sneak peek - eban and manon

This was a treat. Introducing Eban and Manon who I met for the first time in NZ. They are the children of my cousin, so essentially they are my second cousins. Manon was adorable and kept this static 'Mona Lisa' smile while I clicked away. She has a complexion that people would die for - me included! Meanwhile Eban was chasing Ben around the house and when he saw the camera he would burst out in a smile realising he was being watched while playing chasy. Thank you Eban and Manon, and a big thanks to Mum and Dad too for letting me take your pictures. I hope you like them!

Christmas Eve

My family have developed a tradition over the years of celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve. As our extended family has grown dramatically recently it is a really great way of making sure we catch up while still getting to keep up our other "family" committments as our own families grow. We have dinner at my parents and this year it was preceeded with a small game of backyard cricket and some frivolity in the pool. We had some great laughs - in particular the marsh fly that flew up Grant's shorts as Sean was coming in to whack it. I have never seen Grant move so fast to avoid Sean's hand coming down on his nether-region! LOL I took the opportunity to play around with a little lens flaring as the sun set and got some nice shots. My nephew had a small accident a few days prior where he ran mouth first into a coffee table. Poor little guy. It looked so painful but he played and laughed like nothing was wrong. He still made an adorable Harry Potter. He looks like a real old man in one of them with his belly out, shoulders down and his upper lip hanging over his lower lip. Kids make Christmas so much more enjoyable. Merry Christmas! Just because I can't believe the height Sean got with Liam - here it is in full shot. Must be the closest thing to flying ;)

the waltons

Last weekend I finally took a moment to take some "proper" photos of Ben and Phoebe. I was very pleased with how they turned out. Phoebe had the giggles while Ben was "in a mood" but they eventually found a good niche and we got some great photos. Enjoy!

walton - family shoot

While in Busselton last weekend, I took the opportunity to shoot some images of the kids and Grant. The beach that was on our doorstep was too good a location to ignore. There was a real winter mood to the afternoon and it was a little chilly. It was a strange weekend, weather wise. Not at all typical December. Here are some of my favourite shots from the session.

an afternoon at the park

Yesterday I "borrowed" my nephew for a small shoot in a local park. I wanted to try out the new lenses and add a few more pics to my portfolio. I would be lying if I said I was happy with how the pictures turned out. Of the majority, they were too grainy, too dark and not what I was after really. In hindsight I see the ISO was way too high and honesty it was my bad that I didn't alter it. Oh, well. Lesson learned. Anway, there were a few good pictures that I wanted to share with you. He was such a ball of energy running from the swing to the slide to the swing again. The best pictures I got were the full face laughing ones and they only came about because he had a "rumble in the jungle" which he thought was hilarious. They are a little more arty than I was hoping for but they do the job. I particularly like the graffiti and the swing photos for some reason. I appreciate any critiquing :) The full gallery is available here