Hannah Cake Smash - Brisbane Family Photographer

I was so excited to welcome back Hannah and her parents for her first birthday photography session.

She's such a beautiful smiley little girl who loves her Mum and Dad so much.  As she walked around the room while we got through the formalities I couldn't help but think of how it was not so long ago that she was a tiny little poppet snuggled so gently in her Dads arms. 

We kicked off the session with some family photos, something I love to include whenever possible. Since Hannah had packed all of her good smiles for the session today we were through those in no time. 

Next we did a photo that we have been working on since her newborn session. We used the same vine nest and wraps at her six month session and again today to show how much she has grown. Its one of my favourite photos to create when we do a First Year Package. 

Then it was Cake time! 

Hannah was right on to it from the moment I came into the room. She sat beside it, dipped a toe in to test it, tasted the icing, and promptly got up and went to get some hugs from her Mum. 

We coaxed her back to the cake, showed her how to play with it and break it up. 

She was not happy. She was getting less and less happy as the minutes wore on. 

Plan B at a cake smash is fruit. We hide fruit in the cake and since all babies are familiar with fruit they enjoy it a lot. 

Strawberries are Hannahs favourite fruit so I cut some up and we showed her where they were in the cake. She dug them out, dusted all the cake crumbs off, inspected closely that the strawberry was now cake free, and ate it. 

Gosh she is adorable. The strawberries were a huge hit and the mess got made and the smiles were amazing. She was clapping her hands to show us how happy she was. 

Then we ran out of strawberries. But the cake was now a mess - as was Hannah. It was time for a nice warm bath and some fresh clothes and to call it a day. 

As we waved our goodbyes, Hannah gurgled something cute at me that sounded along the lines of "next time, more strawberries".

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Brisbane Newborn Photographer    |    Brisbane Family Photographer 

Izaiah - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

I need to say this first up. 

I LOVED this session! 

With the family's beautiful heritage of India and Fiji we incorporated lots of wonderful pieces into their session including Dads kava bowl and a beautiful grass mat that his grandmother had handmade. 

Little Izaiah had a beautiful head of hair and the most adorable little eyelashes. Although if you think those little bubba eyelashes are adorable then maybe dont look too closely at big sister Gabriela. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy immediately after swooning at her! I mean, come on, curls, that gorgeous pout AND those lashes?  Wowsers. 

Dad stayed with me for a lot of the session, calming and settling his new son while mum entertained Gabriela and enjoyed all the baking coming from the little toy kitchen. 

We did their sibling photo on a beautiful rainbow mandala and while she wasn't too sure about me at first she did manage to bring a sweet little smile out and holy cuteness it made for one special photo.  As their mum is of Indian heritage it was so beautiful to see these gorgeous children amongst the colour and the circular patterns of the mandala which represent the journey through life. 

Next up we did a set of a Fijian paper bark mat that had been hand printed like a tattoo with hand made inks. I loved the colours in this although Izaiah wasn't too sure about not being snuggled up tight any more and it took a little while to settle him in to this one.

With that lesson taken on board I decided to wrap him for the next setup, in a David Lam nest on his grandmother handmade woven mat. 

This image holds two levels of significance, firstly the heirloom mat which is beautiful, and secondly the vine nest was made by a personal friend of their family! I happen to have 6 pieces from David, all amazingly earthy and beautiful pieces, but the nest is a big favourite and went so well with the woven mat. 

Next was an image I had imagined since we had first discussed doing a photos with Dads kava bowl. I love this image because sharing in a Kava ceremony is a form of welcome. Its used to bring people together and as a way to connect to Fiji's past, and those sentiments are so perfectly fitting to welcoming their son to their family. 

With the sleepy blanket photos to finish off the session we came to an end and it was time for me to wave goodbye to this beautiful family. 

It turned out that Gabriela wasn't quite finished playing with the toys here and hid inside one, which her Dad simply picked up the whole box and carried her out to the car inside while she giggled and waved goodby like the princess she is. This Dad is so awesome. 

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Brisbane Newborn Photographer    |    Brisbane Family Photographer

Eva - Brisbane Baby Photographer

This was a very special session. A gift from friends to help a wonderful family capture their beautiful bond. Photos to celebrate a beautiful little girl who has had to endure far more than any little person ever should. 

Despite her beauty, her smiles, her sweet snuggles with her parents, Eva is not well. She struggles to eat and drink as it often means choking. She has regular physiotherapy to help her stiff hips and other joints. She cant see very well, but let me tell you - she always looks for and finds her parents! These are just the things that came up on photo day. Yet she smiles and giggles just as much - if not more - than other babies her age. 

A beautiful little soul that I had the absolute pleasure of photographing. 

It was a hot day and after a bit of a slow start we finally put her down on her own on a blanket and having her own space calmed her immediately. She looked for her parents who were each side of the beanbag she was laying on, and as soon as she found them her face lit up with such a glow the whole room felt sparkly. 

We added pink flowers to her hair, a pink wrap around her body, snuggled a few different ways and captured some of her adorable smiles, both large and soft, always genuine. 

When she would get upset they would sing to her. Eva loves singing and music. My favourite part was the singing - and it was a personalised song too! 

"I love you Eva, and if its quite alright, I need you Eva, to warm the lonely nights!"  In case you haven't got it yet, its Cant Take My Eyes Off Of You, and the entire song full of lyrics is so beautiful when directed to a baby girl like Eva. Here they all are.

The next set we did was of her looking up from the beanbag, and you may wonder why I couldnt get her to look at the camera. Well, thats because she was so besotted with looking at her Daddy that she simply couldnt take her eyes off him (still singing it!).  She just stared and smiled and giggled and he did the same back to his shining little princess. 

I had wanted to create something extra special for this extra special family. I had emailed and asked for some creative input to help me come up with a concept. The email that came back from her Mum had me welling up in tears.  Reading such words of love from a mother about her daughter was so touching. So I came up with the idea of using those words in a photo. I had her Mum write a letter to Eva and used the letter to overlay into an image.  I think it has come up so beautifully. 

And let me love you, oh baby, let me love you, oh baby...

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Brisbane Family Photographer | Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Sophie - Brisbane Family Photographer

Little Sophie came to her photo session with her big sister Chloe and their parents. I love photographing all children, all ages so we kicked off this cake smash session with a super quick portrait shoot before getting the mess out. I think that was a good idea! These two girls, my gosh I cant deal with how beautiful they are! 

By the time I reset the set and placed the cake down, a cute pink rose cake with a gorgeous One topper from http://www.facebook.com/the.euphoric.seed, Sophie was itching to get to it! She has a reputation for being a good eater so I was hoping for a cracker of a cake smash at this session. 

Well, she did not disappoint! It took a little bit for her to get into, but in the end Sophie rocked her smash session so much. 

Climbing right in and patting the icing, tasting the icing and digging her hands in all very quickly, Sophie was completely spellbound by her pink cake. 

But then things slowed down, she wasnt sure any more, she started getting a little upset. So we brough Chloe in to help make some mess and to cheer her sister up - this tactic always works! 

Except for today. Today is did not work. 

Chloe did not want to get messy. Or sit down. Or touch the cake. 

So with Chloe opting out of messy fun it was time for Mum to step in! 

Once we showed Sophie that her whole cake was edible, not just the icing, and handed her big fist  fulls of cake, she was away! She must have eaten nearly half of the top layer on her own! She loved it so much, a few times she stopped eating to give a little close eyed, scrunch faced, smiley bottom wiggle dance to show how much she loved it. 

And I died. The cuteness of those little happy dances were too much, RIP me. 

She literally ate until she was full, breaking only for more cute little happy dances, then just like that she was done and was scooped off for a nice warm bath to refresh. 

So here you go, you may need to sit down for this one, the cuteness is pretty full-on. You've been warned! 

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Brisbane Family Photographer    |    Brisbane Newborn Photographer 

Bella 6 Years Old - Brisbane Family Photographer

I have had the absolute joy of photographing Bella every birthday for the bast 5 years. Watching this little girl grow into a little lady has been incredible. She is fun, vivacious, cheeky, sweet and completely adorable. 

Oh, and beautiful, but that's obvious. 

Over the years we have had a range of sessions, some indoor, some outdoor, always different from the year before.  So it was no surprise when it was decided to host this years session indoor in my new studio. 

She brought no less than 4 beautiful dresses to wear at the shoot, her hair out and flowing around her face. Giggling away on a soft flokati mat with a beautiful pink flowery backdrop behind, the picture of sweetness. Except when she kept poking her tongue out to me and collapsing in giggles, but I already told you she is a cheeky one so it was all in good fun. 

Bella had brought a little tiara after seeing one of her photos from her first session with me years ago, so we put it on her head and she instantly became a little princess, poised and polite. 

Bella is such a smiley, happy girl and I seriously LOVE smiling photos. But there was this moment of calm, lifting her hair from her neck to cool down between photos. An off-chance capture. This is the image I could not stop staring at when looking through her session. 

Next I tested out a new purple drop to match her purple pretty dress, and my gosh this colour suited her! It really made her stunning blue eyes pop with such vibrance and sparkle. 

The red dress was her favourite and she danced around in it like a little ballerina. She also brought some "tude" with this one, I think Tyra Banks calls it "Being Fierce" and Bella totally was! 

Lastly we put the fan on and a big white fru-fru dress and Bella spied the flower headband on a rack in my studio and asked to wear it, so of course I obliged. I have to say this was the most beautiful setup, all white, sweetness and calm. It was just me and her by this stage (her mum had stepped out a moment) and we kept giggling together saying "Oh my gosh - your mum will never believe you wore this!" and she would reply "Oh my gosh, she's going to get such a surprise!" Bella couldnt wait to show her mum these photos in the back of the camera when she came back into the studio. 

With it all wrapped up Bella changed back into her play clothes and we waved our farewells until next time! 

Beautiful Bella, 6 years old, the world at your feet. 

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Brisbane Family Photographer   |   Brisbane Newborn Photographer 

Baby Jaxom - North Brisbane Baby Photographer

Jaxom arrived for his newborn photos with his mum, dad and big sister Arwen.

Arwen is 18 months old and such a little cracker! She was right into the toys from the moment she arrived (thats what they are there for anyway! ) 

Since Jaxom was hungry we tried to start with some photos of gorgeous Arwen,  but despite her Dad and bigger sister Darian trying to coax her to sit on the fluffy mat, she was having none of it.  

Thankfully we managed to capture some gorgeous big smiles when mum lifted her up for some giant jumps on the beanbag. 

Family photos were up next and with the help once again from Darian to squeeze out extra smiles from Arwen we had their stunning family photo all wrapped up in no time. 

Next minute, the studio was almost silent as Darian, Dad and Arwen all took off and left just Jaxom, his mum and me to finish the session in relative. peace. 

We talked through colour options and decided on navy and green for Jaxoms session. I had so much fun using my new green backdrop for this setup, and it was just as gorgeous as I had hoped it would be, all the earthy tones bringing a woodlands feel to the setup. 

Some greys were next and Jaxom was very happy to be wrapped up and snuggled into a little bed, giving out the cutest facial expressions! So alert and wide eyed while calm and inquisitive.  

Until we placed him into the navy setup and suddenly things were not to his liking. It took some time and soothing but eventually he dropped off once more and the gorgeous blue setup was in my camera. 

His mum wasnt sure if we were going to get through the sleeping on beanbag photos since he had been so awake and a little restless but sure enough, he dropped into a lovely deep sleep and we made it almost all the way to the end of the sleepy workflow. 

As a special request we finished the session replicating an image from big sister Arwen's newborn session, the little feet held in mums hands. I love seeing how little their feet and toes are when compared to an adults, its just incredible how quickly little babies grow. 

The great news is that Jaxom and Arwen and their parents will be back again in a few months time for his sitter session so I get to see him again soon, I can't wait! 

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Family Photographer North Brisbane    |    Brisbane Newborn Photographer 

Hunter 1yr - Brisbane Baby Photographer

It was a beautiful summer morning, a fresh breeze still in the air as this beautiful family joined me at the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens for a photo shoot to celebrate their little boy Hunter turning one year old. 

Big sister Novelle, who I met as a newborn herself, played with her Dad as her Mum and I said our hellos. 

Despite having had four sessions together now, Novelle was still a bit shy around me at first. We headed into the gardens, Hunter in the stroller looking around at all the greenery, Novelle and her Dad following behind us checking out the water dragons and kangaroo statues in the gardens. 

Our first stop was under a leafy archway for the first family photos. Hunter brought his smiles out pretty quickly but Novelle wasnt too sure just yet. We moved to the lakeside and Novelle was very pleased to be the tallest in this family photo, getting to stand on the pillar behind her parents. 

Next we stopped at the jetty, one of my favourite spots to photograph in the gardens, morning or afternoon.  The kids enjoyed looking for turtles and eels and birds on and under the water. The sun was twinkling through the willow tree leaves as the summer breeze shushed around us. 

A butterfly swooped past giving Novelle a little fright but a great game of "Is there a fly on Mummy's nose?" got all her giggles coming out and some stunning smiles too. 

Hunter was so happy being lifted above his Dads head, his squeaks and giggles lasting only a couple of lifts before his face changed to let us know he had had enough. 

It was starting to warm up and Hunter was getting hot and hungry, so we took a short break for a snack in the shade to see if that would help us get the last few photos we were chasing for the day. But it wasnt quite meant to be. 

Hunter just wanted to snuggle in to his Mum and every time we tried to put him down for a photo with his sister, sitting on his bottom or laying in her arms, he burst in to tears again and only settled when nestled back on mums shoulder.  

Sometimes this is the case for young children, only one will be interested in having photos at a time and we struggle to get both children happy and co-operating at the same time for a sibling photo. But thats part of childhood and family chaos, its real life. Real life isn't always "picture perfect" which is why I like to capture candid moments as well as formal portraits at a family session. Those moments are just as memorable as the perfect ones. 

It was bittersweet saying our goodbyes after capturing this family's growth over the past 3 years.  Seeing Novelle grow from a tiny newborn baby with beautiful hair into the bright, sparkly young girl she is now, and capturing the past year of her little brothers milestones has been a complete joy.  

Hunter is a happy, sweet little boy, fascinated by everything and loved so dearly by his family. Happy Birthday Hunter, the first of many, many more to come.

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Family Photographer Birsbane    |     Newborn Photographer Brisbane