Hi, I’m Valent! I love photography. That’s me on the left.
I am an AIPP Accredited Professional Photographer and Associate of the Australian Photographic Society. I have a studio in the Eastern Suburbs Sydney.
I specialise in beloved photography for couples, pregnancy, baby, portrait, and family photography. People in love, at all stages of their lives, are so wonderful! I love to help them capture these feelings and bottle it up to enjoy later.
I truly believe everyone has something worth celebrating, right now. But often we are so busy with life, with small daily frustrations, that we focus on the wrong things. We miss what is truly important to us until it’s gone. I think that’s a terrible way to live. We help you slow down, find out what is important and rekindle that connection with the ones close to you. Taking these valuable moments of discovery, we create artwork together that let you relive and enjoy that moment every day for generations to come.
My Story
I’m sure you were looking forward to stories of being born with camera in hand and winning awards before being able to walk. Sorry, you won’t find that here. I actually had limited access to photography when I was young. My family had one camera that came out at really special events. Then I went to boarding school and owning a camera was out of the question. But I remember always being fascinated with photography, and looking at wonderful photographs from all over the world.
My first camera was an APS film point and shoot I got at uni. I got it just before going on a trip to Japan. I remember going to the library reading as much as I could about photography. I loved theory and the technical aspects. Then I visited Japan for 3 weeks and came back with 46 rolls of film. The photo shop in Japan knew me by name. I loved holding the prints and putting them into albums. My family would say how my shots looked like a postcard. They meant it as a compliment, but it left me feeling something was missing. It was picture perfect, but there was no soul in the shots, nothing that connected. What was missing was the human element, though I wouldn’t understand that for a while to come.
The woman who would later become my wife introduced me to the DSLR. I fell in love again with all aspects of photography. From animals to events to product and fashion photography, I did it all. Finally I started doing family portraiture, and as I captured the expressions and connections between people, I started seeing how they reacted to the finished photograph. This is what I was missing! It was the emotions and connection that pulled the viewer in and gave the photograph value greater than the sum of paper and ink. It was no longer a postcard you enjoyed for a few seconds then put away. It wasn’t yet another photo in your feed that you scroll past. These were photographs that clients would enjoy every day for generations to come! This is how Valent Lau Photography came about.
About Me
Apart from photography, I love snowboarding. I lived in Japan for three years, and this was my local ski field. It was 30min drive away, and open for night skiing every day until 10pm!
This is where I lived in Japan. It’s a rural town in Akita Prefecture, Northern Japan. This is an early winter day. Deep in winter the snow would be 3x as thick!
Here are my students in Japan. I was there to teach English to kids from 6 year olds to 15 year olds. They worked very hard, unlike what you see in Japanese TV Dramas. Every one of my students that entered into the regional English speech contest during those years won a prize!
And if you want a real snow experience, head to Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture. The snow cover is measured in meters (6m when I was there), the ride down the mountain was in knee-deep powder and took 50min (35min if you gun it and don’t stop on the way down)
After returning to Sydney, I was surprised to find sandboarding was very similar to snowboarding when I visited Newcastle.
Things I’m scared of? Heights! Here are some things you probably won’t see me doing again.
Let’s create beautiful photographs!
Tell us what you’re after and we’ll call you back.