A month or so ago, I was honoured to attend the beautiful water-birth arrival of a little girl named Avalon. Her mother, Dayna had contacted me about newborn portraits earlier this year and when I mentioned birth photography she said she was very keen to have hers captured. Dayna had planned her birth at the RBWH Birth Centre, a place close to my own heart as I have welcomed my two water-birth babies there. Like myself, Dayna loved the idea that the Birth Centre offers an experience similar to a natural home birth, but with the added knowledge that there are the best medical facilities only a few doors away if required. The midwives there are wonderful, and I thoroughly recommend the wonderful work they do, empowering mothers to trust in their body’s amazing design for birth.
The story for me began when Dayna texted me during the day on a Monday and said that things were progressing well (after a few weeks of false starts). There was a sense of anticipation for me – not knowing if it would be soon, or still a day or two away. At 6.45pm I received another call, this time from her sister saying that labour was progressing fairly quickly now, that Dayna was in the bath and I would need to come in soon. My hubby had just arrived home and the kids were in bed, and I had been keen to have dinner and freshen up but something told me just to leave, and leave now. So I grabbed my camera gear (ready and waiting) and began the 45 minute drive toward the city. I was filled with butterflies at the thought of what I was about to capture, whether I would make it in time and also planning how I would work with the low light and make sure I was the quietest of observers, to let Dayna do her thing.
When I arrived at 7.30pm, the room was peaceful and Dayna was leaning on the side of the bath, deep ‘in the zone’. From my own experiences, I could tell that she was very close to the pushing stage – quiet, concentrated and in tune with her body. Within only a few minutes of arriving she began to push and within 20 minutes of my arrival, we met little Avalon! It was amazing to witness a little life come from the womb into the world and to see the joy on Dayna’s face as she met her baby girl. I was then able to spend their first hour together capturing portraits of Avalon with her mummy and daddy. It was wonderful and beautiful to share this moment (and made me rather clucky again!).
A week after the birth we also met for Avalons newborn portraits with her family and big brother too. Dayna wanted to share a few words about the whole experience of birth photography: “I am a big fan of Maddie’s work. I didn’t even notice her taking the photos and looking at all the precious images now, I am SO glad Maddie was there. I will cherish them forever! I wish I had beautiful photographs like this of my first birth and I can’t keep myself from recommending Maddie”.
This post is a collection of images from Avalon’s arrival and her first hour in the big wide world. Whether it is a home birth, hospital birth, natural or ceasarean, welcoming a new little person into the world is one of life’s greatest moments…I look forward to sharing in more little people’s arrivals over the coming years! Maddie
Lately I’ve had an increase in couple session bookings which has been fun to plan and prepare for. It’s exciting for me to meet new, wonderful couples – there is nothing quite like capturing the loveliness of love. The awesome thing is that this type of shoot doesn’t just have to JUST be for engaged couples. I’ve captured the love of dating couples, couples celebrating their anniversary, special birthday sessions and even simple, private vow renewals.
This engagement shoot session was used as a basis for a creative wedding invitation design, and the styling was pure and simple. It was with my favourite couple models (aka. my sister and her fiance!) and there wasn’t a great deal of planning or props. A boy and a girl in love. A sheet. The sun. And a pretty forest by a river. Simple, sweet love.
When enquiring about couple portrait sessions, I’m often asked what to do or where to go for the shoot and as an added complimentary service to you, if you would like it, I love to offer my suggestions to help make your image collection unique and perfectly about you. I’ll ask you a few questions about yourselves and then I’ll provide you with a fun list of ideas to inspire you as we plan your session. Or as always, you can come to me with your ideas and I’m happy to run with those too! I’m looking forward to sharing more love story images in the next few months. Enjoy.
When I shoot a family portrait, I approach it like I am a ‘fly on the wall’. I want to come on an adventure with your family, where you all just ‘be you’. I want to follow you while you do something fun together. Go to the beach. climb a mountain. Visit the library. It might be a tradition you’ve done for years or it could be a new experience you want to take together. Whatever it is that tells the story of your family, that is what I want to capture for you.
For this cute family, the plan was a sunset picnic in a forest. The talented mummy, Tash of Whimsy Petite Styling created a gorgeous vintage picnic ‘look’ for her family and together they shared afternoon tea, read books and played hide and seek within the forest. It turned out to be a bit of a teddy bears picnic for the girls and they had lots of fun giggling and telling me about their little friends. It was also nice for mum and dad to have some images together too – aren’t they gorgeous?
While this shoot was more of a styled glamourous shoot, you can really take your ideas any way you want to. It can be styled like this one (Tash is available for bookings to plan and style your photo shoots), maybe something adventurous like a mountain hike or it can be even as simple as a morning spent at your place – pikelets, pillow fights and snuggles on the couch with your kids favourite books. The awesome thing about these type of ‘lifestyle’ shoots is that you don’t need to be afraid – because you can pick something that makes you feel relaxed. You can have fun and enjoy the time as this season of life is captured for you (and generations to come). I can’t wait to meet you.
I often get asked what the best age for baby portraits is, and while there is no ‘set’ age (it’s all cute to me!) I do find that the two most common ages to photograph babies are newborns and about six months of age. With newborns, it’s all about the freshness of your new little bundle – so tiny and new, so wanting for cuddles and a precious life story yet to be written. The other popular age is about six/eight months or when your baby can confidently sit up on their own. It’s when they are full of giggles and playfulness and their personality has really started to shine through. At this age they want to play and explore all the time and every new object or noise is amazing to their little minds. It’s such a joy to capture their ‘wonder’. With my own babies, this was one of my favourite stages – you’ve begun to understand your little ‘puzzle’ and life has settled to a point where you can really enjoy playing with your little person. It’s a fleeting time, and before you know it they have changed again, but this stage is truly one of life’s little blessings. I love it xx
My first wedding shoot for 2012 was on a warm summery January afternoon just a few weeks ago. With a late ceremony at 4pm, we were hoping for lots of sunshine and the weather certainly delivered. Everything ran perfectly for Bekk and Josh, a cute and happy couple in love. With the ceremony and reception held at Topiaries at Beaumont (in the Samford Valley), the bride and her girls prepared in the homestead’s beautiful rooms, cooling off by the fan (Marilyn Monroe style), before heading to the outdoor garden ceremony. After capturing their heartfelt vows and congratulatory hugs by family and friends, it was obvious to all that Bekk and Josh were definitely surrounded by many people who love them dearly.
We followed the ceremony with a relaxing walk to nearby properties for location photography in the afternoon breeze. The bridal party were a bunch of good mates and we certainly had some fun with their photos, amidst the old school style that this couple exude. Then we headed inside the gorgeous homestead for drinks and nibblies, and more fun relaxing in the grand lodge. It was almost as if we were transported to a Victorian homestead and there was a truly magical atmosphere in their first few hours as husband and wife. I think joy was the key emotion of the day and I wish them all the best for a marriage overflowing with it each day.
There is something wonderous about the start of a new year. It’s like a blank page that is yet to be written.. and we can dream or plan about what will be. So it was very fitting that my first shoot for 2012 was a newborn shoot – and what a yummy bundle of newness I was able to capture. Cute little Grace arrived on Christmas day much to the surprise of her parents. I always thought it was strange when someone shared a birthday with another big event, but here I realised first hand babies just make their entrance when they are good and ready to meet the world! But what a delightful gift for her parents to enjoy on Christmas night. It was a warm and humid morning when I arrived, ideal conditions for a newborn baby to just chill out and relax. And relax she did! She was a perfect little angel and quite the model. Check out her delicious little pout and those cute chubby cheeks. Yum! Her aunt had collected some different items to celebrate her arrival and we were able to give her shoot a very girly feel, while also mixing it up with some precious moments with mum and dad. Gosh I love newborns! xx
A few months ago I ran a competition [with some other wonderful suppliers] for one lucky girl to win a styling, makeover and photoshoot package. We ran the competition not for any particular reason, but just because we are all women in business, who love what we do and who love supporting ventures that change and brighten the lives of others. We had many entries (all of whom were study graduates worthy of winning!) and our final random-draw winner was a sweet girl called Aimee.
Here is a glimpse into her fun shoot below – thank you Aimee for being so lovely! It was great to get to know you a little and discover your love of literature and writing. We all had fun with you and wish you all the best for your future! May your family enjoy these images for generations to come xx
If you like the look of this photoshoot for yourself or someone you know you can enquire about them here or keep an eye out at the end of each year for a competition just like this that you could win xx Many thanks to the following wonderful contributors for 2011: Fashion Styling and Consultation Rebecca Williams [stylist] // Hair Emma Hemsley Hairdressing // Props and Scene Juliette Hooper // Makeup Racheal Walas // Clothing – Aimee’s own and one-off pieces from Lisa at Atomic Martini Vintage // and a special thanks to Aimee’s doggy Sascha – very cute! xx
In October it was my daughter’s 3rd birthday and for months she’d been asking for a “pink princess party” (same as 75% of all 3 year old girls…!). As I’m not a real fan of tizz and hot pink… we combined my love of “brown paper packages tied up with string” with her “pink princesses” obsession and came up with a lovely rustic princess party to share with her closest friends.
As a bit of a wanna-be party planner or stylist, I do enjoy making things pretty and fun… so I had a few key ideas for the party – It had to be environmentally friendly (we used existing objects like a paper flower and white platters, or leftovers around home or friends to decorate, buying only some coloured paper, stickers and brown paper for the event) – It had to have a mostly healthy menu – We had ‘fruit jewels’ (cookie cutter shaped fruit on sticks), ‘ham swirls’ (ham and tortilla wraps on sticks), ‘princess popcorn’ (fresh popcorn in paper cones), ‘garlic toasties’ (garlic bread shaped like tiaras) to name a few – It had to have a goody bag bar with delicious and pretty sweets (where the guests could take wrapped items home to share with family rather than eating lots at the party) – It had to include fun activities for the girls to do (they each decorated their princess hats [made from recycled boxes and leftover paper], they had a pass-the-parcel and also spent time filling brown paper bags (with printed messages) with goodies – It had to be relatively cheap but also classy (I made all the decorations, the lollypops and cupcakes (with chocolate tiaras) myself and then to give it a finished look I chose printable stationary from Polka Dot Prints including invites, chocolate dots, personalised princess straw tags, buffet sign and buffet labels – which looked great!).
Yet most of all, my goal was for the party decorations and food to be made up of items that my daughter and I created TOGETHER – I dipped the cups in jam, she dipped them in pink jelly crystal, I made the cones, she filled them with popcorn, she counted out the musk sticks, I wrapped them up, I put the chocolates in the bags, she put the stickers on etc. And I’ll admit I did more than her (and a bit of it at some ridiculous hour of the night before!), but it was so much fun to be creating things WITH her rather than shooing her off so she didn’t make a mess (as most creative perfectionists like me tend to do!).
It was really fun, and I’m going to put these memories into a book for her soon – added with even more pictures I took of her friends (we did a mini photo booth on the princess chair!). It will be a wonderful memory for us to look at together and reminisce – I realise already how treasured it will be – she has changed already in the two months it took me to post! Don’t they grow too fast?
On the morning of a wedding, many couples now send a gift and handwritten message to their husband or wife-to-be. And as popular as it is, I think it’s something that will never grow old. It is a privilege for photographers to be able to capture these private moments. When couples read the last words and thoughts from their beloved as they prepare to commit their lives together. Such was the start to a beautiful day capturing Amy & Jeremy’s wedding day story. Set in the picturesque Sirromet Winery, their day flowed perfectly and was filled with the fun, honest, adoring and beautiful love that they share. A gorgeous mix of vintage beauty surrounded the emotion of the day. Sentimental touches like the amazing dress her mother handmade, a poem written and read by a family member and wedding portraits going back several generations at the reception – all added to the beauty of the day. I loved seeing the personal touches and involvement of those they love the most. Amy and Jeremy are a kind, caring couple and if their married life is to be as beautiful and heartfelt as their wedding day, they are set for a truly wonderful life ahead.
If you live in Brisbane you will more than likely remember last Saturday’s thunderstorms. After a grey, rumbly morning, the sun shone during the humid middle part of the day before a big storm blew in fast and furiously in the afternoon. At the time the afternoon hailstorm approached I was at the gorgeous St Andrew’s Church in South Brisbane capturing the story of Marissa & David’s wedding ceremony. We were then heading up to the City Botanic Gardens and Parliament House for further portraits – and although we were hidden within the city and gardens, we could definitely hear it loudly and just see it looming. But thankfully, it held off (almost as if to watch us!) and slowly followed us through the park – see a shot here. We were safe in the calm before the storm during our photography session and it hit hard literally just as we stepped in the porch of the Stamford Plaza where the reception was to be held. Perfect. We couldn’t have planned it better if we’d tried. So the storm made for a beautiful backdrop to a romantic and beautiful wedding. We completed their story with gorgeous photos inside the hotel. Not even a raging storm could stop the beauty of these two in love. Gorgeous.
