Category Archives: Personal

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Photo-a-day: Day 2 | Baby photographer, Melbourne

2 January, 2012 – 10:20 am

{Photo-a-Day Project: A personal project that I undertake every January for an entire month taking one photo a day of my children.}

As you grow, your personalities become more distinct and refined.
Miss Mia, you are forever delicate.
You cross your legs like a lady at the breakfast table.
You rarely spill your porridge, and your manners are beautiful.
Charlie Bucket, you are still to master the art of gravity.
The floor is not safe around you.
And when you flash me that cheeky grin of yours to say you are done, I could very well eat you for breakfast myself.
You’ve both grown so much.
Yet there is still so much more room to grow.

By Kristen | Also posted in Photo A Day Project | Tagged , , | Comments (15)

Photo-a-day: Day 1 | Baby photographer, Melbourne

1 January, 2012 – 5:45 pm

{Photo-a-Day Project: A personal project that I undertake every January for an entire month taking one photo a day of my children.}

Welcome friends.
Welcome to 2012.
The most exciting and wonderful year of your life yet, and it’s only just begun.

For the fourth year in a row now, as the new year begins, so does my personal January project.
Every day in January I take a photo of my sweet babies.
My life.
Every year the collection becomes more and more precious.
As a parent, seeing your children every single day you are constantly reminded of the beauty that is in front of you.
This project encapsulates everything I hold dear about them at this time.
What we love, what we do, who we are.
And looking back on previous years only cements the importance of this project to me.
They are my heart beat, my reason to be better.

Last night we woke Miss Mia to watch the new year fireworks from our bedroom window.
Bleary-eyed she watched the lights dancing in the sky.
“I love fireworks“, she said.
Again, this morning and this afternoon she reminded us of this fact.
I see more fireworks in her future.

Enjoy, friends
x

 

By Kristen | Also posted in Photo A Day Project | Tagged , , , | Comments (16)

Year Two | Melbourne baby photographer

27 August, 2011 – 5:14 pm

Yesterday you became Two.
Two is full of brilliance, cleverness and change.
Two is feisty and independent.
Two means owies, scrapes and bumps are part of the every day.
But Two is never shy of a cuddle.
Sudden mood swings are all part of Two.
Whether you are part superhero, lion or simply following your sister’s every move, it is always done with conviction.
You are wonderful, dear Two.
What a beautiful year this will be.

Happy birthday to my beautiful two year old, Charlie boy.

(Year One can be seen here)

By Kristen | Tagged , | Comments (22)

Excuse Me | Newborn photography, Melbourne

29 July, 2011 – 8:39 am

I am currently amidst both the chaos and bliss of moving home.
It is possible that I will be without the internet for up to two weeks, and appreciate all of your kind patience during this time.
I will endeavour to have some blog posts scheduled in my absence of many amazing new souls I have had the good fortune to recently meet.
In the meantime, happy Friday, best wishes for the weekend, and see you soon.

By Kristen | Also posted in Clients, General, Melbourne, Sneak Peeks | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (3)

The Event | Newborn photography

1 July, 2011 – 8:45 am

“Each year we research photographers from around the world that we believe would be possible candidates to present at the National Conference. To make it onto the list for consideration is an achievement in itself, to make it to the short list should be considered an honor as it really signifies a high level of recognition by your peers and I am pleased to say you are on that list.”

I think I read and re-read this email in February about 1000 times.
But there it was…
Somehow, I am now a speaker at The 2011 Nikon AIPP Event, and could not.be.more.honoured.
Truly.
It is my first official public presentation on doing what I love, and I am so thrilled to be able to share this experience with some amazing other photographers at The Event.
I fully encourage everyone to come along this year; it’s going to be spectacular!
The speaker line-up is incredible, there are workshop opportunities, networking, and let’s not forget, fun to be had.
Plus, if you’re an accredited member of the AIPP, it’s absolutely the best way to earn your full 50 CPD points.
This year, it will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide from 23-26 October, 2011.
Bookings and more information can be found via the website: http://www.aipptheevent.com.au/

See you there!

 

By Kristen | Also posted in For Photographers, General | Tagged , , , | Comments (13)

Professional Photography Awards | Newborn photography, Melbourne

29 June, 2011 – 8:12 pm

We are only halfway through the year, but it’s already been a massive, but thoroughly fulfilling one.

In February this year, I flew to Las Vegas for the WPPI convention (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International).
Whilst attending, I submitted three of my newborn photography prints into the international print competition.
The awards are such an amazing opportunity for growth, for pushing yourself, for being assessed by your peers.
I was so very happy and humbled to receive three Accolades of Excellence for all of my prints (all scoring 80+/100)

In April, Victoria held its annual state photography awards (Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year awards, or VPPYs).
We have some amazing talent in Australia, and especially in our beautiful state of Victoria – photographers who are some of the best in their field internationally are based here.
I felt so very inspired to be amongst it and watching the judging process is always a favourite.
All prints are scored out of 100 – Gold Distinction is 95-100, Gold is 90-94, Silver Distinction is 85-89, and Silver is 80-84.

This is why I was so, so very humbled to have received some amazing individual print awards this year at the VPPYs (three gold awards, two silver distinctions and two silvers from 8 prints entered).
In fact, those 7 print awards resulted in me earning the title of 2011′s Victorian Creative Photographer of the Year, Victorian Portrait Photographer of the Year – Runner Up, and the overall Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year – Runner Up.
It was a huge week.
I don’t think I slept properly for days.
I was so immensely proud to be among those I considered to be the best of the best  - what an amazing honour it was, and is, for me to hold those titles.

The State awards are then followed by the National awards (Australian Professional Photography Awards or APPAs), this year held in Sydney.
Photographers are allowed to submit up to 4 prints, and this weekend I was awarded one gold award, and three silver awards (national images are below).

This year has been huge, massive, and amazing.
I am forever grateful by the reception my prints received.
What is forever humbling to me is that the moments that I get to share with my beautiful clients, all of these moments, are being recognised as worthy of awards.
I am already deeply moved by the fact that I get to do what I absolutely love and adore for a living, but to know that my clients are receiving work deemed by my peers as award worthy, leaves me incredibly speechless.
I am passionate about newborn photography, and equally passionate about having it further recognised in the years to come.
Thank you to my friends, old and new, who were there share in the excitement and who also pave their way in this industry also.
You inspire me endlessly, and I am so proud of you all
x

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A friend | Melbourne photographer

14 April, 2011 – 9:27 am

I have a friend.
Her name is Kerianne.
She is beautiful.

Some images from our time together in Las Vegas, earlier this year.
How wonderful the world is when my best friend, who lives on the other side of this great earth, still feels so close.
I treasure her, with all of my heart.
Her kindness, her generosity, her patience, her spirit.
I am so very lucky to call her friend.

By Kristen | Tagged , | Comments (21)

Photo-a-day: Day 31 | Baby photographer, Melbourne

31 January, 2011 – 11:18 am

{Photo-a-Day Project: A personal project that I undertake every January for an entire month taking one photo a day of my children.}

“Can I take a pitcha wif you today mumeeee?”, she said.
Why yes, sweetheart.
Yes, you can.
Camera held steady by me.
Shutter pressed by Miss Mia.
Direction and entertainment by Charlie Bucket.

………………………………………….

Before I finish this year’s January photo-a-day project I wanted to say one thing:
Thank you.
Thank for for being here.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, your words of love, your whispers and your smiles.
Thank you for staying even if only for a second to check in on us.
If you have been following the whole project, a part, or even if this is your first visit… thank you.
Hug your loved ones today.

x

By Kristen | Also posted in Photo A Day Project | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (42)

Photo-a-day: Day 30 | Baby photography, Melbourne

30 January, 2011 – 9:50 am

{Photo-a-Day Project: A personal project that I undertake every January for an entire month taking one photo a day of my children.}

Two years ago, I took an image of Mia in this cot.
Charlie is three months younger than Mia was when that was taken.
Now I look at him, standing in front of me, in the same cot, feeling quite nostalgic.
Both of them at the same age wake every morning with little noises, chatting to themselves as they stretch and yawn ready to start the day.
Now that Mia is older, morning routine is mostly the same.
Charlie Bucket will wake, chat to himself, wake Miss Mia up, and she will climb into his cot to play with him.
It it one of the things that I simply adore more than anything about them sharing a room.
This beautiful tangible bond they have formed between them is something I hope a part of them always shares for the rest of their lives.
I could have never imagined in the immense struggles for us to get pregnant that I would be as lucky as I am today.
Truly.
I would have never believed it.
I am thankful beyond imagination; beyond dreams.

By Kristen | Also posted in Photo A Day Project | Tagged , , , , | Comments (10)

Photo-a-day: Day 29 | Baby photographer

29 January, 2011 – 8:15 pm

{Photo-a-Day Project: A personal project that I undertake every January for an entire month taking one photo a day of my children.}


“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby.

But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

- The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

…………………………………………………………………..

I was just going to leave today’s entry with this passage, but I simply cannot without telling you why I chose it for today.
When my husband and I were married almost seven years ago, this was one of the readings we chose for our ceremony.
It meant so much then, and now when I read it and gaze with such love at these beautiful creatures we created, it’s taken a new life.
Beautiful little people who love us – even after our hair has been pulled out, one too many raspberries have been blown on soft bellies, and backs have been jumped on.
They make us real.
We have become real.
They give us purpose.
They are the true beauty of my tomorrow.

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