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Letter to My Daughters ~ October/November

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| by | Letters to my daughter

Dear Sophie – you turned ONE in October!  We can’t believe our little baby girl is one year old.  You continue to delight us with your cheeky grins and cuddles and generally happy nature.  You had so much fun at your party at the park next door, loving being centre of attention and we saved opening presents for the next day.  You received such beautiful gifts from family and friends, Emily enjoyed helping you open them too.

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You also started walking shortly after your birthday and it hasn’t taken you long to get in the swing of it and you’re almost at the point of being able to run away from your sister.

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Dear Emily,  you are growing up SO much!  Your talking has progressed amazingly and you have become a real little chatterbox.  Every day you are talking more clearly and able to express yourself better, it’s amazing to watch.

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You absolutely adore your little sister and were so excited when she started walking.  You wanted to hold her hand as she walked, but Sophie was too independent and wanted to do her own thing.  We had a few tears and you still push her over every now and then, but you’ve come to realise that it’s much more fun to have Sophie walking around with you.

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You have been pretty healthy recently which has been lovely, we had a stint with hand, foot and mouth for both of you, but otherwise you have been able to get out and about every weekend and are absolutely loving daycare during the week.  You have become a really cuddly little girl too, with great big hugs for all of us.

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Love you both lots and lots and lots xoxoxox

For the next blog in our Letters to our Children circle, head on over to Rebecca’s blog and see what she has posted.

 

 

 


Flourishing Mothers | Headshots | Sydney

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| by | Headshots

It was such a pleasure doing headshots for business partners Kate and Deb recently.  They needed both individual and joint headshots for use on their website, to represent them on social networks and for various other business purposes.  We met up and had a quick look around to find likely locations for shooting – some with a plain background and others with some of the environment in it for a slightly different look.  We also checked out what clothing they had brought along and ended up going for a casual looks and one a little smarter for when a more corporate appearance might be needed.

casual corporate headshotsKate and Debra are the two woman team at Flourishing Mothers – a coaching business focussed on helping mothers thrive.  They use positive psychology science to build resilience and increase mental health and well-being.  I think it’s a brilliant concept and really would have appreciated knowing of a resource like this when my first was really little.

2014-09-26_0003Do you need to update your headshot?  Do you want professional images with different looks for different purposes?  Get in touch with me now and let’s discuss your needs and when we can get them done!

Happiness | Headshots | Sydney

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| by | Headshots

Nes was so much fun to work with, she was after a new headshot that reflected the happiness that is her brand.  Her business, Inspired By Happiness, handles wedding / event planning and she also is a very talented florist.  We took a few different shots in different outfits and Nes narrowed it down to these two images as her favourites.  You can see which one she chose by checking out her Facebook page – I think it really reflects the happiness she brings to her work and suits her perfectly!

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Letter to my Daughters ~ September

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| by | Letters to my daughter

Where to start… Our illness of the month for September was conjunctivitis, No fun for anyone, with Sophie and I both still feeling the lingering effects of it.  Emily, otherwise you have had a wonderful month.  With the warmer weather we have been getting out and about a lot more and you can walk for so much longer now – it’s rare that you want to get in the pram at all when we go to the zoo now and we sometimes stay for close to 3 hours.  Your talking is also coming along at a great rate – more words, concepts and longer sentences are coming out every single day.  Even the carers at your childcare have commented on how quickly you are coming along.

Talking of childcare, you have started spending a bit more time with the “big kids” in their play area in preparation for moving into a new room next year.  You are loving it and playing with new toys and people is so much fun.  The best part though is that you can always take yourself back to the little kids room when you have had enough and need a bit of space and quiet from time to time.

You are getting braver and more capable when playing at the little playground next door to our place and have even started interacting with some of the other kids there at times.  Your cousin Ben visited during the month and the two of you had so much fun playing together on the slide!  You are so helpful as well, at childcare, you help with making the cots, passing out morning tea, bringing the other kids their drink bottles.  At home you love bringing toys for Sophie to play with or giving her a cuddle when she cries, and if we ever leave our phone within reach you make a grab for it so you can pass it back to us!

Emily, you are our happy, chatty, helpful, bossy little girl who loves being outdoors, going for walks and is obsessed with going to the zoo.

Sophie, you are growing up so quickly now.  Not quite walking, but you pull up on things every chance you get and can easily stand unsupported for quite a while now – even while bouncing up and down because you’re so excited at what you’re doing!  You constant happiness and joy with everything continues to amaze us.  You have your moments when you are tired, hungry or not feeling well and get a bit cranky, but they tend to pass very quickly.

Your appetite continues to grow and we are slowly but surely increasing how much solids you get and adjusting meal times to try and make sure you aren’t hungry.  You and your sister are playing together more and more, looking at books together, chasing each other or just smiling and holding hands.  You are becoming more aware of your surroundings and the people who visit in your life and it is wonderful to see you getting involved in things.  Our favourite ‘stop crying’ distraction is still singing songs to you – especially action songs where you have something to watch as well as listen to.

We have moved bedtime around again and you and Emily both go down in your cots at the same time now.  It’s a bit of a struggle as you are both excited to see the other, but it seems to be slowly settling into a routine – early days for this yet though.

Sophie, you are our happy, bubbly, sharing little baby who is growing up so quickly.

Love you both lots and lots and lots xoxoxoxo

For more Letters to Our Children posts, head on over to Rebecca’s blog!

 

Casual to Wow! | Glamour Portraits | Sydney

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| by | Glamour

This glamour session has to be one of my favourite sessions to date!  I turned up at Steph’s place and first thing we did was to find where we would shoot in her house – they had a beautiful open living area with large windows letting in loads of natural light which were just perfect for what we wanted.  Steph already had her hair and make up ready to go, so next step was to check out what clothes we were going to work with.  Steph picked out a dozen different  outfits and from those we picked three “must have” options and then picked a few more which we would also shoot if time allowed (we ended up shooting six different looks).  One of the earlier tops, was this gorgeous soft, pink top which was perfect for some really pretty headshots.

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We then moved on to ripped jeans and a casual, pretty lace top and took a range of images from headshots to full body.  I love how friendly and relaxed Steph looks in this image and it’s one of my favourites from the day.  Second to last outfit was this stunning evening dress which Steph absolutely rocked!  She looks amazing, strong and utterly feminine at the same time.  THIS is glamour!

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One of the challenges was getting Steph into some of the poses (definitely not a reflection on you Steph), they’re trickier than they look!  After re-setting her pose yet again, she was getting frustrated that she couldn’t just “get it right”.  But you know what, we’re not professional models, we don’t do this on a daily basis and chances are you’ve never done anything like this before, so it can’t be expected that this will all just come naturally.  So after shaking it all out and starting again, we nailed it the next go.

The final outfit?  Well, we won’t be sharing those photos, but I believe her husband was very pleased with the results!

If you’re interested in having me come over to your place, and letting me make some gorgeous photographs of you, get in touch and we will set a date!

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A Splash of Purple | Glamour Portraits | Northern Sydney

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| by | Glamour

Check out my new purple backdrop – I absolutely love how they turned out!  Lucky for me, Kathie is a big fan of purple so we started the shoot with it and she looks pretty amazing.  Kathie and I know each other from another life when we both worked for the same company several years ago, so it was really great to catch up in person again.  She is such a busy woman – full time work, 3 kids and several other side projects and activities to fill in all those spare minutes she doesn’t have.  Amongst all of that, she somehow found the time to train for and then complete the City to Surf in August.

We had a great time on this shoot (well, I did anyway) as I directed Kathie into the poses and made her twist and contort into the different positions.  It turns into a bit of a pilates or yoga workout at times, but the results are worth it!

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Here are the same images in black and white, a totally different feel to them but all beautiful.

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And because I loved these images so much, here are a few more from the shoot – Kathie, you were a brilliant model and I absolutely love the intensity of your eyes which comes through in every single photo.

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These shoots are such a fantastic way to just take some time out and celebrate ourselves as women, not just in our roles as mum and wife and our days filled with kids activities and home stuff.  So often we are the ones behind the camera and rarely appear in our own family photos and even more rarely are we the sole subject of a photo.  Give me a call or drop me an email to find out more about having a shoot like this for yourself – I’m absolutely loving the results!

Sunny Winter’s Day | Sydney Portrait Photography

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| by | Family

I headed up to the central coast to meet up with this gorgeous family for their most recent family portrait session.  It was one of those perfect winters day – clear skies, crisp air which gradually warmed up to t-shirt weather.  We met up at Umina Beach and headed in to the park to start off, the kids went a little crazy running around the place, climbing everything and hiding through the maze.  They managed to stay still for a few moments so we could get them all in one place and get some photos of everyone together.

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It was such a great opportunity to get some photos of 3 generations together, so we made sure that each of the kids had a photo taken with their mum and also one with mum and their grandmother.  This young lady is growing up so quickly, it’s hard to believe it’s the same girl I met when I first took their photos three years ago!

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The twins are a study in contrasts.  Sean is the calm, quietly confident one with bursts of cheekiness and an irresistible smile.

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Hayley on the others hand, is an absolute firecracker.  Her thoughts and words come out a mile a minute and her enthusiasm for everything just boils over.2014-09-11_0003

Thank you for letting me photograph your family again, it’s so lovely to see a family grow and watch the personality’s of your kids develop over the years!

Letters to my Daughters ~ August

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| by | Letters to my daughter, Personal Projects

Dear Emily.  You had your second birthday this month and are growing up so quickly!  We had a very small birthday celebration for you while 3 of your grandparents were in town.  There were lots of presents and you got to eat a whole cupcake, although you weren’t impressed with the overly sweet frosting and turned the thing upside down so you could just eat the cake part.

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The end of the month was a bit hard for you as you were hit with croup which made you utterly miserable for a week or so.  Luckily we got on to it quickly and you recovered ok.  Around the same time you had a massive word explosion though and you are still coming out with several new words every  day.  You’ve even developed a bit of a lisp as you try and get the words out faster than your mouth can handle.  It’s lovely being able to have simple conversations with you and hear you express yourself.

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With the weather improving, we have been able to get out to the park again which you are loving.  You are interacting with us and others so much more these days.  We had a fun  game of chasings around the park which had you peering out from behind equipment and giving us the most gorgeous cheeky grins. Your caring nature is shining out more and more, you are a beautiful, helpful, cuddly little girl.

Dear Sophie, you are so active now!  You are crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything and trying to climb anything within reach.  I think you enjoyed your sisters birthday as much as she did and got to play with the paper and some of the new toys.

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Most of your photos don’t show it, but it seems like you just don’t stop smiling.  You’ve been pretty sick this last week, but once you stop crying after a big cough you are straight back to grinning, blowing raspberries and making happy little noises.  We are still going to the zoo most weekends and make a point now to stop and let you out for a bit of a wander at some point which you are definitely enjoying, still a bit longer before you start noticing the animals though.

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You are also loving the visits to the park as you can now sit in the swing and get pushed in it a bit.  Emily loves giving you a push or sitting on the swing next to yours and you both watch each other as you swing.

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You are my gorgeous, happy, bubbly little girl, who can’t wait to start walking and follow her big sister around.

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Love you both lots and lots and lots xoxoxoxo

 Head on over and have a look at Joanne’s blog for the next post in our Letters to Our Children blog circle.