If there’s one thing photographer Cec Tilburg will never do, it’s pretend to be something she’s not. “I’m not perfect,” she says simply. “But I’m not bad either.” For someone whose very first photo for ‘Orange City Life’ made the front page, that might sound like modesty — but it’s genuine. Cec describes herself as “just a Plain Jane who hates her own photo being taken,” yet she’s built a reputation across the Central West for capturing some of the region’s most human, heartfelt moments.

Born and raised in Orange, Cec never planned to become a photographer. “I just did it for myself and my family,” she recalls. “When my kids were little, I’d always take photos at sport — all the kids, not just mine.” Her first camera was a small Nikon film model and, like most beginners, she learned the hard way. “If you didn’t roll the film on properly, you’d think you were taking photos and there’d be nothing on it.”

It wasn’t art school or ambition that turned Cec into a professional, but sheer curiosity and thrift. “I remember getting family photos done once — it cost $700 or $800. I thought, ‘Well, I reckon I could do that.’ So I did.” She started taking portraits, developing her style through trial and error. “No one in my family was artistic. I just learned by doing.”

Her big break came unexpectedly when City Life editor Jamie Stedman asked if she’d shoot for the paper, where her daughter Lindsay was a graphic designer. “I didn’t think I was good enough,” she admits. “But he said, ‘Just go and have a try.’ So I did. First thing I did was a soccer match. I sent in 800 photos. He said, ‘We don’t need 800!’ But one made the front page.”

That thrill still hasn’t worn off. Cec has since covered everything from weddings to sport, graduations to newborn shoots, yet her passion remains the same: freezing fleeting moments in time. “It’s not a posed shot, it’s just you being you,” she says. “It’s the kiss on the cheek they don’t know you’re taking. The more natural, the better.”

One of her favourite photos was taken courtside at a basketball game: “There were major games going on, and two little girls sitting down, braiding each other’s hair. They weren’t even watching. That’s probably one of my favourite shots.”

Her images are full of connection. “I like people. I don’t like landscapes — I find them boring,” she laughs. “All you do is set up, take the shot. There’s no emotion in that.”

And emotion is what Cec’s all about. She recalls the most moving assignment of her career — a “living wake” for Yvonne ‘Toot’ Keegan, a beloved Orange local who wanted to say goodbye before she passed from cancer. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do,” Cec says quietly. “She knew she was dying and had a big celebration in her backyard. There must’ve been five or six hundred people there. Everyone wanted a photo with her. That’s what people reach for when someone dies — photos. Because they’re what’s closest and dearest to them.”

Cec chokes up telling that story, but she believes deeply in the power of photographs to keep memories alive. “You can pull your photos out and have a look, and you’ve got something nice of your family. You’re making memories.”

Some are easier than others, especially those with children who won’t sit still. “They say, ‘Never work with kids or animals — you never know what will happen!’ I just happen to work with both, and the magic that happens when you let them be themselves speaks for itself.”

But Cec still struggles with creative self-doubt. “I still get nervous. I want to do a good job. I overshoot — I take 2,700 or 2,800 photos at a wedding and then cull it down to twenty.” She laughs at walking into an unknown situation: “Sometimes it’s chaos… speeches, people eating. You just take what you can. You get what you can on the day.”

Cec’s toolkit has evolved — she now runs around with a $9,000 Nikon Z9 mirrorless camera. “One battery, one card, nine hours straight,” she says proudly of its massive capability. “I wanted a camera that could do anything from portraits to sport.” Still, she insists it’s not the gear that makes the image. “You try and get it right in-camera if you can. Otherwise, it’s a lot of editing.”

Her photos have won a few first prizes in competitions — something she mentions almost as an afterthought. She still doesn’t see herself as “successful”. “I just enjoy it,” she shrugs. “When I see the images and the families are happy — that’s the best part. And one of the best feelings is walking into a client’s home and seeing a large print of a photo I took hanging proudly on their wall. It’s moments like that that remind me why I love what I do — helping people create lasting memories.”

At home, Cec’s walls aren’t lined with awards or framed portraits of herself. “Just family photos — and the dogs — on the fridge,” she says. Ask what she’d be doing if she weren’t behind a lens, and she grins: “Probably gardening. Lots of weeds.”

For someone who spends her life making others look good, Cec has a hard time accepting praise herself. But her philosophy is simple, and it’s one every artist could learn from: “You’ve just gotta take the photo.”

Insta: cectilburgphotography