New Jammies Make Me Smile

A few weeks ago I bought Zoe a few winter clothes and every single Bonds label had a photo of a little baby in this adorable little purple suit with red birds. After seeing it I completely fell in love and went from store to store for weeks, looking and asking for it, to no avail.

The other day I was out and was so excited to finally find it in good old Best & Less so I plonked down the money and came away with this spunky little number. I'm sure you'll agree it's all the more cute with Zoe inside it.

Trying to get photos of a zippy little babe in a very dimly lit loungeroom is not easy, but you get the idea.

Although by the end she had well and truly had enough and let me know by coming up and putting her head on my lap.

There is something very strange going on when your 1 year old has to tell you to put the toys away, it's time for bed.

You might also notice that all these photos are now watermarked. I finally decided on a name for my future photography business and created a logo. No prizes for guessing the inspiration behind my business name. I adore it. I have actually had a number of portfolio building sessions and will be blogging them soon so please do come by and visit again. I will try not to make it quite so long between posts next time.

Making The Most Of Light :: Slow Shutter Speeds

Camera's are amazing! Photography is amazing! Tonight I wandered out into the dark night to capture some beauty using slow shutter speeds. I was inspired after seeing some night shots on Punam Bean's blog (scroll down to the last two images in the post, but feel free to savour all the others as well while you're there). Punam is a huge inspiration for me and a must visit when I am doing my daily blog rounds. Some might call her an overnight success, but if you spend time reading all her blog entries from the beginning, you will see an incredible woman who has walked a long and occasionally frustrating path to bring her home where she belongs, immersed in the task of capturing beauty and light. Thanks for being so faithful to and generous with your gift Punam! You're all kinds of awesome.

Using anywhere between 1 and 30 second exposures I was able to drink enough light in through my lens that scenes, which appear almost black to the naked eye suddenly become bathed in light and colour. Here are some of the results from my little experiment. Be inspired, get out there, capture and create. Hope you enjoy!

P.S. I so want a glorious blog where I can post big pictures. The tiny posting size just doesn't do the images justice *sigh*. Anyone wanna buy me a ProPhoto Blog for Christmas?? My birthday?? Jonathan's Birthday?? A Tuesday??

A Catch Up

I can hardly believe it's been almost a month between posts, AGAIN! I guess my only excuse is that I have been busy living life and therefore have a little less time to write about it. My days are mostly spent enjoying (and occasionally just surviving) the girls and learning as much about photography as I can. Most days I am wading through photography blogs of all sorts, watching videos on anything photography related and experimenting with my own camera. The photo of Malia (above) was me experimenting with my new black backdrop in preparation for some upcoming newborn shoots. I am excited to share that I have a number of portfolio sessions booked and am looking for a few more before I take the plunge into business.

A few weeks ago I had my very first portfolio building session with someone other than Malia and Zoe. A stranger!! I was nervous, but prepared as I had worked out and practiced the set and lighting with Jonathan a few times before the actual day. Still, NOTHING could have prepared me for what happened that day. It was complete chaos. The shoot was meant to be a 1st birthday cake smash. Look this type of photography up and you will see cute photos of babies sitting in front of cakes, smiling and getting messy whilst having the time of their lives. My model, Little Miss E, was absolutely horrified at the whole idea and after about the first 30 seconds decided to make a break for it as fast she could (and she was fast). Then, every time her mama tried to put her back she either got up and left, screamed her head off or got up and left while screaming her head off. In the meantime, Little Miss E's 2 year old sister, Little Miss O screamed, wanted her mama, ran over my set and under my lights and generally gave me a heart attack the entire time. Luckily for me, I am a big believer in capturing the moment rather than creating it so I wasn't too worried. I honestly think it's better and so much more 'real' to have photos that you can look back on one day and say 'Oh remember when Little Miss E had her cake smash and cried' rather than try to create a perfect moment, only to fail and get upset about it.

The result of all the above is this:

Once we had decided to give the cake idea up for good, we went outside. Thankfully I had been given the divine notion to take some dress up clothes along, which proved to be a hit (certainly more so than the cake) so I managed to get a few nice shots of all the girls (mama included).

Looking back on the photos now I can see little evidence of the craziness that actually occurred that day, which I think is kinda nice. Those memories are already fading and what's left are the moments of joy, exploration and love, captured forever. How wonderful is photography! If you would like to see the entire set of photos from this day click here.

And as always, if you live in Penrith, NSW (or reasonable driving distance from Penrith) and would like to participate in one of my portfolio building sessions please leave me a comment and I will get back to you. I am after all walks of life at the moment, including, but not limited to maternity, newborn, children, family, couples, young adults, adults, ANYONE!! The only photography which is not free are weddings as my dear husband is already in the business, however if you are interested in wedding photography with a second shooter at no extra charge then feel free to drop me a line too.