Tenacious drive comes easily to Perth photographer Frances Andrijich – her hard working Croatian parents taught her early that perfection takes just a little bit longer. “I will work hard until I get it right, just like they do,” says Frances, who arrived in Australia aged four.

Frances has earned her place as one of Western Australia’s finest photographers by striving to turn out beautiful, incisive and technically fine images.

An authentic Western Australian feel pervades her images, from the tiniest fleck of rusty corrugated iron to the vast grandeur of red ochre landscapes. She’s captured the state’s most famous faces – from writer Tim Winton, actors Ernie Dingo, Hugh Jackman, Bryan Brown and Heath Ledger, to sportsmen Matt Giteau and Adam Gilchrist.

Her philosophy is simple, if exacting – put your subject in the right setting and they will muster up the magic required for a memorable shot, like the spectacular leap by actor-dancer Trevor Jamieson or Heath Ledger’s jubilant kicking-up of his heels.

Such arresting images have graced magazines, books and newspapers around Australia and the world. Frances’ pictures have regularly featured in Time Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, The West Weekend Magazine, The Age’s Good Weekend Magazine, Australian Geographic, Vogue, Marie Claire and Gourmet Traveller. She had her eighth book, Kate Lamont Food and Wine published in September 2009, and her work is held by the prestigious photographic agencies Wildlight and Photolibrary.

Frances has won numerous awards for her photography. Her pictures have appeared six times in the prestigious Fuji ACMP Photographer’s Collection. She also exhibits her work regularly, most recently: "Touching the Ground" at L&K Galleries in 2008, "Australian Characters" Scion Gallery, Culver City, Los Angeles in 2007 and "Mata Hati (The Feeling Eye) Festival of Nusantara" at The Powerhouse, Brisbane in 2007.

But fame is not a prerequisite for attracting Frances’ keen photographic eye. On the contrary, she is also drawn to the lives and pastimes of everyday people, much like her own migrant family. Father-and-son butchers stand proudly in their shop; a pair of sailors loiter at twilight down at Fremantle port, while a swimmer playfully upturns his mate in the City Beach surf.

Frances empathises for people who feel self conscious in front of the lens and has learned the trick of putting people at ease. Identical sisters Julie and Carol Dowling provide an intriguing mirror image by casually sitting down beside each other; Akubra-hatted young rodeo champs stare calmly down the lens of her camera.

Her portfolio is diverse, grown out of her ability to be versatile, and her desire for the extraordinary and includes portraits, documentaries, dance, corporate, landscapes and food and wine.

Corporate clients include Black Swan State Theatre Company, UWA Business School, Channel 9, LandCorp, West Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Tourism WA.

Wineries have become a specialty – clients include iconic Australian wine brands Cullen, Moss Wood, Leeuwin Estate, Cherubino Wines and Cape Mentelle as well as the Hardy Wines Brands in Western Australia.

Frances has documented all manner of topics on roving assignments to Moscow, Croatia, Indonesia and South Africa. But the bulk of her work focuses on the extraordinary visual sights found in Western Australia and its capital city Perth, the place this overseas-born Australian has felt blessed to call home.