Monthly Archives: May 2008

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When it rains, it pours

Literally.

This weekend I’m in Brisbane. I’m sitting here typing this from the laptop in my hotel room looking outside at a very wet and miserable Brisbane. I’m supposed to be doing photoshoots all weekend and we were supposed to spend a lovely time in the Botanical Gardens near my hotel – now, it looks like the hotel will have to do!!

I was watching the news tonight for the weather report – the whole entire country is sunny this weekend apart from Brisbane (oh, maybe a shower in Perth)… of COURSE! Hopefully we can sneak an outside session between the rain. Fingers crossed!

 

Baby Thomas

“Is he a good sleeper” I asked today’s clients when I arrived.
“Not really”, they replied. “He just doesn’t sleep during the day at all”

[Fast forward 20 minutes later, I've set up, popped him down, worked my magic and...]

Yep, there’s one wide awake baby for you!!

He was a two week old DREAM – let me move him, turn him over, roll him around, move his arms and legs in and out and was quite happy to settle himself back to sleep again once we were done.

So, what’s my secret?? Well, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you… (either that, or book a newborn session with me and you’ll soon find out ;) )

That said, I did know the session wasn’t going to last much longer when I started getting photos with attitude like this…

{Naomi – tell the grandmothers they are quite correct in believing he’s a gorgeous thing – gorgeous in face and in nature! Thanks for today, and enjoy the sneak peeks. I’ll be in touch!}

Little Liam

My darling friend Tracey was pregnant with her second baby, due two days after Mia’s birthday. Mia’s birthday, and her party, came and went, with no sign of the new addition. It wasn’t until the Wednesday after that I received the call I’d be waiting for… little Liam had arrived!! All 9 pounds of newborn goodness.

Couldn’t wait to meet him – went into visit the family in hospital the next day and everyone was doing so well. Today though was extra special, as on his 7th day of getting used to this new world, he had his first supermodel newborn photography session. Here are some of my favourites:

Sleeping newborn + daddy + kiss = SO CUTE!

{Tracey and Jamie – I don’t need to tell you again how gorgeous he is – just look at his photos! What a dream boat – cluck cluck cluck!! Congratulations again, I adore him}

Double Trouble

My first visit out to Myuna Farm today – such a fantastic little spot for kidlets. Animals galore, pony rides, train rides, picnic areas, playgrounds – the clients had a ball!

I was lucky enough to meet up again with some of my favourite little boys from back in February, Adam and Jake. Little Jake had changed so much in such a short period of time since I saw him last, and little Adam was as adorable as ever (he said he remembered me, but I think he was just being polite!!)

Still as cheeky as he was the last time I saw him! ;) And look at how little Jake has grown!!

Today’s session was a double one – after I spent the morning with my boys, I met up with their friends Olivia and Zack for their own photography session. Tell my I wasn’t in my own dark eye heaven with this mob today – ahhhhh!!!

And finally – lovely Olivia! Olivia was my Mt Everest today, as it went something like this:

“Hi Olivia, nice to meet you! Are we going to have some fun today?”
“Yes”
“I think I’m going to be able to get some lovely photos of you today”
“NO!”
“Oh, you don’t want any photos taken of you?”
“NO!”
“Are you sure? I promise you we’ll have a lot of fun!”
“NO!”
“Why not?’
“BECAUSE!!”
“How about we take a photo of the two of us together first?”
“Hm, ok…”

“Can I take one of you now?”
“NO!”

Tehheheeee….!! You gotta love a girl who knows what she wants!! (Still, I won out in the end… but only JUST ;) )

{It was lovely to see you again Marina, and the kids were wonderful to work with again. Gosia, it was lovely to meet you and your family – I hope they had fun, even Olivia!!}

My new old favourite location

Just over four years ago I was married in the formal gardens at the Mansion Hotel in Werribee. The most beautifully maintained, green, lush gardens combined with one fab modern hotel made it the perfect location for us.

When Jen and I were discussing possible locations for today’s session, I suggested Werribee partly because it was a personal favourite of mine and I knew it well, but also because I knew the girls would be able to run around and enjoy themselves giving us plenty of places to explore for them. I was right!

It’s always lovely when I meet kids who are actually bursting with excitement about having their photo taken. Of course, it does make it hard to snap them out of that ‘cheese factor’ state but it’s better than having to bribe them with every trick under the sun just to get them anywhere near you!! My supermodels today were gorgeous little sisters. As soon as I saw them step out of the car in their adorable little pinafores (which I may add, TOTALLY suited our location!!! I could have died, it was so perfect!!) I wanted to get the camera out of my bag then and there, but I did contain myself long enough until we actually got inside the gardens ;)

Tell me after seeing this face below you wouldn’t give her anything she wanted?!

{Jen – three cheers to you for agreeing to come to Werribee for today’s session. The results were so worth it!! Your girls were a dream – if you’re ever out my way, and need a babysitter…!!}

Rough and Tumble

The kids from today’s session kept begging to play ‘rough & tumble’ with their parents. I tell you, it was absolutely hilarious watching them jump all over their dad and tickle him stupid.

That’s when I snapped my fave of the day:

It’s not often I’m the one being captured on camera – so how special did I feel when Sam decided to take my photo?

Yep, I agree Sam – I’m pretty funny looking…

Little Bro Jed was a heart breaker. His favourite word of the day was “Shrek” (which I can understand, as my Little Miss Mia also adores that movie too) and there was no shortage of smiles and giggles from him today!

My hats off to the parents too – it’s not easy to run around (literally) with your children all morning, but the two of you did a stirling job!!

{Enjoy the sneaky peeks Tania! Thanks for having me over in your lovely home}


Twinspire

I was so excited when I got Michelle’s phone call to do this session. “I have twin babies, a boy and a girl that I’d like to have photos taken of”… so you can imagine my excitement when I got off the phone. I couldn’t wait to get going for today’s session.

Michelle was gorgeous – such a relaxed, positive and loving mother – it was so evident from the moment I stepped into her home she was absolutely and totally head-over-heels in love with her kidlets, and could you blame her? They were completely and utterly adorable – we had smiles, and giggles and chats all day long!

Of course, being a bit older when it came time to get them to go to sleep, we didn’t get long – in fact, we only managed to get one photo of them sleeping together before one of them decided to wake (and then we played sleep tag with both of them afterwards for a good hour or so!) but in the end, that moment was all worth it.

I normally post a couple of photos for sneak peeks from a session, but I am so in love with this shot, that I don’t want to post any others! I don’t want to ruin the impact of this one!

{Michelle – make sure you give your little ones a giant kiss and cuddle from me tonight. It was such an immense pleasure spending the day with you in your home and getting all of those smiles! What a joy!}

What we did today

We danced, we twirled, we picked dandelions and blew them into the breeze…

We were shy, reserved, inquisitive and deliciously cheeky…

We laughed, and played, and giggled playing peek-a-boo behind the camera…

And finally we pondered, we observed, we learned and we were content…

{Michelle, a darling morning with your adorable kidlets. It was a pleasure to spend it with you and your family and I hope you enjoy your sneak peeks!}

Party of Three

As I keep saying, I honestly believe that I have the best job in the world – and the most stunning clients in the world as well.

I was asked by Teranne to come over and take some photos of her gorgeous little boy James in honour of him turning one recently.

Here he is looking all serious and gorgeous:

But that didn’t last very long…

James was cuteness to the extreme. Very quick on his toes, very adventurous (what am I saying… he was a typical boy!) and once he got over the stranger-danger factor and we got to know each other, he was loving his little games with me.

His big sister Jessie – ahhhhhhhh!!! A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

As soon as I spotted this chair in Teranne’s home I begged to use it in some of the kids photos outside. How could I not?! I wanted to wrap it up and take it home with me so that I could use it all the time!

And finally – Mr Max…

Yep – that was him most of the day. Getting down and dirty, and loving it!!

{Teranne, I could have stayed all day at your wonderful home with those kids of yours! I had such an amazing morning and I hope the kids enjoyed themselves too. Can’t wait to catch up with you again soon!}

It’s a small world

You have to laugh when you find yourself walking into a client’s home realising you both went to the same school and niether of you knew in advance who the other was (well, why would you I suppose, particularly now that I am married and have changed my name!). As soon as I walked in, Renee and I looked at each other and she said to me “Didn’t you go to my school??”… turns out, I did!

As they say, it’s a small world – and considering we both live on the complete opposite side of the city to where school was, it’s even funnier.

It was raining, it was pouring, it was dark and it was miserable – that didn’t stop this little man though. This is gorgeous little William:

{Renee – lovely to see you again after all this time!! Give Will’s cheeks a big smoosh from me! Enjoy your sneaky peeks}

Little Lucy

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that around three and a half months is a gorgeous age to photograph. It’s an age where babies are no longer completely newborn, but still aren’t completely mobile giving us a bit of an opportunity for us to move them around and know they’ll stay put!

If we’re lucky, we sometimes even catch a smile or two!

Today’s client was a perfect example of this – little Lucy, at three and a half months old, was such a delight. Lots and lots of yummy eye contact made her a perfect candidate for baby photography. And, to make things even better, her mum had the most gorgeous little things for her to wear (including the luscious little bonnet in the photo below)

{Shannon – I’m so pleased we were able to do this session for Lucy today! Those polka dots really suit her I think!}

My baby is now ONE

I now have to count her age in years, not months… today was hard, I had my share of tears and tantrums for both of us today! BUT, it was also a fun day, and I promised myself I would reflect on all of the wonderful things in our lives now that she isn’t a ‘baby’ anymore:

I now get kisses and cuddles, even without asking.
She can sing and sing to her heart’s content and never tires of hearing her own voice.
She swings her legs around madly when she’s sitting in her high chair waiting for food.
She’s very definite about what she likes and doesn’t like.
I can see her whole face light up when she sees me for the first time in the morning.
She’s got her own little shy and timid personality which grows day by day.
She gives the greatest belly laughs in the whole world to no one else but our dog Cleo.

Today, in honour of her birthday, she got to have her first cake – and not just a small slice mind you, she had access to the whole thing. Why not let her enjoy the moment while I sit back and document it??

(Warning: loads and loads of photos ahead – but it’s a special day so I’m sure you won’t mind!)

First, she went straight for her favourites… the strawberries!!

{Yep, two at a time mum – I’m very coordinated!}

After that – it was all in!

And this is when I started to panic realising she was heading straight for me covered in cream…

The difference two seconds can make…

And finally – the END!

If you’d had asked me two years ago would I have dreamed to have been so lucky as to be sitting here this evening writing about my gorgeous miracle’s first birthday, I would have never ever thought it possible. Yet… here I am, and here she is.

Worth every cent, pill, injection, tear and more… and I would do it all again tomorrow in a heartbeat.

One

That’s how many days are left until my baby turns… one…

I can’t believe that as of the 15th of May, this Thursday, tomorrow, I will have a one year old…

I’m not handling it well – at all, in fact – and every time I think about it I begin to cry, so I have to apologise in advance if I’m a bit tardy in replying to emails or answering my phone tomorrow.

I’ll most like be off sulking in a corner somewhere pretending it’s not happening!

Stay safe,

xx

Warning: cute kids alert!

I swear I seem to photograph all of the cutest kids in Melbourne… I do not lie. I get the bluest eyes, the blondest curls, the gigantic lashes, the cheeky grins and the belly laughs.

So when people ask me do I enjoy my job, well – it’s tough, but someone has to be there to photograph these gorgeous things:


Miss Chloe had my heart the moment I walked in the door. She was fiesty, independent, made little fuss as her brother knocked her out of the way time after time, and had a cheeky grin to die for. I mean honestly, how can you not look at that face of hers and just melt?

And Master Brayden? Adorable… one of the smartest little kids I’ve ever met. His vocabulary and sentence structure was out of this world, but the part I loved most about him was that he was devoted in his role as big brother to Chloe. He was always there to watch out for her when she got into trouble, would move her away from things that she wasn’t supposed to touch and would generally ‘mother’ her the whole time. Absolutely too cute for words!!

{Rachelle – almost finished proofing this for you, will drop you an email as soon as everything is ready to view for you!! Your kids are the reason I love doing what I do!}

Spain, France, England…

… just some of the places one of the girls from today’s session will be visiting in a couple of weeks time. I was asked to take some photos of Annabel, Eliza and their mum just before Annabel flies off for her glorious 7 month European working holiday in a fortnight.

Annabel was a riot – when I got home and was looking through the images from the session, every time I saw her grin my face would light up. She has the most loving, warm smile and it was such a pleasure to be around her. That’s why this is one of my favourite images from today of her (makes me giggle):

I couldn’t put my finger on who her sister Eliza reminded me of though. She had the most stunning green eyes that looked so amazing with the grass in the background. When I got home though, I realised she reminded me a little of Leelee Sobieski (sorry if you get that often Eliza!!)… so gorgeous.

As it always happens though, the girl started to relax a bit right as the sesson was ending, and that’s when their personalities really came out. They had me in stitches!! Here I was trying to get a nice shot of the two of them for mum… and this is what we ended up with:

All completely out of focus and movement galore, and I love them all…

{Annabel, have the most wonderful time on your trip away. Eliza, I know you’ll miss her – the photos don’t lie!! Deb – your girls are so gorgeous, you should be very proud of them!}

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