White Locket Photography

White Locket Photography based in Cambridge NZ, available Waikato & beyond


Authentic, Heartfelt Newborn, Portrait & Wedding Photography


Capturing Moments you never want to forget

A memory is a photograph taken by the heart to make a special moment last forever.

25/08/2026

SAVE THE DATE!

Cambridge, our sell-out Mini Sessions are coming back!

10th October 2026

These sessions are always incredibly popular, so if you don’t want to miss out, make sure you’re on the Priority List.

Priority List families will be the first to know when bookings open ❤️

Join the Priority List here: https://www.whitelocket.co.nz/cambridge-mini-sessions/

18/08/2026

Couldn’t resist creating a gif of Tovi's cute Toesies.

Welcome to the world Tovi🌷Congratulations Richelle Watts
17/08/2026

Welcome to the world Tovi🌷

Congratulations Richelle Watts

17/08/2026

Sneak peek of sweet little Tovi 🤍

I had a cute new mattress for my little newborn bed that I’d been waiting to try out, and Tovi was the perfect little model for it.

I also tried a new style of wrapping that leaves those teeny tiny toes peeking out and I think I’m a little bit obsessed. Just look at them! 🥹

Tovi was an absolute angel throughout her session, so peaceful and content, and she made creating something a little different so easy.

I can’t wait to share more from her beautiful gallery, but for now, here’s a little peek at this sweet girl 🤍

14/08/2026

Sneaky peek behind the scenes before a newborn session starts 🥰

Well… this happened. 🥹I’m not quite sure I’ve fully processed this year's Iris yet.I entered 10 images into the 2026 NZI...
11/08/2026

Well… this happened. 🥹

I’m not quite sure I’ve fully processed this year's Iris yet.

I entered 10 images into the 2026 NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards.

ALL 10 RECEIVED AWARDS.

🥇 1 GOLD
✨ 2 Silver Distinctions
🤍 5 Silvers
🥉 2 Bronzes

10 images. 10 awards. A 100% award rate.

And then, somehow, there was more.

I was named a FINALIST for 2026 New Zealand Family Photographer of the Year. 🥹

This one means an incredible amount to me.

Family is such a strong and fiercely competitive category, and I found myself standing alongside some truly incredible photographers whose work I have so much respect for.

To have my work considered amongst theirs was a pretty surreal feeling.

But as incredible as the ribbons and finalist announcement are, this Iris meant so much more to me than awards.

Some of these photographs were created for my beautiful clients. Fleeting, unposed moments at weddings, brand new babies, mothers and families trusting me with pieces of their stories.

Others came from a much more personal place. Images about motherhood, pregnancy loss, postpartum depression, whakapapa, strength, vulnerability and the things we carry that aren't always visible from the outside.

And then there was my GOLD. 🥇

An image I created five years ago as part of my Mana Wahine series.

Not long after, life looked very different. I became unwell, photography took a back seat and that image sat quietly with me through a chapter I never expected.

This year, recovered and creating again, I finally put it in front of the Iris judges.

GOLD.

I don't think I'll ever forget seeing that result.

Entering Iris is terrifying. You're putting work that means something to you in front of some of New Zealand's most respected photographers and essentially saying, "Here it is, tell me what you think."

You hope they'll see what you saw.

You hope they'll feel what you were trying to say.

This year, they did.

And I'm so bloody proud.

Proud of the awards. Proud to have been a finalist. But perhaps most of all, proud of the journey that brought me back here.

To every family who has trusted me with their babies, their weddings, their vulnerability and their stories, thank you. These photographs wouldn't exist without you.

And to the version of me all those years ago who didn't know when, or even if, she'd get back here…

We made it. 🥰❤️🙏

2026 NZIPP IRIS PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

🥇 1 Gold
✨ 2 Silver Distinctions
🤍 5 Silvers
🥉 2 Bronzes
🏆 Finalist, New Zealand Family Photographer of the Year

Silent Battle.Some images are beautiful.Some are meant to make you feel something.This one was always the latter for me....
11/08/2026

Silent Battle.

Some images are beautiful.

Some are meant to make you feel something.

This one was always the latter for me.

Silent Battle is about postpartum depression. About trying desperately to keep it all together when inside, you're barely holding on.

To be the perfect mum.
To be grateful.
To be beautiful.
To look like you've got this.

All while feeling absolutely exhausted.

Everything in this image was intentional. The beautiful dress, the grey colour, the makeup, the styled hair that is a little rough around the edges, the perfect baby safely in her arms held perfectly. From the outside, at first, she looks like the picture of motherhood we're so often shown.

But then you look at her eyes.

For me, that's where the real story is.

The exhaustion. The heaviness. The feeling of giving every last piece of yourself to this tiny person you love beyond measure, while quietly wondering how much of yourself you have left.

And then there's the tear.

Because you can love your baby more than anything in the world and still struggle. You can be incredibly grateful and still feel overwhelmed. You can look like you're coping while fighting a battle nobody else can see.

I called this image Silent Battle, and it received a Silver Distinction at the 2026 NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards.

I'm incredibly proud that the judges saw and connected with the story I was trying to tell.

Sometimes the eyes say what a mother can't. 🤍

2026 NZIPP Iris Awards | Silver Distinction

GOLD!!!!Five years ago, I created this image as part of a personal series I called Mana Wahine.Not long after, life chan...
11/08/2026

GOLD!!!!

Five years ago, I created this image as part of a personal series I called Mana Wahine.

Not long after, life changed. I had a baby and then became seriously unwell, photography took a back seat, and this image quietly sat with me through a chapter I never expected.

Five years later, here I am. Recovered, behind my camera, creating again, and finally putting this image in to be judged.

And it received GOLD!

I don't think I could have anticipated just how powerfully that moment would land.

This image has always represented motherhood, whakapapa, nourishment, connection and the strength of wāhine. But after everything that has happened in the five years since I created it, somehow it carries even more meaning for me now.

Perhaps this image just had to wait for its time.

To finally see it recognised with a Gold Award at the 2026 NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards was incredibly emotional.

Some images grow more meaningful with time.

This one certainly did.

2026 NZIPP Iris Awards | GOLD 🥇

A Mother’s Touch. 🤍This wasn't posed. It wasn't planned. It happened in an instant.In the middle of a wedding day, this ...
11/08/2026

A Mother’s Touch. 🤍

This wasn't posed. It wasn't planned. It happened in an instant.

In the middle of a wedding day, this little girl reached for her mother, looking for the reassurance that only Mum could give.

Her mother's hand gently stroking her face. Her little hand resting against Mum's leg. And all the while, her eyes stayed fixed straight on me.

There was something about her gaze that stopped me. So much feeling in such a fleeting moment. Comfort, vulnerability, trust and the quiet reassurance of knowing Mum is right there.

These are the moments I’m always watching for at weddings. The ones that happen between the moments you're expecting to photograph. No direction, no posing, just instinctively raising the camera before the moment disappears.

I called this image A Mother’s Touch, and I was incredibly proud to see it receive a Silver Distinction at the 2026 NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards.

A tiny moment that lasted only seconds, preserved forever. 🤍

2026 NZIPP Iris Awards | Silver Distinction

15 years we’ve waited for you. 🤍There are some photographs that carry so much more than what you can see.This was one of...
11/08/2026

15 years we’ve waited for you. 🤍

There are some photographs that carry so much more than what you can see.

This was one of them.

A long-awaited baby. A mother carrying years of hope, waiting and love. I wanted to create something that honoured not only pregnancy, but everything that came before this moment.

I entered this image into the 2026 NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards, where it received a Silver Award.

Knowing that a panel of some of New Zealand’s most respected photographers saw something in this image means so much to me.

But more than anything, I’ll always remember the story behind it.

Some babies are loved for a lifetime before they ever arrive. 🤍

2026 NZIPP Iris Awards | Silver

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