For us, no trip to Melbourne is complete without catching up with friends. And it’s hard to find friends more fun to spend time with than Neil, Renee, Jotham and Noah.

On a recent trip we decided to do a fun family Christmas photo session with them. Problem: how to do a fun Christmas shoot without resorting to Santa beards, crazy hats, flashing bowties or reindeer antlers?  Together we came up with a different solution: letting them be the gifts themselves! Renee created these very fun but wildly uncomfortable costumes for them to wear and we spent a hilarious afternoon in a park watching them falling over and trying to stand up. Hailey was laughing so hard she found it very difficult to keep them all in the frame! Of course it probably would have been nice to help them, but it was too much fun just pointing and laughing.

Hope you had a good laugh at Christmas time too! Happy New Year!

Can you feel summer is nearly here? So excited! Let’s all go swimming!

But first you will need to buy some gorgeous swimwear from the super cool Billi Jade swimwear! I did this cute little promo video for them. Hope you enjoy!

To find out more head to Billi Jade on Facebook.

Happy summer!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending a weekend filming with the beautiful Amy Gill. She is a super inspiring friend I have made through doing the 365 grateful project.

Amy and I could NOT stop chatting about all the deep and meaningful things in life. We talked so much our brains hurt!

While I was there I wanted to take some photos of Amy and her delightful little family. So one morning we decided to head to the park. When I woke up and saw the fog so thick that I could not see the steps outside my hotel door… I got a little worried.

We got to the park and discovered that yes, it was still VERY foggy!

I often find myself annoyed at these times. Wishing that the weather would please help me out and make my job easier! It is an easy trap for me, wishing for things to be other then they are.

However as it happens sometimes I don’t know what is good for me.

We spent 2 hours playing around the park and taking photos. The fog did not clear one little bit! The following images are taken at the end of our play. Something about these shots I just love. I don’t think I have ever posted a blog post with just B&W photos. I love colour. I live for colour. However sometimes maybe it is good to be out of our comfort zone. Maybe it is good to be pushed to try something new. Maybe now I rather like fog and next time won’t be worried but wish for it!

Here are a couple favorite shots that feature the super clever and gorgeous Annabelle.

I am so delighted that the lovely Rowe Timson decided to hire me to photograph her lovely family. We have since become fast friends and our girls are having the time of their lives together. I am feeling super lucky to have a job like this where I meet such yummy families!! Rowe is a super talented photographer and also one of the loveliest people I have ever met!

With Rowe’s session we did a little film too!  Still photos and a little movie! We are calling these family sessions ‘Moving family portraits!’  If you’re interested in one of these sessions we have 3 spots available in November so get in touch today!!

You can see some more family movies here and here.

Family photos are so much FUN!

Actually it might be kids!! I love how with kids you can plan all you like but really my favorite  photos come from letting go and seeing what funny and cute moments they will create just being themselves!

When I catch a shot like the first photo below, it makes me so happy!

A slightly random and hilarious moment, probably happens every second day, but I love that I got to capture just the right moment to keep this fresh in these little girls memories for many years to come! I love my job!

Rachelle has the most fantastic sense of style, I loved all their outfits and the delightful combination of colour. Thanks Rachelle for choosing me to capture your gorgeous family!

This last week our youngest turned 8yrs old! It is amazing to think that our baby is so big.

Poppy is full of sparkle and fun. She is great at giving bear hugs… hence her birthday present!

While 8 seems rather big and grown up and I sometimes feel a tiny bit sad at the passing of babyhood. (No more tubby little bellies or chubby cheeks.) She is so tall and tends to tell me things like they are.

It is an honor to be her mum. I am amazed at the wonderful person who I am getting to know. I am the luckiest! Not baby but girl.

A lovely Bear girl.

You’re most likely going to ask… Where can I get my own sweet teddy bear hat?? WE LOVE these fantastic hats by Spirithoods.

Also Poppy is wearing POLKA our most favorite children’s clothing label!! GET SOME HERE!

This family could not be any more delightful!!!

I was so honoured to photograph all the genuine affection, love and fun between these guys. Rachael has been watching my work for awhile {secretly} and I was so delighted to meet her and be the lucky photographer to capture her family!

No more words! Just more family fun!

My kids don’t currently go to school and I don’t remember very fondly the times I spent in school.

However when I was asked to take photos documenting school life for 3 days, I jumped at the opportunity!

I love to photograph kids busy doing things. Parties are also a great time to capture children. I think it is so much easier to get people being themselves if they are engrossed in something or not expecting photos. It really was such a fun job!!

Central Coast Grammar was an amazing school. Everyone was so kind, helpful and polite. There are heaps of photos on their fancy new website that didn’t get to be featured here so please do check them out. If you’re looking for a fantastic school with the BEST art department and live on the Central Coast, I don’t think you could do any better! I wanted to bunk down and live in their art labs. AMAZING!! I loved loved watching all the creating going on and suddenly wished I was an art teacher! (or art student!)

Hope you enjoy looking over a few shots below.

Here is a lovely family I photographed some months back. It is amazing seeing all the beautiful relationships and love between these guys. A total delight to hang out with Ann and her family on their beautiful property.

Ann has a lovely blog and is writing about her journey to turning 60yrs old! Sometimes I feel a wave of fear about getting older but when I hang out with amazing women like Ann and Susie I sense there is something very rich and wonderful about this journey that we all must take! These women fill me with hope and I am determined to be living my life with as much spunk and sparkle in my eyes as these two!!

Ann and her husband were wonderful to photograph. I hope you enjoy their images very much! I get to photograph a lot of couples but there is something magic about a couple who have weathered life and love for many years and still look into each other’s eyes with so much love.

I am totally honoured to be doing this as my job!

I have wanted to post some personal work for ages… it seems time keeps getting away from me! I have so many things I want to do!!

However today I decided to do a little blogging on whatever I felt like! So I enjoyed looking over some of my own family photos and surprise surprise I found some cute old shots of Earnest (our great dane puppy) He has grown up so quick I couldn’t believe it!!

So hope you enjoy these happy snaps from our life with our big buddie.

If you feel like reading more about this beautiful dog and the adventure it has been owning him…you can here: 365grateful