obviously you love riding bikes. Tell me about riding bikes. I am I'm a cyclist, I have ridden all my life, probably since I could, I think I rode a bike before I could walk. Um, and I've been through it also. I mean, I was a road road cyclist back in South Africa. I raced professionally for a while, and then I got into mountain biking, which I absolutely loved, and then my friend sort of went down the downhill route and I went in the um um cross-country route because I was just like a mountain goat and I love that. And I've got into gravel bike riding now because that's for me is the best of both worlds. And I ride a gravel bike, which is made from a very good friend of mine, James, overseas, with from craft bikes, and I absolutely freaking love it. I can't, in fact, I think I want to go ride for it. Oh, it's such a beautiful day today. It's a brilliant day for it. Tell us about riding bikes. What how did you get into it and what do you love about it? And yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

So I grew up in a surfing family. I can still remember when I was 17. My first boyfriend, he took me to the lake and it's like, what are we doing here? Like people go to the lake on a weekend, right? And they like drive in boats and stuff. I and honestly, my whole life had revolved around beach, beach, beach, beach.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Every holiday, everywhere we lived. So um, I have a surfing family. That's all that that's all that existed for me growing up. And then I actually do remember my dad took me to the Redwoods when I was young, and he took me straight up a hill, which I did not appreciate.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Of course.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

So that kind of rope bikes off for me early.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

And uh my best friend Petey, when we were, I'm gonna, I don't even know how long ago, it's probably probably like 17 years ago, he took me to from where was my first ride? I'm pretty sure it was out west in Auckland.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

He took me on one ride, and I was like, this is awesome. And then the next day, I went to, I probably went to like Evo Cycles or something. And I just I ticked up a bike. It was like a giant rain, no, giant comp. It was this old heavy downhill bike. I could barely lift it up.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Faunt gate.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

It was so, so heavy. But it was so much fun. Uh, and back then we used to ride with this bunch from out west, and we'd I'd go over and we'd do shuttles out west, and then we would do like a monthly Redwood shuttle, and it was just so much fun. But I kind of pulled back a little bit when I was shooting weddings because I would tell myself if I crash, I can't shoot broken arms.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

It's a it's a reality, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 21:30

It is, but in saying that, like you just can't think like that. No, you can't to be I mean, even as the the single income earner for my household, you know, it it all does fall on me with for my my kids. So I do have to I should think about that. But in saying that, I feel like I could shoot a wedding with a broken arm. It would be okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

I it would not surprise me if you rock up with a with your arm.

SPEAKER_03 21:54

I mean, uh two arms would not be ideal. A leg, totally not ideal.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

No. But I But at the same time, you're not doing hex.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

No, I mean I shoot on my bike.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Your bike, yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

I mean, I'm definitely risking my body. I I ride outside, I have a really amazing group of friends that we ride with, and most of the time I'm on the like outside, just just past my skill level, which I like. That's where I like to sit. But I do, I mean, I do try and be somewhat sensible because at the end of the day I'm still a mum and I also still have to work because no one else is going to pay my bills.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Look, it's uh it's an age-related thing for me. I've also got to be very careful about what I do because it takes longer to heal.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

We don't bounce like we used to.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

No, we don't, even though we think we do.

Support Networks That Keep You Going

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Rachel, how important is a support group around you and having that's those friends that are not necessarily even in the same world as you in terms of being photographers and that, but they're just friends that are a support network to help you through um the daily grind. Because I'm sure not every day is like, yes, I'm gonna go up and I'm gonna take the most amazing photos. Some days it's like, oh my lord, how am I gonna get through today?

SPEAKER_03 23:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

How important is that?

SPEAKER_03 23:03

Uh I mean, it's kind of everything. Uh I'm very, very lucky that I've always had really great parents. And I think not everyone has that. So I'm so lucky that they've always backed me. Uh, I've, you know, I've everyone around me is great. They all do amazing things themselves, which I think is, I think just you do sort of this is this is like obvious, but you you kind of become an accumulation of those people around you. So if you're around people that are positive and they're doing good things in their own, you know, genre and in their own sort of industry, it does rub off on you. And I mean, I'm 14 years deep and I still, you know, I still Google things, I still ask Chatty G multiple questions per day. I I still have the same group of photographer friends I can call on that I've had for 14 years if I've got a pricing problem. So I mean that is that is everything. You know, the people around you, they they give you the confidence, or sometimes they they need to be close enough that they can also tell you your ideas are a bit stupid, and maybe you should like discard that one, put that back in the pen, or just push it out the gate. But yeah, I think yeah, I'd be lost without my friends there. Yeah, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Well, you're very fortunate. And you've like you say, you you have curated you cu curate those those people around you. The Has project for

Red Bull Pressure And Delivering

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Red Bull. Yeah. An all women's mountain bike film. How did that come about? And what was the hardest down the shoot that nobody actually saw?

SPEAKER_03 24:42

So I was very lucky. That was my first call out for Red Bull. There's a bunch of guys, Hunt Cinema, you are probably familiar. They put my name forward, which I'm forever grateful for. Uh, I I pretty much got my in being a female for that first job, which um I'm sure some people don't love, but whatever, gotta take you wins when we can.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah, absolutely. The haters are gonna hate, eh?

SPEAKER_03 25:09

Yeah, so that was, I mean, that is right up my alley as far as I love the female-led projects. The the hunt guys are unreal. We're working with Remy, who's like an amazing trail builder. Everything about that project was just spot on. Uh, as far as like challenges on the on the project, that was actually the first time I'd shot stills on a video project. So for me, it was about learning. I like I wasn't in charge. So I was sort of sure, yeah, I was just documenting what was happening, which I quite liked and I would like to do a lot more of. But I think the challenges were uh like we're dealing with the normal stuff like weather. There's lots of people, lots of things have to come together to make that happen. I was also flying in. I think I I can't remember, this was a few years back, but I think I may have done eight, maybe seven or eight days on that project. And that's me flying in for two or three days at a time. So there was a lot of pressure on me because like I was wary of the budget of me get just physically being there. So yeah, there's a lot of pressure. It was, of course, my first job for Red Bull. Like everything was weighing on that one. Bearing in mind I've been shooting bikes for probably six months at this point.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Did it change the way you shoot that you shot? With that with feeling that added pressure, knowing that it was for Red Bull?

SPEAKER_03 26:35

Probably not. Probably not. Not but it just, I mean, I I'm always quite hard on myself.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 26:42

Uh so I'm always making sure I'm working really hard to deliver. Uh I think the fact that I'm not ever really stoked with my work probably makes me work harder, therefore getting a better result.

unknown 26:58

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Yeah. And it's it's it's a bit of a curse for us creators because it's never perfect. No. And you and you and the push is always there to go, how can I make this better? How can I do this? Even though you know you've got a great shot.

SPEAKER_03 27:10

But sometimes, sometimes I'll get a shot. I'm like, I love this. And then five minutes later I'm like, I hate this. This is sh- I could have done this different.

unknown 27:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

Blah blah blah. Yeah.

Depth Of Field And Women Behind Lens

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Look, you've you've you've co-founded a depth of field because you kept noticing that you were the only woman behind the lens. Um what's what's the specific moment or the actual or the or the shoot that you're on where that feeling became impossible to kind of ignore, where you knew that this had to come about. And please tell us about depth of field as well for the audience who don't know about it.

SPEAKER_03 27:41

Yeah. So, firstly, I'm fairly comfortable in a male environment, and that comes back to probably my surfing background. And also when I did this thing in high school called Surf Academy, by the end of the first term, I was the first female. So I spent a year with these dudes who, if you can imagine like young egotistical athletes, it was a lot. Um some of them are still my friends to this day, some are not.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Some are not, sure.

SPEAKER_03 28:13

But like I'm comfortable in that environment. That doesn't bother me. My two best friends are guys, it's easy for me. And I would so for me to show up at an event where there might be one or two female photographers, it doesn't really bother me. I I'd be more nervous that I'm underqualified as opposed to the only female. But I do know that for a lot of other females, that is quite an intimidating environment. So hail, who is the co-founder. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Patty HB, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:43

Yeah, so she's amazing. She was around in the early days of sort of ski, snow, and skate in New Zealand. She did lots of work with magazines, uh, competitions, all sorts. So she's she's a wealth of knowledge. She's amazing. And she's also the opposite personality for me, which is why we work so well together.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

Anyway, so we would always debrief after these big events, and we wanted to create a space for females to come together and create that community that is really hard to find when you are in such a niche. And it's not like it's not to say you can't have that with the guys, and we and we totally do.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

Yeah, it's not a separatist club, it's not a them thing at all. It's just a space that you are creating, a container that you are creating.

SPEAKER_03 29:27

Yeah, but I have created. And there, but there is something quite special when a bunch of girls get in a room and they get a bit silly and have a bit of fun. But yeah, so Depth of Field, we had our first event last year, which was supported by Sony, which was amazing. And we had no idea if there was even a market for this in New Zealand. Like I said, I'll turn up an event, there may be one, there may be two, or I might be the only female. And a lot of the time those females are also from overseas. So we're like, is there even girls in New Zealand that want to shoot action? And turns out there is. We had 26. It was amazing. We had girls from heaps of snow, heaps of outdoor sort of photographers, so like hiking, running, and then then this year we're opening it up to everyone in the outdoor media space. So that could be ladies that run marketing for brands in the outdoors, writers, so not just not just photographers or videographers.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Actual genre being outdoors. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

So we're we're trying to, we're trying to keep that small special feel, but we're trying to incorporate more females because the goal of this event is to create a network for these girls. So when they do have that, you know, hey, what do I charge for this? Or hey, I've got this job coming up. I need like another videographer, or I need this, I need that. We want to help create that. And and like the the main motivation for me is that I didn't realize how much I loved all the like lady stuff. Like it's so fun. I thought that's the kind of work that makes me really excited to get out of bed in the morning. So I just want to, for me, that just gives me the deepest level of satisfaction.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

You've been in the game a l a long time, you know, 14 years in, and you've created depth of field. It's an interesting question because you're giving back to the you know to the community that you didn't necessarily have when you were coming up because you were in that kind of like the guys group. So if your eight-year-old self had that kind of community, do you think you would have had a different path or or I mean maybe I think would you would you have done it sooner?

SPEAKER_03 31:39

I don't know, maybe. I I kind of I don't look back too much.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

Uh I think I do think that having the community around you will for sure progress you faster than be by yourself, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

And I think to be fair. And I'm learning that.

SPEAKER_03 31:56

Yeah, and to be fair, that could be guys and girls.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

It doesn't, it doesn't have it doesn't have to be an us or them thing at all.

SPEAKER_03 32:02

Yeah, so I think the community is essential regardless of the gender.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Okay.

The Unseen Work Behind Instagram

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Um you're shooting crankworks, you're shooting Red Bull films, weddings. I mean, how do you actually make it all work? And and Rachel, what's the version of of you that people don't see on Instagram because you're a mum and you're working, and it's like you say, it's on you to bring the bread and butter home. What's the version that we don't necessarily see?

SPEAKER_03 32:29

I mean lots. Instagram is definitely just a highlight. I I'm very deliberate with not putting my family too much on Instagram. I especially my youngest Joy, she's she's eight. She wants to be on my Instagram because she's a little performer, but she doesn't need to be. Um, so yeah, so I don't I don't put a lot of my family stuff on there. I I try and be as real as possible. I don't want to, I don't half the reason I stopped shooting fashion is because it made me feel a little bit sick that I was sort of contributing to that real that that false standard that girls and guys feel like they have to live up to.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

It's crazy, eh?

SPEAKER_03 33:13

Yeah, so it's crazy. I think, I mean, I try and be as real as possible on the internet, but let's be honest, like it is, it's it is what it is. Uh, I guess the side of me people don't see is uh there's a lot of like late nights on the couch working. There's a lot of stuff that isn't that exciting, but of course you're not gonna write that.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

It's part of the course, you're not gonna actually frame that or document that necessarily because it does give it a different kind of flavour to it. But it's the reality, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 33:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

It is the reality.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

I mean, to be fair, I don't actually I never when I'm riding my bike, I never want to stop and take photos, so I probably don't have to document that.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

I'm the same. I mean, I take my camera with and I sometimes film myself or or take a photo, but like I just want to ride.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Oh yeah, I don't, you know, if I'm having actual like full flow fun, like I never stop for that.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

To feel like flying. Yeah, pretty good.

Access, Athletes, And Shooting Style

SPEAKER_01 34:04

You describe your style as making people feel like that there's no camera there, but at something you mentioned it earlier with access to these athletes, as something like crankworks or a red bull shoot. The athletes know exactly where you are, they know where they know that you are taking photos of them. How does that how does that philos philosophy translate to those athletes performing or not performing? Because they know where you are. Because they also know the benefit of you taking a great shot of them is.

SPEAKER_03 34:37

I mean, what I'd say to that is firstly, at any sort of event of that caliber, there's like a bunch of great photographers that and they don't necessarily always know unless you have that conversation of I'm gonna be under that hip. What do you do? Like the best way to get the results is you know, stay with your ear to the ground so that you you know what they're gonna do, you know where to stand. Sometimes you floke it, but I think the result comes from being aware of what's happening in regards to like how does that affect them? I I honestly don't think they think about it too much. I think they're they're they're probably feeling their own set of nerves about what they're doing, because a lot of them are just putting everything on the line.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 35:22

So I think, I mean, for them, of course, it's important, but I actually think I'm probably very low on the consideration scale for them.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

Have you have you ever come, has it ever happened where you've taken, I mean, where you've taken a shot of of someone doing something amazing where where you've had like a like I just said, Rachel, that's incredible. Thank you very much. Please, I need you to be at the next event or anything like that. So the relationship gets built up.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

I mean, for sure, I've got great relationships with a few of the writers and brands, especially. Usually when I'm in an event, it's because I'm paid by the event. But like for example, Rampage, I'm there as a full freelancer. So I could work for an athlete or a brand. But yeah, for sure. I mean, some people I think I think at athletes like they value photos, but they I think video algorithm loves video at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

So that is more of a priority for most people, and also from the athlete's perspective, they're trying to worry about getting their funding, you know, they have to physically fly and get themselves to these events. Paying a photographer is totally not for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

So so my access is generally due to the brands having me.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Okay, I'm with you. So that's how that's that's what gets you on the ground.

SPEAKER_03 36:40

Yeah, but I guess this you could say that the brand might see my work and want that for them. My my work is different in the sense that I'm probably more people focused, sure focused than a lot of the the guys, maybe. Uh I I don't know, like it's really hard being objective about your own work. People say they can recognize my work from others. I don't the action stuff, I don't know. Like to me, I still feel like that's an area I could be much stronger at, but I'm obviously working on

Next Career Moves And Valduro

SPEAKER_03 37:12

it.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Um so you say you keep you, you know, like you say, you're you're quite new, you feel like you're a baby in the in the sports of photography world. What would you ideally like to do? Or can you see where your passion is taken taking you, specifically in that genre?

SPEAKER_03 37:26

Yeah, I I've worked out, like I've just had the busiest season I've ever had. I have not, I've barely ridden my bike in six months, which is the biggest shame because that's why I like bikes. I think I'm at a point where I want to shoot bikes, but I want to be working in an environment where I'm working with a really good team. NST, so natural selection bikes, for me is that I feel like I'm part of a team. That's the kind of environment I want to spend more time in. I do want to expand that and maybe do some other sort of like adjacent sports. But I'd also, I want to, I love the community building stuff I do for Sony. I love all that stuff. But I also, I mean, I'm I'm 40 now. I don't think I'll be shooting weddings in 10 years' time. I can't see that being a thing.

unknown 38:16

All right.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

Who knows? But I am, I'm always, I do have some other things in the kind of pipeline. I work quite closely with Valduro, which is the brand I ride for. Yes. There's maybe some stuff there I might be doing. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

So tell us more about that because that's a new brand that's come on the scene. And you've come on board as creative director now. Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about that because that's an exciting space to work in.

SPEAKER_03 38:38

Yeah, so this is just another opportunity that just sort of fell in my lap. Uh so Valduro is there's two guys in New Zealand. They designed the bike, and we've partnered with a team in China who have a frame factory. So we're also very new. The the bike has been available for a year. They've just released their second iteration of the bike. And it is actually unreal. So I was brought on early just to. I've never been part of a startup before, so it's very interesting experience. It's kind of like there's no framework for what we're doing. We're essentially making it up as we went along. Like my daughter and I did the brand guidelines. She's a designer, she's amazing, by the way.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Uh shout out to her. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:25

So we were doing, I was doing stuff outside of the scope of my normal work, but I really enjoyed that process and just to watch this brand grow.

SPEAKER_02 39:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:37

And it's it's been insane. I I actually I never read the comments. Like I went on Reddit the other day to read about somebody said, You need to read this. And it was something quite different. But I found this comment where people somebody asked, you know, what's the deal with Valdureau? And this random person who has nothing to do with the brand was saying, it's this new brand from New Zealand. From all the reports, it sounds like it's really solid, amazing build, and the the people who write it are almost evangelical. And I'm like, wow, like we kind of did that. And that is that has been the craziest thing to be a part of. Because at the start, like I was a little bit nervous getting involved with this small brand. I'm like, what if it's shit?

SPEAKER_01 40:20

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

You know, and luckily it's not.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Yeah. No, luckily it's not. But I th I also think you need to give yourself credit where credit's due in terms of yes, I hear what you're saying that the product could have been shit, but it wasn't. Yeah. There's Kibian, after all. Of course. But the the work that you put into it has also elevated that brand to something which you get those, those, those kind of comments. So kudos to yourself for actually saying, This is what I do, and I can lift it, I can elevate this to something and get it out in front of in front of people. Because often I find is what happens is there's a lot of brands out there that are brilliant, but they have a not known problem.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

So you've been able to elevate that brand and get it out there through the network and through your hard work.

SPEAKER_03 41:01

Yeah, we I mean we're still we've still got so much aspirations for that brand, and everything has been done on an absolute shoestroom.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Sure. Sure.

SPEAKER_03 41:09

But I feel like we have done a good job of sort of putting our our Kiwi IQ on it, I guess. Yep. Okay. ID, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Well, I wish you well. I mean, I I look forward to what's what's next. Yeah. And I like to write one, by the way. It's just gonna put it in.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Yeah, we we can arrange that.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

Good. I love that. Okay, we're gonna slowly start because there's there's so much, but I'm gonna slowly land this play.

Online Presence Versus Good Work

SPEAKER_01 41:32

What's something that you believed about what makes a great photographer like five years ago that you've kind of dismissed and forgotten about now that that's that has changed your perspective on photography, right?

SPEAKER_03 41:42

As in something that was important five years ago.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 41:48

That is a very good question.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

And I'll I'll share something with I'll share something for me because I got in photography much later. Um I'm a videographer or a cinematographer first. Yeah. And one of the biggest things that I had to kind of like get my head around was the splitting of my brain when it comes to taking a static image versus a moving image, which is 25 frames a second or 50 frames a second, or now whatever the latest slow-mo thing is. But it was really, really, really difficult for me to be able to marry that two. And look in the beginning of my career, someone said to me, You're either going to be a cinematographer or a photographer. That has subsequently changed based on the nature of social media and the fact that you actually need to know both. So when a client comes to me and says, I need to take photos and video, I'm like, cool, but please understand that I need to split my brain into separate, yeah. It's a separate way of thinking and a separate way of actually doing something. So for you, has there been something in the last five years that you've kind of like relearned or discarded?

SPEAKER_03 42:57

I mean, I feel like my whole career has just everything's evolving every five seconds. I guess I think just the way people promote themselves from a back in the back in the day. Back in the day, back in the day was all about a website and business cards and networking and clubs, you know, camera clubs and righty rightdy right. And all those things have a place. Maybe not business cards, but but whereas I guess now a presence online is really important.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

Okay. This is great advice. Because I'm I'm listening to what you were saying here.

SPEAKER_03 43:35

I still think those in-person relationships are core. However, it has to come alongside when you meet somebody in person and then they stalk you online. If they don't like what they see, they disregard. You could be a fantastic photographer, but if you don't look fantastic online, you you you might miss that opportunity. Okay. So I think maybe the way we promote ourselves. Has definitely changed. And to speak to what you just mentioned about being a hybrid, photographer, videographer, there is for sure lots of clients want bang for buck. They want they want everything from bang. Budgets have shrunk.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

Well, that's another discussion.

SPEAKER_03 44:14

But yeah, I think there's a really huge market for people who can do both. Shah, my daughter, she can shoot both really well.

SPEAKER_02 44:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 44:21

I can't. I I like to stay in my lane. I like to really focus on what I I want to just get really good at my craft. I don't I don't want to spread myself too thin. Although I do have aspirations for down the track being a documentary filmmaker, but that's another conversation.

SPEAKER_01 44:37

Well, you've said it.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

But yeah, so I think I think how how you exist in this world, you're more of a content creator now.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

Yeah. True.

SPEAKER_03 44:48

I don't love all of that. But that is a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 44:49

I know I don't like that word, but you're right. I mean you know it's a bit sick. But you can still you can still get good at your craft.

SPEAKER_03 44:55

You can. And I also I don't, for example, what performs well on Instagram is very different to what I consider good work. And you may have seen my post last night.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

It's so funny. I was gonna literally just bring that up with the two different posts where Yeah, so it's ironic, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Yeah. Oh, there's a spider. It's just a mate. Yeah, it's just a small one. Uh buddy. I I posted something I love. Like I I really like that shot I posted, and it didn't even it didn't even get a hundred likes. Whereas a random photo of me in a hoodie and baggy pants and just holding my camera from the side has 9,000 and some crazy amount of engagement. So it just goes to show that what is popular on the internet is not necessarily what what what a client wants or what B is what work really makes you happy to create it. So I guess that's just the internet.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

It's just it's just an internet, it's just rubbish.

SPEAKER_03 45:52

It's uh just a trash can for necessary evil.

What’s Next And Final Challenge

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Rach, what can people look forward to in the next couple of months? What have you got planned? Any projects that you want to mention?

SPEAKER_03 46:02

Well, Depth of Field is my most important project, and that's in September in Queenstown.

SPEAKER_01 46:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 46:09

If you want to learn more about that, I'll put it on I'll put it in the show notes, no problem. And then I have a really amazing year booked with work and just actual personal, personal stuff I wanted to do. I've been quite I I've been quite reserved in the past five years. I'll only travel for work, I don't take time for myself. Everything had to be very work-centric. Whereas this year I decided I I want to shoot rampage, I'm just gonna go. So I booked tickets, you know, all off my own back. I don't I don't have a client yet. I'm not too worried. I'm sure something will come about.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

You're following the process, you're just going, you're following it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:48

Yeah. So I've sort of decided that I I wanted to focus more on my high-paying commercial and then be very selective with bikes, do the stuff I really want to do. So hopefully there's some lovely rampage photos we can look forward to.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

I'm sure, I'm sure there will be. I'm sure there will be.

SPEAKER_03 47:06

It's gonna be fun. It is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

I'm very envious, actually, and and good luck with that. All the best with it. Okay. Rach, is there anything that I haven't asked you? There will be a part two, I'm sure, down the line. But is there anything that I haven't asked you, or there's an ask of the audience at the moment where you're at at this stage, what would that ask be, or what would you want to say that I haven't asked you?

SPEAKER_03 47:31

Honestly, I don't know. I think yeah, I think for me and my work, it's just this ever-evolving thing. And I I'm quite excited for where it might go. I don't I don't know where that is. I yeah, it's I think that's the exciting thing about life. You get to sort of make of it what you will. So yeah. You can you can ask me in the quest in the comment section if you have a question.

SPEAKER_01 47:56

I'll ask you in the comment section. Rachel Hatfield, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your sharing and your your your time this morning and your honesty. And I look forward to seeing what's what comes down the road and watch this space because you've inspired me to actually just get off my arse and actually get out there and do what I want to do as well. So I really appreciate that. So thank you.

SPEAKER_03 48:15

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 48:18

Can I ask you a question?

SPEAKER_01 48:24

That's a wrap for today on the Bolton Ink Effect Podcast. The world doesn't need more noise, it needs bold voices, real stories, and people willing to show up. So if something here sparked an idea, made you rethink the rules, or reminded you that you're not alone on this journey, don't keep it to yourself. Share it. Talk about it, better yet, take action. Because at the end of the day, it's not about waiting for permission. It's about showing up, doing the work, and making something that matters. Thanks for being here. Now go build, create, and keep pushing forward. We'll see you next time.