Little Models

These too gorgeous girls came out on a photo shoot to help friends of their family with their photo shoot, by entertaining them and showing them how to pose. They were very good at both, so of course I couldn't resist photographing them too!
They loved the camera and getting their photos taken, and it showed.
It's always a real treat to photograph people that love being in front of a camera, they look so relaxed and felt so special, like a wee movie star or model and I realized how wonderful it was for the confidence of young children to have all the attention of the camera and feel that special kind of feel that a photo shoot can give.
Big sister had just got new contact lenses and was enjoying not having glasses so this was indeed what she needed for a wee confidence boost. And it really tickled my heart to hear that she told her mother on her way home that day, that she would like to be a model when she grew up :) It showed how relaxed she was with our wee shoot and how special I had made her feel, and that is beautiful, and their photographs I think reflect just how much they enjoyed themselves and how comfortable they were with me. That I love, I want people to enjoy the whole experience, not just the finished product, but to embrace the day and come away feeling,well, rather special.
And these too were rather special, and a real joy,

and eventually little brother even felt comfortable enough to join in.... oh joy! it was fun!!!!

What a fantastically fun day we had! I just love just how relaxed they are with the camera and having their photos taken and how much fun we all had!
Thank-you for sharing your day with me :)

Mummy LOVE

What a great time we all had on this shoot in Hagely Park here in Christchurch, a warm early Autumn day with great light and colours for family photography.
Mothers Day is coming up! and these guys were showing a lot of 'Mummy love' you could see the closeness and feel the love and there is nothing quite like 'Mummy love' getting Mummy hugs or a kiss on a hurt. The warmth and safe feeling you get from your mothers embrace and watching these guys all interact was a real treat for me and getting to capture it was amazing!

Mum soon became the prop for this family photography session as no one wanted to lay on the ground, but were more than happy to be supported and cushioned by their Mum, who I must say was more than happy to play portable seat for the day :) and what a fantastic prop She made and how apt after all we are here to support and prop the little ones up every now and then :)

There were lots of cuddles and kisses on this sweet wee Autumn day and Mum made the best seat in the house or should I say park.
This is a special bond and it's always a delight to see the closeness and richness of family, thanks for a great day guys and for sharing your love
xxx

With Summer at a close,( though I think most would ask did we have a summer this year?) I thought I would start the new blog with some of the highlights from my summer. Spending time with my wee muses. This particular shoot was inspired by a desire to go out to the jetty Sir Peter Jackson used in one of his films.
An old couch sat out on the Jetty and was the perfect seat against a beautiful Canterbury landscape, and the muses were in the mood for photography :)
My children have always been the inspiration behind my photography for so many reasons, I am constantly looking for that shot that to me says who they are, that look that melts my heart and honing my skills on them. I sometimes end up with the Mum hurry up and take the photo look, do I have to stop and be your model again (they don't seem to care how great the light is hahaha), but when they are in the mood for having their photographs taken it all seems to come together nicely and that's what it's all about I guess, getting them in that mood and enjoying the session.
I also want to demonstrate to them that you can LOVE your job and have FUN doing it, but you also have to work hard at it :)
Summer for us was spent entirely in our shakey region of Canterbury and for those of you who also live here you would well know our summer holidays were also interrupted by some rather large jolts.
But that aside we decided to spend our 'holidays'  exploring our region like going over the hill to the bays,  exploring parks we had never been too, seeing what north Canterbury had to offer.
I think we can never know too much about the place we live and for those of us in Christchurch and Canterbury it is also important to appreciate what we DO have to embrace it and enjoy it.
This year I am going to make a more conscious effort to do more exploring of my region (and hopefully find some fantastic photographic backdrops while I am at it!!!) It's hard sometimes to put in such an effort weekends or days off are so few and there's things like house work and gardening to be done, but this year I am going to breath and do it, enjoy what we have (and maybe just work harder on those tasks while the muses are at school!) we still have so much beauty around us down here and I think now more than ever the recording of such has become more important to me especially the recording of my muses, I have even been inspired over the last week or so to go through my archives of family photos and though I have adorned my house with many a large canvas I have decided it is time to print the ole 6x4's and have a hard copy of the family Album( I guess I'm the photographer version of the builder who works on everyones house but their own).
Picking only my favourites I have 388 photos in one nice we folder to print, a small portion of what exists on 3 external hard drives- back-up back-up and then back-up!!! The fun and a few happy tears I have had going through this lot, it's our life and digitally recorded (some are on film negs) there, and in plenty a little hoard that I can easily store without blocking the entrance to any fire exits!
It's family and all it's branches there for the muses to be amused... good bye summer, it's time for the leaves to turn and fall (into great photographic piles!!!) next year we hope you stay a little longer and maybe bring some more heat, but for now we bid you farewell as we do and look forward to the changes of a new season.