3.3.2013 'Test Drive' screening, it's really great. I am proud of my work as stills photographer and have finally engaged again in a type of work not done since early motherhood - babies and film sets did not mix. Even though there are lots of hours involved shooting and post-production, purely narrative driven work and lots of arty chats with the producer, make it very satisfying work. © Tess Peni / Second Sight Productions

11.9.2013 Melbourne actress Pia Miranda, photographed in 2000. © Tess Peni I have been photographing all walks of life, including celebrities, for many years and have set up a little shop via Red Bubble to sell some of the classics to anyone who wishes to office/home decorate with Hollywood style B&W images of famous faces. http://www.redbubble.com/people/truelovestudios/

29.2.2013 Very relaxing... Good Friday, spent with family at home. Hope everyone is finding some time to be happy and slow down. Laze like a lioness © Tess Peni

21.2.2013 In the planning stages of another shoot with one of my favourite sitters - the extremely photogenic singer/songwriter Miranda Carey. We shot this 2011 session in Sydney's Centennial park, using available light, trying to avoid any snakes in the long grass, and fulfilling our Pocahontas fantasies © Tess Peni

25.3.2013 It is written...that I should create an Etsy shop, so I am now proud to announce it open for business! http://www.etsy.com/shop/TrueloveStudios Pictured: 'Handwritten' $25 Metallic 8x12 Original Fine Art Photographic print © Tess Peni 2013

24.6.2013 Actors Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe attend the Australian film premiere of "Man of Steel" in Sydney. © Tess Peni 2013 Images for sale via Rex Features UK http://www.rexfeatures.com/livefeed/

6.3.2013 2013: A quiet year so far...it's okay. I have lots of ideas for post-production of the last 20 years of photography, except it's such a frighteningly huge job. I just don't know how to focus. For starters I quit Facebook today. Deactivated. Here's my Flickr feed which may now get some attention instead: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flowers71/

3.1.2013 Happy Vegan New Year! Photographing Vietnamese homewares for an importer, in the home studio, trying to keep cat hair off the backdrops. http://www.sampan.com.au © Tess Peni

9.1.2013 Award-winning, Australian actor Grant Cartwright has agreed to sit for me in a dramatic shoot in the swamp (sitting was not an option, he hung from trees like an orang-utan), to be revealed in 2013, but first of all we warm up with a few moody head shots. © Tess Peni

9.3.2013 My submission to the Moran 2013 Photographic Prize. Actor Grant Cartwright on the Lane Cove River 'Exhaustion' © Tess Peni 2013 I didn't make the semi-finals but I'm glad I contributed. http://www.moranprizes.com.au/competition/2013-photographic-prize-open/semi-finalists

20.1.2013 A family at Sunset. I'm on holiday! Of course that doesn't mean leaving cameras at home. I saw this family by the water and saw a shot so I asked them to line up in height order under the tree. This seems to be my most popular shot on Flickr where I also post different works. http://www.flickr.com/photos/flowers71/ © Tess Peni

31.1.2013 Australian runner-up of 'The Voice', singer Darren Percival. At Taronga Zoo with the giraffes, to promote his forthcoming concert for the Twilight at Taronga zoo series which I love working for - always a great mix of celebrities and animals! https://www.facebook.com/twilightattaronga © Tess Peni

12.2.2013 Stepping foot again on New Zealand soil - my country of birth - for the first time in 10 years. Taking time to show my children their Maori heritage and meet some of their huge extended family. On this day, together with my kids, niece and nephew, we climbed to the top of Mount Maunganui, in Tauranga, for an exhilarating view over the Bay of Plenty. Photo by Amber Peni

15.4.2013 Love off-camera flash? I use Speedlights & Wizards. I made a tiny snoot for my flashes from matte black plastic and rubber bands, clamped around Underfoot Records main recording studio. Paintings by Sno Brewer dominate dark corners. Veteran Oz rocker from New Zealand Dave Blennerhassett plays for the photoshoot. © Tess Peni 2013

12.3.2013 At the Sydney band 'Seeder' photo session, being one with nature in the bushland behind Underfoot Records. http://www.underfootrecords.com.au Our collaborative history goes back as far as 1998 when Truelove Studios made video clips for 'Seeder', see them here: 'Fifty Bullets' http://vimeo.com/7162634 'If You Want' http://vimeo.com/7162144 © Tess Peni 2013

9.4.13 It takes two baby...this is the Truelove Studios tech dude, also my husband, his arm of the family business is called Truelove Tech http://truelovetech.com.au Apart from solving huge digital asset management issues for film & television production, he will sit in for me when I want to test lighting. Note to self: bald blokes do not require a hair light. © Tess Peni 2013

9.12.2013 Australian film producer Samantha Jennings dropped into the home studio for a little portrait session, so fresh and smiley and unafraid of the camera...we love those! See more photos of what you can do with half an hour http://smu.gs/ZNZp0v © Tess Peni 2013

4.5.2013 Spot the rookie. Learning studio lighting, in particular Profoto gear which I now love! Photographer Gary Ede (far right) spent the day imparting his wisdoms to a variety of Sydney photographers (me in the green jacket) along with the awesome staff of L&P Digital Photographic in their studio. Photo courtesy Brent Pottinger/L&P http://www.garyede.com.au http://www.lapfoto.com.au

26.5.2013 Meet 'Wanna A Cracker', a native cockatoo who can say that phrase. We had a family day trip to a local wildlife park and I took this on my iPhone whilst scratching the little love on the head. Amazing what you can achieve with an iPhone. © Tess Peni 2013

10.6.2013 NZ fur seal lazing on the rocks on the south island of New Zealand, pretty much telling me to back up a little in this photo. My brother once got trapped in his car by one, they can be huge and aggressive apparently, but I figured we had the advantage of legs. © Tess Peni 2013

7.5.2013 Studio day! Some of the looks from the studio session with singer Miranda Carey for her new album. The look was '80's' and we had a lot of fun. © Tess Peni 2013

27.6.2013 Photographing still life objects can be very peaceful work, especially in the digital era when you can tether your camera to the laptop and check the finer details of focus and exposure as you go along. In the process of creating shots for my friend's Vietnamese homewares business, I am collecting some bright and cheerful tableware making mealtimes more lovely. © Tess Peni 2013 http://www.sampan.com.au

9.7.2013 The kids spent a lot of yesterday singing "Daddy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow". So today we enjoyed a wintery mid-week visit to Taronga Zoo. I get such joy from photographing animals that I have created a gallery to sell animal images from, see here: http://smu.gs/152w5rK © Tess Peni 2013