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Golden and fearless,

you are the key in the lock.

Well,what I can say about this session, except that it was an honour wrapped up in a privilege, and a whole lot of fun as well. I first met Sharon, a wonderful NSW photographer in her own right, a few years back on a photography workshop. We got along so well, and even though we live in different states it has been a joy to watch her family grow (via her blog and various Photo-a-Day projects).

So, I am so very grateful she asked me to capture her family just before Christmas last year in Sydney, and I adored getting to know her beautiful family just a little better. Sharon and Jonathon’s kids are really pretty amazing, and together have the most beautiful bond. I loved my afternoon with the Mallins, and hope you do too.

xx

From love, you bloomed.
Without notice, and almost imperceptibly, you grew.
Warmed by the heat of our hearts, watered by happy tears, you reached.
And now, buoyant and brave, you soar of your own wings, but with the feathers we made only for you.

And I serve the Fairy Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours.

William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

It was with a sense of pure delight that I recently spent a summery afternoon with these three little fairies, and their gorgeous parents, in Mt Eliza recently. These darling girls embodied everything that Shakespeare’s woodland fairies conjured up for me (dork alert: I enthusiastically chose to study Shakespeare for a whole semester at university many moons ago, so I know the play i reference pretty well).

So; a real fairy? Not because she wears pretty dresses and likes to twirl about, although that also is true.  But because she is natural, pure, free, inquisitive, and perfectly attuned to the beauty and wonder of the natural world.

And, real fairies have wings, and are not afraid to fly.

I rewrote a rhyme for this beautiful family. It goes a little something like this:

What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?
Slugs and snails
And puppy-dogs’ tails,
And Sugar and spice
And everything nice.

You might notice that I condensed a couple of verses, to make it less stereotypical and one-dimensional.

If you don’t agree, then I am afraid you have never met this family, with three of the most charming and agreeable little fellows you are ever likely to meet.

And actually, what I believe we are made of is ‘love’, and all the rest is just interesting details….

PS Stunning mummy Louise is an uber-talented Melbourne newborn photographer, you can find her over here!

A couple of weeks ago, on a whim, about two weeks before a family holiday to Noosa, I was wondering whether I should take all my ‘good’ camera gear for a family shoot. We did this a few years back on our last holiday, to Port Douglas, and the whole family really treasures the beautiful Queensberry album that I made from that session.
Except then I remembered that I am not in that album. As someone whose mother has passed away, I would give anything for more images which have both my mother and I in them. I have one, and it sits in a frame on my dressing table. It is the 1971, I am about 6 months old, sitting on my mother’s hip, She has fabulous hair, she is young and stunning and looks at me with what we call in my family; ‘the eyes of love’. I treasure this photo immensely.

So I googled ‘Noosa Family Photography’, wondering whether there are any good photographers in Noosa, whom I perhaps could book for a family session?.
I could not believe the beautiful work of Anya Ponti, and was amazed that I had never heard of her before. Which is kind of funny in hindsight because now that I know her work I think that Anya is one of the most talented photographers working in Australia right now. I am incredibly grateful to her for our family images, and the beautiful album she has created for us. She has seen in my family all the beauty that I see, and she has captured for us all the love that we feel, and these are the most important gifts a photographer can offer up, and what we all should aspire to in every session. I am honoured to share my family’s session with Anya over here.

Anya is amazing not just because she understands and uses light beautifully, because she can frame with care or use depth of field thoughtfully, but because she brought those skills to noticing all the things that do matter; the way my baby’s curls catch the sunlight, how eyelash kisses feel, the way I want to hold my children close every minute of their lives, even as I am letting them go.

Beyond all this; there is something else I want to tell Anya. The images she has captured for me, more than making me sublimely happy, will make me a better photographer; she has reminded me of the power of true vision, and authenticity, two things which can sometimes be overlooked in the busy-ness of life and business. I am sometimes guilty of overthinking what a client might ‘expect’ from their photo session, and sometimes I lack clarity on how much of myself to bring to the session. I completely believe that the photographer’s role is to capture a family the way they would most like to see themselves. And to that end, my session with Anya has taught me to speak less, and listen more, and with a quieter mind.

So much to be grateful for.

Like life itself, beautiful days like this one will end, and if we keep awareness of that long enough to breathe it all in, then we have done as much as we can. Shadow gives meaning to light; what every photographer should know in their heart before having the audacity to press the shutter.

Freezing cold, rain and a biting wind (aaah! Melbourne!)  could not dampen the enthusiasm of this beautiful family, who went to some lengths to include their daughter’s love of horses in their family photographs. Starting the session on St Andrews Beach near Gunnamatta, we abandoned soon after and found this gorgeous forest glade along the horse track. Where we were reminded  that the best way to keep warm is always just to snuggle in!

On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.  |  One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The colours differ, of course. Your colour might be, red, blue, purple or a little more like turquoise. It may even be pastel, or a pale lemony-lime (lucky you!).

One thing I know for sure, life inside a family is never grey.

Photographing the amazingness that is a family is my absolute favourite thing to do in the world, other than hanging out with my own little gang. So here is a beautiful recent little winter session, with the divine Master R and his wonderful parents. And one ‘exuberant’ dog.

Love.

xxxxSarah

Hey there! Something a little personal from me today. Like many photographers, I struggle to find the time to take enough photos of my children. Besides the constant iphone images.

So one day every month, for the coming year, I am going to pack my 5DII (the ‘good’ camera; kind of like using the ‘good’ china for the Sunday Roast, vs the rainbow Ikea plates) for the day, and capture whatever it is we get up to for the day. The good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. The (mostly) beautifully ordinary. This month, I aimed to capture 11 images on the 11th day of the month (yesterday). There are just a few more than that, I dound it hard to cull any further. I was particularly attached to the least necessary of these images, the sink full of dishes. I do seethat is kind of whiney for me to include that one. But clearly I resent the amount of time which has to be spent doing these sorts of tasks, and I didn’t realise how much Until I was drawn to make this photograph instead spending more time outside kicking the soccer ball with Arch. Sometimes I can be a total martyr to the shrine of ‘how much work 4 children are’. But that is why a project like this is so great. It forces your attention to things just that little more. The good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Hopefully more of the latter.

So yesterday was a quietish day for us. Just hanging about the house, and one little errand for us all in the car. Lots of Rupert our little swedish chef (‘eegadishgadoo” anyone?), unpacking and repacking various cupboards. Ball kicking, tidying of rooms, some games; we have a very mixed-age ‘cheese’ game where you fish for cheese and mice heads with little sticks.  The feature of the weekend has really been Estella’s practice for Monday’s cello exam. I think I have heard her 3 pieces so many times that I could give the exam a go myself. There have also been a few spectacular artist meltdowns which I photographed (much to the maestro’s annoyance) but decided not to share, out of respect That’s how we ended up with some selfies, Estella and I. We had to have a ‘big talk’ about exams, pressure, and the various meanings of success. Which led to cuddles and laughter at the end.

11 photos are not much to capture the busy-ness and beauty of our lives. But it also not such a huge challenge as to defeat me before I begin, as the 365 photo-a-day project is. Sadly, I have struggled to complete even January photo-a-day projects in the past. But I am hopeful that because this is only one day a month, there is plenty of time for recovery and image processing, despite how busy I get. I really want to have more family photo books in my home. For the kids to fight over, along with the good china, when they are shipping me off the nursing home. Wish me luck!

I am also keen to follow other photographers (whether professional or not) on this project, as these things are always more fun in groups! So far I am following my dear friend Angie Baxter, the gorgeous Rowe Timson and also El Hogan (who I don’t actually know IRL ***waves hello to El***) but if you would like me to follow you too please pop your blog address in a comment below and I can’t wait to join in your fun!

Speaking of lamb roasts, I’m off to enjoy one now. Yum!