Big haul for budding photographer

Eight-year-old Dolcie Jarvis’ love of photography is paying off with the youngster already amassing 18 prizes from country shows this year.

Dolcie has followed her father Hadyn into the artform – a natural progression given she’s spent time in his Peninsula professional photographic studio since she was three days old.

“I had her in the studio seven days a week, with me, until she was about two,” Haydn explains.

“It’s all she'd ever really known before she started day care and school.”

Dolcie has been taking photos for about two years, using full-sized cameras, mobile phones and even pretending, using her dad’s vintage cameras.

“I started liking it and have kept going on and on (with it),” she explains.

“I like to take photos of animals the most.”

The Year 3 student says if she could take a photo of anyone, she would choose Mrs Moore her teacher at Mueller College last year.

Haydn enters his and Dolcie’s work in country shows, trying to cover as many as he can each year across Queensland.

At the recent Bell Show, Dolcie was in the under-16s category and won Reserve Champion and other prizes, competing against much older children.

Haydn says he doesn’t do as well as Dolcie in the competitions.

“I’ve won many awards over the years in photography, but I’ve never won a trophy. She got three at once. It’s totally fine,” he says laughing.

They are both hoping to do well at this year’s Redcliffe Show, which is on June 27, 28 and 29.

Dolcie helps Haydn on the job and is often seen by his side at community events and photo shoots for Angelico Jarvis Photography.

“Dolcie has a staff shirt because … we sponsor a lot of local groups and Sharon Alback Dance Centre Dance (SADC) is one of them. We were doing their Christmas carols show and no-one could look after Dolcie at the time,” he recalls.

“I thought I’m going suit you up and I gave her a camera, gave her the shirt and it really helped get her out of her shell and talk to people.

“She struggles sometimes communicating with people one-on-one. I said, ‘I’ll give you a dollar for every in-focus portrait you take’ and before you know it, she’s running around to all these people getting these beautiful portraits. It gave her a purpose.”

It has also been a way for her to explore the natural environment and create photos embracing a theme.

“I’m trying to teach her to look past what she sees and focus on something. It’s more concepts at the moment, but she’s doing better than I am,” he says.

Dolcie says she would like to be a photographer when she grows up.

“I love photography. It’s a lot of fun. You could take a picture of a foot or you could take pictures of tigers and you can also take photos of weddings,” she says.