The addiction of light...

So as summer approaches and the days get longer, I'm finding myself addicted to shooting late in the afternoon and bathing in that gorgeous late sunshine. I don't know if I can shoot particularly well in it (lol) but surely if you enjoy it as much as I do, then it's worth it!

Add into the mix my fabulous best bud and her growing belly, and a WHOLE paddock of long grass, and you've just about found my perfect shoot. *sigh*

So without any further ado, may I introduce you to the gorgeous Felicia and the surprise bundle that resides within - due ANY day now (yippee - can't wait!).

Flea and Gregg (and Jet, you big slobbery goofball), I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Big love xox

Autumn in spring...

This gorgeous little bean turned one last week and she celebrated by having a family photo session!! Autumn was a dear little cherub (and how beautiful is her name??), and along with big bro Liam we had a ton of fun. Pity the weather was drizzly, but we still managed to get some lovely family shots.

Enjoy these A & T... the rest of your gallery will be ready soon!!

Tra la la, a day at the beach!

Headed down the highway to Ocean Grove on Monday for a shoot with the lovely Lisa and her family. Beach shoots are very novel for me - with no beach anywhere near me ordinarily, I always jump at the chance to get my feet sandy and wet!

Our shoot was to commemorate little Rohan's first birthday, which was the following day. Sooo cute and a cheeky grin to boot!!

I always have a giggle when I suggest to clients that we head into the backyard and they freak out because the grass hasn't been mown! DON'T MOW THE GRASS!! I have a weakness for shots of long grass, and anyone who's had a shoot with me before can testify how much I love it. Yes, it's a sickness...

Hello, my name is Mandy and I am addicted to shooting in long grass.

Anyway! Here are some shots of the day. I had many favourites to choose from, so had to narrow it down to just a couple.

Enjoy Lisa!! And Happy Birthday to Rohan for Tuesday xox

Is that a monkey in my camera?

... is a common catch phrase I'll squeal when shooting kids... Gets 'em looking down the lens 100% of the time, hahaha! Cheeky little Lucas was no exception! I had a lovely afternoon with him and his new little brother Jake last week... playing in the sunshine, hiding in the trees and of course revving the remote control cars!

Enjoy xox

Curly girl in the sun...

Curly haired kids make me swoon. Seriously. Having had dead straight hair all my life, and now having inflicted said straight hair on my own children, whenever I get to shoot kids with curly locks I go weak at the knees, hahaha! Mostly I just love the way the sunlight catches it. It's angelic.

So when I got to play with the gorgeous 13-month-old Jasmine this week I was most excited to discover her gorgeous curls!

She is only just starting to stand unassisted and took a few steps while I was there, so it was a really special moment for me.

Enjoy your preview Barbara. Talk to you soon.

A family of stunning kids...

Every. Single. One of them. Absolutely gorgeous. Don't believe me? Well check it:

I've been asked to do a few of these shoots lately. I guess it's coming up to Christmas and everyone is starting to think about family shoots to go on the Chrissie cards or get prints done for Grandma and Grandpa.

I love doing huge family shoots - they can be tough sometimes, especially with little kids who just want to run amok with their cousins. But for the most part they are awesome fun. And this family was no exception.

Janet, thanks heaps for contacting me for a shoot. I hope you enjoy your sneak peak!

Rock girl...

Last weekend I got lost (oops) on my way out to meet this lovely family. But I got there eventually, and had a really fun time chasing the gorgeous Ana-Sia around a local park. It took her a little while to warm up to me, but in the end she was quite comfortable and we got some lovely shots. She was also a little obsessed with rocks, so we have many shots of her playing with rocks and trying to give me some hahahaha.

Enjoy these shots of this beautiful little girl. She was a doll.

New blankies...

... to use with gorgeous newborns! I was very exciting to try out a couple of new blankets as props, and I was so lucky to have this stunning little guy as my model. Baby Coen was a couple of weeks old and a bit of a catnapper (I have 2 of those myself so know how tough it can be) so we really had to work for our shots. But we did get some lovely sleeping poses, and I'm thrilled with the result.

Thanks Ash and Mark for allowing me into your home and lives for our session. I hope you enjoy your preview. I'll be in touch soon with the rest of your gallery.

Duck park...

Had a heap of fun last weekend with Liam and Mia at a local duck park. We fed the ducks, picked some flowers, had a swing and slide and generally had a really fun time! The whole family were such a pleasure to photograph, and it was so nice to be able to hang out in the afternoon sunshine and watch the duckies swim by. I love ducks - I used to have 2 pet ducks, Max and Olly, and they were such funny little quackers...

Anyway - some shots of the day! Yippee!!

The kids with the sparkly eyes...

After a reschedule I was lucky enough to meet this gorgeous family last weekend! I tell ya - what a bunch of spunks! Those kids have amazing eyes, and Penny and Ben were just so nice - laid back, chilled and happy to let me run their kids wild in the backyard! (hahaha)

So needless to say I had heaps on fun, and I hope the kids did too. They were certainly some of the easiest kids to photograph, so I hope their photos do them justice.

Enjoy your preview Penny and Ben, and I'll be in touch again when the rest of your gallery is ready :-)

Canola Canola - we love Coca Cola!

(Sorry, it's an in-joke... Tee hee hee, you get it though Flea, right??)

I am catching up with a whole bunch of work that I have sitting here staring at me in the face! Eek! This post is a bit delayed (sorry Julie, I know you've been itching to see them!), and I would have had it up earlier this evening if it wasn't for an unfortunate hour of one of my kids up sick...

Anyhoo, I digress... I had a totally fantastic spring shoot a little while ago. I was driving out to meet Julie and her kids and drove past the most amazing canola fields. I mentioned it when I arrived and Julie went over to check it was ok with the farmer... Not only was it ok, but she took us out to a back paddock and opened the gate for us and all. It was better than awesome!

So here are a few shots from our session. It was hard to only pick a couple, but here they are! Enjoy!!

Julie, let me know what you think of this editing. I love it, but realise it's not to everyone's taste.

ARGH!!!! How hot are these girls?!?

OMG! I had an absolute BALL with Jac, Amy and Liv yesterday. We played dress ups, got a bit cheeky, had a ton of fun and look at the result! Woah baby, this is my kinda shoot! I swore that what was said on shoot, stays on shoot, so there will be no disclosing of the shenanigans that went on behind the scenes, hee hee...

ENJOY!

(If anyone else out in blogland is after a shoot with their best buds, let me know... I'm up for it if you are!)

Bad blogger...

I'm trying desperately to catch up with all my work. I'm sooo behind... (SORRY)

Last weekend (yes the freezing cold revolting weekend from hell - except that the Cats won the grand final *YIPPEE*) I headed out to get some family shots of a long time friend and her family. Her Nan recently celebrated her 80th birthday, so we had all the fam there, including FOUR GENERATIONS of girls - how awesome is that?!?

I had a great time with them, even though we were all frozen solid.

Thanks heaps Janelle for asking me to capture these shots for your Nan... I hope you like your preview!

Cute as a button...

... Baby Lily, almost 7 months old, and pretty as a picture. Check out her big blue eyes and adorable rosy cheeks! I had so much fun photographing her - she was a total dream. Happy, smiley, oh so cute... Sheesh... can you tell I loved her!?!? Heheh.

It was sooo hard for me to choose just a few favourites for the preview...

Enjoy! (Kiley, the rest of your gallery will be ready really soon - I can't stay away from these!)

xox

House of blue...

You may remember the totally gorgeous Rachelle who had a maternity session with me some time ago? A little reminder is here: Rachelle

Weellllll... Her family added another gorgeous boy to the family!!!! Baby Andre was born the day after fathers day and is teeny weeny tiny!! But so amazingly adorable - look at his beautiful olive skin and deep dark eyes! *sigh*

We had a session on Melbourne's coldest and wettest spring day ever, but considering the conditions we decided to have a re-shoot as well, and I'm so glad we did as our second session was a dream. Andre is so calm and happy. So alert, and the eye contact he gives you is amazing.

Anyway, enough chit chat - on with the pics...

First up, the 3 boys. How 100% spunky are they all?!?

Andre, and cuddles with mum...

Thanks so much Rachelle for allowing me into your lives (and home) once again. I feel so very lucky to be able to share these with you and your family.

I'll be in touch soon.

xox

Maternity shoot at the beach = AWESOME...

... of course it helps when you have such a stunning (and willing model)! Gorgeous Toni is due with her second baby in 2 weeks time, so I headed out to visit her yesterday for a little maternity shoot. When I noticed that the weather was going to be nice I suggested we head down to Williamstown beach and this is the spectacular result!

Toni was happy to go anywhere I put her and we scrambled all over the rocks, waded through the (chilly) water and generally had fun in the sun.

And of course no maternity shoot is complete without the older sibling having a couple of shots - and even though Georgia wasn't quite as willing as mum, we snapped a couple of lovely shots of her before heading to the beach.

All in all, I had such a lovely time, and I'm so excited to share these with you...

Thanks SO much for yesterday Toni - I had the best time. I can't wait to meet your new bubba!

Mandy x

Those little newborns get me every time...

... CLUCK CLUCK!! I swoon and cluck over them, admire their little chubby (or not so chubby) legs, the sounds they make when they're feeding, the amazing eye contact, the way they'll hold your finger, their little startle reflex (oh man, that's cute)... And then they cry. And I thank the Universe that I can hand them back, lol!!!

This little cherub last week was oh so adorable. I've known his parents for a very long time, but we haven't seen each other since school so it was ace to be able to catch up, chat about old days, and compare notes on our kids. Fun fun. And teeny little Jayden was such a good sport, even though he was exhausted, he still gave us some lovely smiles and eye contact and I think he enjoyed kicking back in the beanbag.

Maria and Lee, thanks SO much for allowing me to capture some shots of your family. It really was so nice to see you both again. Enjoy your preview :-D

xox

We had a bit of trouble pinning big brother Anthony down, but we got there eventually! Have a look at those eyes... wowsers!

Baby Jayden:

And I love how this shot shows a little snippet of family life - the bubba cries and all eyes just naturally go there and try to help, it's adorable:

Spring weddings...

... can be so unpredictable! Especially with Melbourne's weather... Don't get me wrong, I love our fair city, and wouldn't live anywhere else, but yes, our weather is very temperamental.

Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of second shooting for Jessie at j [studios] and her new assistant Bree, and can I just say - I had a BALL! There was a lot of driving on the agenda, which would have been fine if we didn't get out to the beach for our shoot only to have to turn around and come back again because the heavens opened and we got absolutely drenched.

But nevertheless we got some awesome shots, had a ton of fun, and went home completely exhausted after a long day.

So here are some of the shots I got of the day of Chris and Kat's wedding. Jessie's photos can be found here: Jessie's blog

First up is the boss lady herself (just because she did it to me first :-p )

The bride and her girls:




The boys:


Some details:






Entering as a single woman, coming out as a wife (from the best seat in the house):




And the first dance:

Big family fun...

So on the weekend I ventured just beyond my back gate to grab some shots of this awesome family as a surprise for their Mum/Nanny for her upcoming birthday. The weatherman promised me sunshine and wind... neither of which showed up until the shoot was finished (pity about the sun - VERY lucky about the wind - it was blowing a gale shortly after we finished)...

I had heaps of fun, big family shoots can often be hard work, but this one was great. Lots of willing participants, a sleepy newborn, yellow daisies.

Thanks guys, I hope you enjoy your preview!

xox

The whole crew:

The girls:

A couple of family shots:

Aunty B with 2 of the boys, and all the cousins together!

Sunny Sunday morning...

The last preview from my weekend shoots! (Told ya I was busy!) I had a heap of fun chasing 4yo Cooper and his (almost) 1yo sister Ellie around. Cooper was the master of the cheesey grin, but we did manage to get a few natural shots of him, and I think you'll agree that he's a big spunk! And well, what can I say about Miss Ellie - what a little doll! She was such a trooper. I had a lot of fun with both kids.

Megan, enjoy your preview! I'll be in touch again soon.

xox