by Alana | Nov 28, 2018 | Family - Lifestyle, Family - Location, Information
Okay, so we all love taking photos of our children – but how do we do that without losing our minds?!! They always say never to work with kids or animals, but there are definitely some approaches that I use during my sessions, and that you can use as well, to capture your kids without everyone losing the plot!
Set Expectations
This is probably the main thing. Over the years I learnt this from my own kids, and especially from my son Kohen who would always be so painful to photograph – we’d constantly be yelling his name and eventually we’d all get frustrated and it just wasn’t a pleasant experience for anyone! And then I let go of the expectation that everyone needed to look at the camera and smile in the perfect way, and I started to actually enjoy just capturing them the way that they were. Yes, I still put them together for a photo, but my expectations are different. I now actually often ask them NOT to look at the camera, and this is actually the best way to get the photos I love as they’ll start interacting with each other, or they’ll focus on something they’re playing with and I’ll be able to grab the expression on their face. So adjust your expectations – realise that a photo doesn’t have to have everyone looking and smiling for it to be beautiful, and that capturing their personalities is just as great. Let go of expecting kids to sit still and focus – they just don’t want to do that!
Let Kids Be Kids!
Following on from this, the best way to photograph kids is to let them be kids!!! Let them hang upside down or jump on the bed, let them pull funny faces or express their emotions (even those bad ones!). Similarly, let them rest when they need to, and cuddle if they need comforting. There are multiple benefits to this. Firstly, they’ll be less likely to resist being photographed, as they’re being allowed to have fun. Secondly, this will cause everyone (including parents!) to be less stressed, and thirdly by allowing them to be kids, you’ll let their little personalities come out and this will be captured forever. You’re much more likely to get a genuine smile by letting them be a little childlike compared to forcing them to sit still and smile at the camera.
Tips and Tricks
Having said this, sometimes you really want them to look at the camera, even just for ONE photo. This can be challenging for multiple kids but there ARE some ways you can make it more likely that you’ll grab that photo. Here are some ideas:
- play the ‘frozen’ game where you need to stay still for the count of 10
- show them their photo on the back of the camera, and ask them whether they can give their absolute best smile next time to make an even better photo, then show them the results. Kids like seeing themselves on the back of the camera!
- tell them to imagine that their faces are stuck together – this usually results in smiles as everyone presses together really close
- ask them questions such as ‘who is the naughtiest?’, ‘what’s your favourite toy’, ‘who is funniest – mummy or daddy?’ – or anything age appropriate which allows them to feel like you’re paying attention to them, and takes the focus off the fact that they’re having their photo taken?
- ask them to show you what they’re playing with – e.g. a leaf or flower. Usually this means they’ll hold it up to the camera and they’ll actually look at the camera as well
- ask them to squeeze the person next to them as tight as they can
- tell them that on the count of 5 they’re going to either get tickled, or tickle the person next to them
- be silly, let them be silly, get someone else to be silly directly behind the camera
- say their name or age wrong – this usually encourages them to look at you and smile whilst correcting you
- get down on their level and talk to them WITHOUT the camera in front of your face
Fun and Games
Kids love games, and games are great for adults too! Think tickles, flying in the sky, spinning, follow the leader, jumping, running races, blowing bubbles, piggy back rides, lifting each other up, Simon Says, Chinese Whispers, and other games like this which encourages movement and interaction. This helps to loosen everyone up and bring out those genuine emotions!
Follow their Lead
If they’re not in the mood, you really can’t push it. If none of the tricks are working, and it’s just leading to a meltdown, you really just have to let it go. If it’s during a photo session, this just comes back to resetting expectations and realising that those images where you’re comforting your child, or they’re laying with their head buried into your chest, or even screaming in the background, can be beautiful too because it’s just capturing LIFE. REAL LIFE. We can’t predict or control kids moods, but the biggest way to ruin a session is to get angry or stressed about their behaviour. Just go with it. If they need a break, give them one. If they’re happy being photographed, then go with that and take as many as you can get until they lose interest (and they WILL lose interest).
If you’d like to take the pressure off of yourself, and get ME to capture some beautiful images of your kids, Contact me here.
by Alana | Nov 22, 2018 | Newborn - Lifestyle
Kaya’s Mummy Cassie had wanted to book in a newborn lifestyle session earlier, however unfortunately their 3.5 year old Melia had other plans. Within an hour of returning home from the hospital with their 3rd baby Kaya, their oldest Melia fell and broke her arm! Not exactly the start you want when you have a new baby! We decided to schedule the shoot for when Melia was out of her cast and life was a little more ‘normal’. Cassie and Paul also have a 19 month old little boy Jay – so as anyone with three kids will know – life is a little chaotic! It’s fair to say there was a lot of noise during the shoot, a fair amount of chaos and tears, but a LOT of beautiful moments! I truly believe that there is beauty in chaos and I definitely don’t want any family feeling that their kids need to be focused and behaved throughout the shoot. Some of my favourite shots during this session are those ones where the kids are upside down, rolling on the floor, or laying in a tangled mess across their parents legs. This is real life – this is what life is truly like with little kids and THIS is what I want to capture! The beautiful chaos – the real life – the things you’ll look back on and smile because it makes you remember what it was all like, and it makes you feel something. This time will pass, and strangely enough one day you’ll miss all of the noise and the movement and the chaos. Looking back will let you revisit that time again – and maybe pat yourself on the back for getting through it all!
Despite all the noise and movement, we’re still able to find moments of calm and quiet – usually one parent can look after the older kids whilst the other takes time to bond and cuddle with the baby. Both Cassie and Paul had this time with Kaya, although often it was cut short with Jay and Melia running in for a cuddle as well. Often it’s the time when you’re focusing on someone else that the kids actually want to be in the frame! I just go with the flow on this. When the kids are happy to be photographed, I take advantage of that and keep them involved. When they needed a break to go and play in the car with dad, or get a snack, or go outside, we let them do that. When they needed encouragement to be involved, I helped them through that – some tricks involve showing them a photo of themselves on the back of the screen and asking them if they can do a better one, or asking them how fast they can run to mum or dad, or how tightly they can squeeze them, or how many fingers their new baby has. Going into their room is another way to keep them happy.
When placing this family all together, I absolutely loved the natural interaction they had with each other. I don’t need or want a family to just sit together stiff and posed – I want those natural interactions and the craziness and their real personalities. I want to see what happens when they’re close together and freeze that for them so that they can always remember it. Although parents often feel the need to apologise for their kids behaviour, I really don’t want them to feel that way! I want to capture what is real for you, and this family let me do that!
If you’d like me to help you capture some of your own beautiful chaos or gift a voucher to someone, Contact me here. You can also view my Lifestyle Newborn Portfolio here.
by Alana | Nov 20, 2018 | Family - Location, Hyde Park
This year I did some mini sessions at Hyde Park, which is one of those locations where I’m happy to shoot outside of Golden Hour. The purpose of mini sessions is to give the opportunity to people to have a short and sweet session, whilst still capturing some beautiful memories and also saving money in the process! My mini sessions also come with some print enlargements, which is a great way to either hold onto your memories at home, or gift them to someone for a special occasion. I was so lucky with the weather for both my mini session days, and I was also super lucky with the amazing people who came along for their sessions. Everyone was on time (big tick – especially for a mini session where time is so important!), everyone looked amazing, and everyone was willing to have fun with it all! Although mini sessions only come with a small number of images, there is the option to upgrade, and so most people walked away with all of their beautiful images and memories to keep forever. It’s amazing how many we can get in such a short amount of time!
Mini sessions can be great for kids – sometimes parents worry that it won’t be long enough to get them to cooperate, but during my sessions I don’t expect kids to cooperate the whole time anyway, and a mini session is no different. The shorter time frame means that things move quite quickly, and that kids can move on to the next part of their day sooner rather than later (ice cream anyone?!). All we need from the kids is a few minutes of them ‘cooperating’, and the rest of the time it’s up to me to capture genuine moments and things they’re interested in, or those beautiful moments where they’re reaching for a cuddle from their mum or dad. The benefits of a mini session include:
- less time (20 minutes compared to one hour), which is especially great when kids are involved
- they can be for any session type (maternity, family, couple)
- save money
- sessions may be outside of ‘golden hour’
As there is less time in a mini session, we tend to move through things a lot quicker. The flow is very similar to my regular sessions though, and it gives you an idea of what a full session might be like. Typically, we start with the full family shot, and this usually just involves getting everyone to sit or stand together. Although we might get some where everyone is smiling at the camera, usually I encourage people to interact with each other, and I do a lot of the moving around myself to capture different angles and details. From there, we usually try to get the various combinations that you might want – such as dad with kids, mum with kids etc. If there are kids, we really take the cues from them just as with a regular session. If they’re feeling it, then we keep them involved in taking photos. If they’re getting restless or frustrated, we give them a break and focus on something else. Once these types of shots are done, we might get some playful ones, such as spinning, chasey, follow the leader, shoulder rides, and jumping. This has the benefit of letting everyone relax and have fun, whilst also creating some beautiful genuine emotions. My aim as always is to capture those expressions and images which will remind you of what life was like at this point in time.
I only do a small number of mini sessions, so keep an eye on my Facebook page or Contact me to register your interest in my next mini sessions. Below are some sample images from my most recent mini sessions.
by Alana | Nov 18, 2018 | Family - Location, Perrys Paddock
The Milner Family is like my own family, as Ciara has been my best friend since High School. I grew up sleeping over at their house, and experiencing what life was like in a large family compared to my own tiny one at the time (not so tiny anymore ha ha!). Since then, we’ve been in each others weddings, held each others babies (Ciara stayed the entire night one night and held my youngest baby so that I could sleep – now that’s a true friend!), had play dates with our kids, and Ciara’s sister Anna’s children go to the same school as my own kids. Ciara is ‘Aunty Ciara’ to my kids, and I’m ‘Aunty Lans’ to hers. I’ve shot for Anna’s mothers group, and I’ve shot for Kevin and his dog Rocco. I was so happy to shoot for their entire family recently at Perry’s Paddock. There is always a lot of fun and laughter when this family are together, and I love being around them. They have a great sense of humour and don’t take themselves too seriously, so they were more than happy to have fun with it all. We had adults being lifted in the air, kids being spun around, shoulder rides, Nanna and Bop dancing together (yes, the kids call their Grandfather ‘Bop’ – so cute!) and running races. All of this makes for some genuine laughter and genuine emotions – which is what I love to capture the most. The kids also had a lot of ideas themselves, and I was hearing ‘Alana! Alana!’ as they wanted me to take a photo of them doing something particular! Although it was pretty cold down at Perry’s Paddock that evening (particularly for those in sleeveless outfits!), I think we all had a lot of fun. Thank you Milner/Armour/Slim clan for letting me capture some memories for you, and thank you for always welcoming me into your family!
If you’d like to book a session for yourself, or organise a gift voucher for someone else, Contact me here. You can also view my Family Portfolio here.
by Alana | Nov 16, 2018 | Family - Location, Hyde Park
Wow – what a gorgeous family!! Dana and her family came along for one of my recent mini sessions at Hyde Park, styled just perfectly! Her two boys Cooper and Clayton were just ridiculously gorgeous, and so easy to photograph! The blonde curls on Clayton are just to die for! They had a very natural and easy affection, and so I was able to capture a lot of naturally beautiful moments between each member of the family, including tickles, cuddles, hand holding, and of course wrestling between the two brothers. Even though there is only a small age difference between the two boys, Cooper obviously seemed to take on the big brother role, and I love the images of him with his arm around his little brother whilst he is looking down protectively at him. Making this session even more special was the fact that Dana is three months pregnant, so she wanted to get some images which highlighted this special time in her life. Her two boys were more than happy to cuddle into her and to kiss her stomach – celebrating their new baby brother or sister! Chris and Dana are unsure whether they’ll find out the gender of their new baby (they didn’t with their other two!). Whether their new one is a boy or girl, I know it will be a very loved little baby, with two beautiful big brothers.
Prior to my sessions, I ask clients to fill out a pre-session survey to get an idea of their personalities and what kind of images they would like. Dana mentioned that Chris is uncomfortable in front of the camera, and I totally understand him on that! I hate being in front of the camera (which is why I spend most of my time behind it), but in my sessions I encourage people that if they’re not sure what to do, just touch or kiss one of their loved ones, or even just look at them or interact with them in anyway they feel comfortable doing. I think Chris did an amazing job!
If you’d like to book me to create some family memories of your own, or to purchase a gift voucher for someone, Contact me here. You can also view my Family Portfolio here.
by Alana | Nov 12, 2018 | Family - Location, Hyde Park
I’ve known Renee since we worked together a long time ago (pre-kids!!), so I was extremely happy to take some photos for her and her gorgeous family. And how gorgeous they are!! Renee is one of the most beautiful and stylish women I know, so I knew she’d turn up with everyone looking effortlessly beautiful – and she did! I love how she mixed some beautiful neutrals with some splashes of colour; how she added texture and interest through her skirt and belt and Leila’s gorgeous patterned dress; how she found the perfect balance between light and dark; and how their outfits were perfect for the location – casual and comfortable whilst still being stylish and beautiful. Simple clothing when done well is so effective!
As for the session – well it was easy to capture their connections as they were so naturally affectionate with each other! Leila obviously just adores her big brother Josh, and was more than happy to be picked up by him or to cuddle into his legs. He in turn, was so beautiful with her as well, and I especially loved being able to capture how much of a protective brother he is. There’s one image where she’s sitting on his lap, and he’s gently moving her hair out of her face. I’m so glad that they’ll have these memories of their relationship during this time in their life!
During sessions with younger kids, I always take my cues from them. When they’re happy to be in photos, I take the opportunity, but if they need a break, I let them have one. I never want parents to feel that their kids need to be ‘on’ the whole time during a photo session, or that they need to behave a certain way. In this case, we captured a lot of images at the start of the session as that’s when Leila was more happy to oblige, but then she needed a little time to be ‘free’, so we took our cues from that. Not to mention, there is always beauty in a child who is happy doing her own thing, or who is seeking comfort from mum or dad.
Renee’s husband Pete doesn’t like to be on social media, however he has let me share a few of the images of him from the shoot. It’s important for everyone to know that there is never any pressure to share your images. As much as I love being able to share what we’ve created together, there is never any pressure for you to share them if you’d rather keep them private.
If you’d like to book a session for yourself, or organise a gift voucher for someone you love, Contact me here.
You can also view my Family Portfolio here.
by Alana | Nov 11, 2018 | Family - Location
I’ve known Maja for many years – we went to uni together, worked together, and have also been great friends. We’ve shared a lot of stories and memories along the way, and for the entire time I’ve known her (not far off of 20 years – eek!!!), she’s had her now-husband Ross in her life. I’ve also had the pleasure of capturing her pregnancy which you can view here in Maja’s Maternity Session. Since then, her and Ross have welcomed their baby boy Leo into their family, so I was very happy to be able to capture some images for them during my recent mini sessions at Hyde Park. As I took photos for them, I couldn’t help but feel a lot of happiness and warmth as I watched them interact with their happy little boy. After having known them both for so many years, it’s really so heart warming to watch as their life together has taken another turn as they’ve been able to welcome their first son after so many years of wanting him. Maja and Ross also brought along one of their other children – their fur baby Lucy – and she was happy to be able to be included in some of the shots as well – it’s always good to include all members of the family! Leo was extremely well behaved throughout the session, and was quite interested in watching my camera, as well as being cuddled and kissed by his parents. It’s going to be so much fun watching Leo grow up. I know he’s going to be so loved and adored by his beautiful parents – and you can’t ask for much more than that, can you?!
If you’d like to book me for a session or organise a gift voucher for someone else, Contact me here. You can also view more of my family images in my Family Portfolio.
by Alana | Nov 9, 2018 | Family - Location, Hyde Park
On the weekend, Nikki and her family had their mini session at Hyde Park. Mini sessions are short and sweet, and yet we’re still able to capture some beautiful images and memories to look back on. My main focus as always is not to get everyone to simply smile at the camera, but to try and capture those connections with each other. Nikki’s little girl Chloe had just turned 1, while her little boy Ethan is 3 years old. Such gorgeous ages, and yet also ages where they are unlikely to want to sit still for too long! Our session included cuddles, tickles and spinning and flying in the air, and little Ethan was the leader in a game of ‘Follow the Leader’. Chloe wasn’t too interested in allowing Ethan to give her cuddles, although her affection for dogs kept her distracted enough as a couple of dogs came past and allowed us to grab a quick shot of her with her brother. I love that in one shot she’s obviously unimpressed, and yet her mum exclaimed at how perfect that was, as that was their real life with Ethan attempting to give affection and Chloe rejecting it! I love that these are things that she was happy to have captured, as this is what life is like for them NOW. Things will change and relationships will evolve, but looking back they’ll remember what it was like once upon a time. As always, I also like to get some images with just mum and dad. It’s not often that we focus on ourselves as life becomes all about the kids, so it’s nice to have some memories with each other as well. I absolutely loved spending time with this family. They were relaxed and fun, and so happy to just go with the flow. Thank you Nikki!
This is what Nikki had to say about her session: “We absolutely loved our shoot with Alana-she has kids the same age so totally knew how to relate to our busy little bodies who were not interested in sitting still for one moment. We are in love with all our pics and just had to get a full gallery as we just couldn’t choose! A good problem to have”
If you’d like to book a session for yourself or someone you love, Contact me here. You can also view my Family Portfolio here.
by Alana | Nov 2, 2018 | Family - Lifestyle, My Family
Although I’ve always loved photography, it’s my kids who can be credited with really making it my passion. From the first moment my daughter was born, I wanted to capture every little thing about her so that I could always remember how she was at each stage of our journey together. This continued as the years went on and our family grew, and eventually also encouraged me to learn how to use my camera properly and to take images I truly loved as well as images that captured the moment. Since becoming a photographer and capturing endless memories for other people, I do find that I use my camera less with my own family. It’s still extremely important to me, so I’ve decided to blog my favourite images and memories from each month of my own family. This not only is to keep me accountable and make sure I keep taking photos of my own children, but also to show you all the little moments that are beautiful for you to capture with your own family so that you can tell your story. This being said, here is our story from October.
My son Kohen is a boy of extremes. When he’s naughty, he’s really naughty, but when he’s good, he’s sooo good. He can be so embarrassed to show his emotions (especially in public), yet he has the softest side to him and can be so thoughtful. He’s the type to SHOW you that he loves you, rather than TELL you. I woke up on this particular morning during the school holidays, and he’d started breakfast for everyone. He’s always up quite early, and his role is to empty the dishwasher, but on this morning he took it to another level. He had all the plates lined up, the toast, fruit and juice. He told me to ‘sit on the couch and be a couch potato’ and said that he wanted to do everything himself. And he did. Of course before I was a couch potato, I had to capture this beautiful moment.
My youngest son Alby reminds me a lot of Kohen. He has the same crazy energy, but at the same time, they are the only two of my kids who have attached to comforters and to dummies. Alby loves his bunnies – especially ‘floppy bunny’. He sleeps with them all the time, and carries them everywhere. I’m not even sure who gave them to him, or how he started to attach to them, but he loves them. He also loves the dog water bowl, and in one of these images you can see my daughter in the process of picking it up as Alby is contemplating the idea of either STANDING in the dog bowl, or giving his bunnies a wash in it. Both of which he’s done plenty of times, so the poor dog can rarely drink when Alby is awake as his water bowl is usually placed up high. The other thing Alby loves is food, and one of these images shows his little hand reaching up for some food which is on the table (and unfortunately for him, quite out of his reach!)
In contrast to his brothers, Louie is quite a calm and steady soul. He has an amazing ability to focus, and loves to paint. I love capturing him when he’s ‘in the zone’. He seems to go into his own little world. It’s these moments which are easy to capture with kids, as they’re already happy doing an activity so you don’t need to ask anything of them.
October was Kohen’s 8th birthday. The night before he turned 8 I said goodnight to him before I went to bed, and I cried! Yes – I’m a total sook! All Kohen wanted for his birthday was a fruit tree. This didn’t surprise me at all, as it’s such a ‘Kohen’ thing to want. He likes to nurture and care for things, he likes learning about how things work, and he loves fruit. So he has a green apple tree and a mandarin tree, and he’s happy. He also got a strawberry plant from his best friend. Let’s hope we don’t kill them!
Birthday mornings are always special, and even though this one was a little rushed as we had to get organised for swimming lessons, I still wanted to capture some moments.
Kohen had a birthday party at Darklight, followed by dinner at home with the family. My kids are lucky enough to have lots of cousins who they love spending time with, and lots of aunties and uncles who make family things feel full.
It was also my birthday this month and I got a new lens – which of course means I need to take the kids out to have a little try of it! We had to go in the middle of the day due to swimming and musical rehearsal commitments, which is never best for photos. Here are some we managed to capture. Louie always gives me flowers and kisses and plenty of hugs, so I asked my husband to capture one of our cuddles.
As well as lots of events this month, we found a little time to play. This is one game that the kids love to play – water chasey. They have to sneak past the person with the spray bottle and try not to get wet! Alby’s look of pure joy as the water is spraying him in the face is just the perfect expression of his for me to capture. It makes me smile every time!
This month our school had its Literacy Parade. This is probably not my favourite school event, as creativity with dressing up is not my strong point! I’m definitely not one of those mothers who can create something amazing for their kids to wear! This was our effort this year, with inspiration taken from the book Gangsta Granny – what do you think?!
Halloween! Do your kids celebrate it? Mine like to go trick or treating, and to be honest, although I’m not huge on dressing up, I love being out on this night. Walking through the streets with everyone out and walking as well, bumping into people you know, and everyone having a little bit of a joyful spirit, just feels really nice. Luckily for me, my older two like to create things and so they created some pumpkin and ghost lolly treats which make it look like I actually went to some effort ha ha!
If you’d like to let me help you create some family memories for yourself, Contact me here.
by Alana | Oct 31, 2018 | Family - Lifestyle, Family - Location, Information
How many of you instinctively tell everyone to ‘smile!’ when taking a photo? How often does that result in frustration or disappointment – those being photographed become bored of remaining still, and those photographing become frustrated that they can’t capture the ‘perfect smile’. And how often does it result in an obviously forced ‘fake smile’? What happens if you challenge yourself on the idea of a perfect photo, and let go of ‘perfect’ expectations? What happens if you just put everyone together, but then just let them BE. It’s usually in those moments that their real personalities are able to shine through, and you can capture who they really are. Even with my own family photos, I’ve had to let go of my expectation to get that one perfect smiling photo. I have four kids, and so getting that shot is very challenging (especially with my 7 year old involved!). Since I’ve let go of that ideal, I’ve found that perfection is what you make of it. It’s the story of who people are and their connections with each other. I’ll forever look back on photos of our family with someone’s bottom in the air, or someone pulling a funny face (usually the 7 year old!), someone slightly out of frame – but that’s all real life! It’s personality and beautiful chaos! It makes me smile when I look back on them, and makes me remember what life was really like.
Everyone has a different definition of what makes the ‘perfect photo’, and different reasons for wanting to book a photo shoot and have their memories captured. There is no right or wrong in what makes a perfect photo as it’s all subjective. For me, I don’t go into a photo shoot aiming to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera. Although we all might like some of those, for me the perfect image really tells a story and shows real emotion rather than posed, stiff smiles. I want to capture YOU! I don’t want you to worry about looking ‘perfect’ or worry about all your children giving proper smiles. For me, a perfect photo doesn’t even need to be a smiling one! There are so many different sides to who we are, and I think it’s beautiful to capture those emotions – even (and sometimes especially) those serious ones. I want to capture a connection between you – the hugs, the kisses, the laughter, love and fun. I don’t want you to worry about who is looking at the camera and who isn’t, who is smiling ‘properly’ and who is giving their best fake cheesy grin! When you look at your images, I want you to remember the feelings and emotion – I want you to being able to look back on that not just now, but in many years from now when things have changed and the kids have grown. I don’t want you to think about whether the photo has everyone smiling and looking at the camera – I want you to look at your images and think about which ones make you FEEL the most. Which one tells a story. One example for me is photos of my children with Father Christmas. Every year I get them, and often the people taking the photo will desperately try to get my kids to look at the camera and smile. But those aren’t the images I love. The ones I remember and love are the ones that tell a story. The year that my 18 month old daughter was too scared to sit on his knee, so sat on the floor in front of him and played with the baubles while we sneakily took a photo; the year that my 2 year old son was too scared and so I had to sit there too, but he was still scared and was screaming and hugging his teddy; the year that my youngest was fascinated by his beard and kept looking up at him and smiling. I don’t need them to all look and smile for me to think the photo is perfect. It’s all a part of the story, and that’s what I love about photography and capturing memories. Below are some examples of how beautiful a photo can be, even when no one is smiling and looking at the camera.
If you’d like to capture some ‘perfect’ memories for yourself, then please Contact me here.
by Alana | Oct 29, 2018 | Family - Location
The day was cold, wet and stormy. We considered cancelling as we all had to travel to get to the Crawley Boat Shed, but we decided to brave it. Despite the weather, there were still a few others who were keen to get photos at the popular spot – resulting in a small line. In the end though, I think it was a blessing in disguise that the weather was so bad, as the line to get photos there can be long during golden hour on a beautiful day(the hour before sunset). The main reason for taking photos at this beautiful spot was because Joy and Jeremy wanted a new photo to place in a frame in their house, and specifically wanted the blue colours from the boat shed. Even though this was the goal, I still wanted to get some other family shots of their girls and of them all together. I took some between turns on the jetty. The girls have such a close relationship, and were very affectionate with each other. Those are the little details that I love to capture – some of my favourite images don’t even involve people looking at the camera – but instead show their connection in other ways. In this case – through arms wrapped around each other, heads leaning on each other, and hands being held. That’s just beautiful to me. It’s so easy to take things for granted, so I love being able to focus on the little details that tell the story of the family and their relationship. We couldn’t spend long there – it quickly rained again – but I’m so glad we went.
If you’d like to capture a family session, Contact Me. If you’d like to look at more beautiful family sessions, look at my Family Portfolio.
by Alana | Oct 27, 2018 | Fresh 48
I’m not sure whether Fresh 48 sessions just didn’t exist when I had my babies, or whether I just wasn’t aware of them. Either way – I wish I could go back and have one! Fresh 48 sessions are a beautiful way to remember and record those very special first few days spent with your fresh baby. They’re usually taken in the hospital where you’ve given birth – but of course if you give birth at home they can be captured in your home environment as well. The essence of them is to capture those first fresh 48 hours with your baby – which is where the term ‘Fresh 48’ comes from. Babies change so much, and they change so fast!!! One minute their little fingers and toes are wrinkly, and the next they’re not. I distinctly remember going to show off my son’s wrinkly feet to his aunty and uncle when they visited, only to find that they weren’t so wrinkly anymore! I had a pang of sadness as I realised that already he’d changed, and I’d missed it. The beauty of a Fresh 48 session is that they can capture all these little details, and they also capture the story of those first few days with your baby, and your first home together. I actually enjoyed my time in the hospital. I enjoyed being able to spend time bonding with my baby and just focusing on them, and it always feels like a special place to me because that’s where our first memories together are. Here are some examples of images from a Fresh 48 session, and some of the memories you can capture:
Remember what the room looked like? How despite the underwhelming décor and poor light, it felt like such a magical time as this was your first home with your baby?
Remember the details of their little hands and features and how quickly they changed once you came home?
Remember being able to just focus on your baby and soak them in before returning to the chaos of real life – to start learning about them and how to be their parent?
Remember the little bed they used to sleep in (although most of the time they were probably being held by someone)
Remember those first few times where you changed their clothes and their little arms stretched out and their legs curled up. Remember that feeling of being responsible for someone so little and new?
Remember when your older child, or children, met their new baby? Remember their reaction – perhaps they were cautious at first, or maybe they were overly affectionate from the start? Remember the first moments as a complete family? Those moments are worth capturing!
There are so many beautiful moments to capture during a Fresh 48 session, but the best part of it all is just telling your story. That time will pass all too fast, and your beautiful baby will grow so quickly before your eyes. Celebrating these first few days of their life allows you to relive that moment – to remember the sounds and the feelings and the rollercoaster of emotions – to remember the details of not only your baby, but also YOU during that time. It’s not the most glamorous time in our life, but it’s up there with the most special and magical times. I think that’s worth remembering.
If you’d like to book a Fresh 48 session for yourself or for someone you love, Contact me here. You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio.
by Alana | Oct 26, 2018 | Family - Lifestyle, Family - Location
Sometimes you know you want a session, but you’re unsure whether you would prefer a location session or a lifestyle session. The answer really depends on what you want to get out of the session. In BOTH types of sessions, my main focus is not on getting the ‘perfect everyone smiling at the camera image’. For me, that isn’t necessarily the perfect photo. My passion for photography comes from telling stories, and I follow that passion with both location and lifestyle sessions. This means that in both sessions I do a lot of moving around, and I focus on those little details such as your little one holding your hand, the twirl of the skirt of your daughter spinning around, you and your partner interlocking hands whilst sitting on a rug…your gallery for both style of sessions will have images of the little details and different perspectives, as that’s the story I love to tell. But there are a few differences between Location and Lifestyle sessions which might help you choose which one is right for you. You can also read more about Lifestyle sessions here.
Where do you want your story told?
Is part of your story your home? Are there particular rooms in your house, or routines you have that you want to remember in a beautiful way? Lifestyle sessions are perfect for newborns, but are just as great for families as well – or even maternity or couple sessions. They allow us to preserve the reality of this time in our lives and remember details that we think we’ll remember, but inevitably forget as time moves on and routines change. For example, the cuddles on the couch, the routine of reading stories on your bed, cooking together in the kitchen….even just the details about what those rooms LOOK like. Remembering the kids rooms as they are when they are little, remembering the rug or couch that is so familiar to you, the way you decorated your rooms with details of your family as it is today…these things all change as time moves on so it can be special to have some family memories which include your home as part of your story. The story of lifestyle sessions are told beautifully in photo books, and your memories can be looked at for years to come. Here are some reasons why I love photo books.
Alternatively, is there a place you all love going to as a family and you’d love to have photos taken there, such as the beach or the park? You can view some Location options for your photo shoot here. Do you want to have nature or the outdoors as your backdrop? Perhaps you’re thinking of framing some images and would like some greenery in the background, or the sunset on the beach. Your story as a family can still be told on location, as I’ll still focus on your interactions together.
Natural vs Posed
Although my focus is not on ‘posing’ families – but rather ‘guiding’ them – there is a little more posing that happens with location shoots compared to lifestyle. This comes in part from people being more comfortable in their home, which allows me to guide you into a room or a particular spot – and then just watch what normally happens. For example, you may want to record reading bedtime stories to your little one on their bed. I may guide you all to be there, but then I’ll simply be photographing what is naturally occurring as you read that story. In each room or place in your home, you’re more likely to just do what comes naturally, and I’ll be there to capture it.
With location sessions, there is generally more guidance and ‘posing’ as there is less for you to naturally do. I’ll usually start by guiding you to sit together on a rug. This will usually result in a natural inclination to all smile at the camera – and although I might get some of those images – but then I’ll move around and capture those little interactions that are happening while you’re together, and those little details. If you’re after a few more of the posed images, then location sessions are usually more likely to provide them simply because when placed together on location, the nature of that looks more posed than it does if placed together on your couch or on your bed which is a more natural place for you to be close together.
When kids are involved
When picking your type of session and there are kids involved – you need to consider the best option for them. If they’re stressed or tired or bored, YOU’RE going to be stressed, and that will come across in the images. Lifestyle sessions can be great for young children, as they’re able to come in and out as their mood strikes, and they don’t feel the pressure to have to sit still and quiet. They’re also great for newborns, as you don’t need to worry about leaving your house, and the nature of lifestyle sessions is that it’s telling your story as it is NOW – which may include a little extra clutter and baby items – so there is no need to have the ‘perfect house’.
Location sessions can also be good for young children (and some beautiful images can be created from playing in nature), but you really have to consider your location properly. Your kids will probably want and need time to run off on their own so they can have breaks between photos – so the beach may be challenging for very young children. With the right location choice, your kids can truly have fun during the session – and images can be captured of them having this fun.
Weather
Lifestyle sessions can be captured all year – it doesn’t matter whether it’s hot or cold – raining or storming. For this reason they’re particularly popular in winter, as there’s less need to cancel due to weather, but they’re just as great in summer (who wants to be sweating outside in the heat of summer?!).
In contrast, location sessions are much more dependent on the weather, and as such there is more chance they’ll need to be rescheduled (or cut short as is the case with one beach maternity session in freezing conditions).
Light and time of the day
Lifestyle sessions can be captured during any daylight hours (although the best time is usually around 10am or 3pm as there is usually some light coming through the windows instead of directly on top of the house). This may make them more suitable when kids and babies are involved, or work schedules.
Location sessions are much more dependent on the light. The best time for location sessions is the hour before sunset – and sunset obviously gets later as it gets warmer. This means that location sessions are often booked around 4pm in winter, and 5/530pm (or sometimes later) in summer. These times aren’t always conducive to happy children, so sometimes we need to compromise light for happy children, and shoot at less than ideal times of the day. In those situations it’s important to find locations with a lot of shade.
These are just some of the things to consider than might help you make up your mind. In summary:
Lifestyle sessions:
- help you capture your home as part of your story, including special routines, rooms or items
- are beautiful stories for photo books
- usually produce more ‘fly on the wall’, natural images
- often allow you to feel more comfortable as you’re in a familiar environment
- can be great for little kids as they are also comfortable, and can come in and out with less pressure to stay in one location
- can be captured during any daylight hours (with the best times being 10am and 3pm)
- can be captured during all seasons and weather conditions
Location sessions:
- usually involve more guidance and ‘posing’ (although will still result in the little details being captured as well)
- are beautiful for images you want to frame on your wall or around your house
- are a great way to capture a place you love to go
- can be great for kids to play in, but you need to make sure you choose a safe environment
- are best captured in the hour before sunset, or if this is not possible, in a location with a lot of shade
- are more likely to need to be rescheduled or cut short due to weather conditions
Feel free to discuss your options with me. Contact me if you’d like to book a session, or gift a session to someone you love.
by Alana | Oct 25, 2018 | Family - Location, Perrys Paddock
Aileen and I met in mothers group with our first babies. Her little girl Abby was 3 months older than the rest of our babies, and at the time that seemed like such a big deal! I always felt like Aileen knew so much more than me because her baby was older than mine! That was over 10 years ago now, and since then we’ve both gone on to have 3 more children each (Yep! We’re both crazy enough to have 4 kids!!). We don’t get to see each other as often as we used to (distance and time comes between us all), but we catch up when we can and I’ve been lucky enough to photograph her family for the last 3 years. Aileen is one of those amazingly organised people who ensures that they get a photo session every year and I think it’s a GREAT idea. What better way to document how everyone is growing, and to also dedicate some time just to your family??! I’m sure this doesn’t excite her family at the moment – but one day they’ll appreciate how they have beautiful images each year documenting how they’ve grown and changed.
This year we had FOUR attempts to get out session in!! The first time was cancelled due to illness, and the next two due to weather. Finally fourth time was the charm – although we had to change locations to Perry’s Paddock (we’d been planning to check out the beautiful blossoms in the hills). Now, I LOVE Perry’s Paddock, however I’ve never been there when the grass (weeds??!!) have been soooo long and unfortunately this caused quite a few hay fever issues, particularly for poor Aileen and Abby. She sent me a photo later that evening with their eyes red and puffed up, and a warning not to touch my eyes with my hands before washing them! So although I love Perry’s Paddock, I might avoid it during spring if you suffer from hay fever too badly! Luckily for us, there is no evidence of red puffy eyes in the images, and as usual they all look gorgeous! I’ve always loved photographing Aileen and I know this will probably embarrass her – but the camera just loves her! She’s truly beautiful and expressive, and her smile is so warm and sincere. I don’t think she even knows how to ‘fake smile’?!
If you’d like to book a family session for yourself, or for someone you love, Contact me here. You can also view my Family Portfolio.
by Alana | Oct 18, 2018 | Burns Beach, Maternity
Jaydean and her partner Chris travelled over an hour to meet me at Burns Beach for their maternity session. Chris had also driven throughout the day as he’s a FIFO worker, so had spent a lot of time in the car. I appreciated the effort they made to be there for the shoot! Jaydean and Chris were due to have their first baby girl, and once she was born, Jaydean was going to be moving so that Chris didn’t have to commute back and forth for work. They were such a beautiful couple – so full of laughter and love, and looking forward to their little girl being born. I’m sure she’ll be wrapped around Chris’s little finger! During a maternity session, I don’t like to only get images of the growing bump. I also like focusing on the connection between the soon-to-be parents. I think it’s so special and beautiful. One of my favourite images is Jaydean’s arms wrapped around Chris’s neck. If you looked at the image in isolation, you wouldn’t know that it was part of a maternity session. But I know it is, and they know it is. Images can be so powerful – there are so many memories associated with a particular image and point in time. I want clients to not only visually remember that time, but also remember the feelings of that time.
If you’d like to view more beautiful maternity images, check out my Maternity Portfolio. If you’d like to book a session, Contact me here.
