I’ve really got to stop falling in love with the families i photograph.
I’m not making any promises though.
The first time i stepped into Nikki and Alex’s home i felt my heart expand a little bit. Nikki was heavily pregnant with her third baby, and we were meeting ahead of my photographing her birth. The gentleness of their home was intoxicating in a way that made me not want to leave- to sit on their sofa and drink tea and talk about life while their two year old (gently) terrorised the brand new fluffy white kitten.
Predictably, the day of their birth was gentle and divine, and then months later when i went back to photograph them as a family of five i stepped into a picture of the most exquisite chaos. Here’s a little glimpe into their world… see if you can’t help but curl up on their sofa with a cup of tea and ponder how lovely life can be.
Man i’ve loved this journey with these guys. I knew it would be divine as soon as i met them to shoot Trinity’s gorgeous 37 week belly. To then photograph their homebirth, and now their newborn days… they represent everything i love about capturing these stories of families transforming… morphing into their new, expanded, overwhelming form.
And just like any good trilogy… i do hope there’s a part IV, V & VI to come…
Thanks for having me along for the ride guys. xxx
ps there’s some pretty special history going on here… the outfit little Indigo is wearing at the end is the outfit her dad wore home from the hospital after he was born… cute, huh. x
For a 4 year old- the wait for a baby sibling must feel like FOREVER! Little Mia was very aware of every passing day while she waited for her mother to give birth. Her baby dolls were mothered into oblivion as she waited for the real thing to arrive. Sometimes patiently, sometimes less so. Mind you, her beautiful mum also had her moments on the patience front. You may remember them rock hopping and exploring in the final days of pregnancy here.
Well birth, as it always does, finally happened, and little Mia got her wish of a new baby sister named Ivy. As she very eloquently and gleefully exclaimed to her dad when she found out it was a girl, “Now there are THREE girls and ONE boy in this house.”
Yes, darling. Yes there are.
Here is a little glimpse into their early days of being a family of four. The constant feedings, the need for double the attention, double the pairs of hands, double the patience…. and the pay off… double the delight.
My love to families in this phase right now! I know a few of my mamas are in the midst of it as i write…
Right here, is everything i love about family adventure sessions.
I tagged along with this scrumptious family on one of their weekend picnics and found myself in a whole world of fun… hide and seek amongst the paperbarks, a barefoot family cricket match, an Oscar-worthy reenactment of The Three Billy Goats Gruff and a stroll to the beach as the sun was setting.
Most of the time, it was as if i wasn’t even there… which is exactly how i like it. That’s when we can capture the beauty of how a family is in their magical day to day…
Who’s up for an autumn adventure with me tagging along in my invisible cloak?
Drop me a line and let’s book it in…
Meet Dan, Mia, Nina, Hugo and Jasper the pooch.
These guys decided to show me around their favourite local park near their home for this Family Adventure session…it quickly became clear they know it inside out. Every tree, every garden bed, every hiding spot- this is their own special stomping ground.
We fought off the chilly, windy morning with hot coffee and games of hide and seek, and Nina the Chief Flower Picker systematically worked her way through every blossoming plant in sight. No blooms were safe- no matter how far out of her reach they were… i suspect they see her coming.
I would like to introduce to you Nadine, Jonathan, Rocco and Ines.
What do you need to know about this family?
I met Nadine 6 years ago when we were both doulaing in London. My first memory of her is that she had the sparkliest eyes, the reddest lips and the most wicked cackle I’d ever heard. I adored her immediately.
Jonathan, her husband, is an infuriating ace with a ping pong bat. More alarming than that is that he clearly learnt everything he knows on that front from his delightfully well spoken English mother, Rosemary. Andy and I challenged them to doubles, once. Just once.
Jonathan’s negronis are almost as good as his table tennis.
I was Nadine’s doula for the homebirth of Ines 18 months ago. Doulaing the doula- now there’s an honour. An easy honour. I turned up, took some photographs, watched on in awe and helped clean up afterward. Oh, and ate Rosemary’s freshly baked sponge cake at midnight. It was incredible. And well worth leaving a Stephen Merchant show at the Opera House for.
In preparation for his mum’s birth, 6 year old Rocco drew pictures of Nadine giving birth to put up around the birth pool. Written on them was, “You can do it mummy, I know you can” and, “You did it for me, you can do it again.” And you know what? He was right.
When she gave birth to Ines, Nadine managed to pass on the sparkliest eyes in the world. That kid is like kryptonite.
I love these guys to bits.They have one of the happiest households i have ever known.
As you will see from these photographs- we started this session at sunrise at North Bondi, Ines had a refreshingly unexpected dunk in the cool autumn waves (and recovered spectacularly well), we went home for a quick change and then headed into Surry Hills for brunch.
How did it feel being asked to capture their family at this very point in time? Well, hopefully you can see how that felt through these photographs.
Is there anything more scrumptious than a full mop of hair on a newborn baby?
Long eyelashes?
Teeny tiny milk spots?
Cherubic lips?
This delectable newbie got a bit greedy as she passed the Cuteness Collection Point, i feel.
Throughout her mum’s pregnancy, Ziggy was the working title for this little babe who’s gender was a surprise. Ziggy turned out to be a girl, and has been blessed with the name Annabelle. But she’s still Ziggy to everyone… so she gets to keep her moniker.
Ladies and Gentlemen… meet Annabelle Ziggy, with her support cast of a besotted mum and dad, and a DOTING grandma direct from Canada.
