I have photographed quite a number of bumps, and what I love about each and every one of them is that they are all so different!
Today photographing M and M’s bump I realised how cute this little one was! I mean M is 36 weeks, and looks *amazing*!!! It was a great way to kick off the week, and I am really excited to meet their new bundle in a very few, short weeks! All the best guys, see you soon!
Monday I received a call from Suri Creations asking if I could do a fashion shoot with a very short time frame. Luckily I was going to be going to a fun shoot (something I like to do from time to time for me!) and I had a model and another photographer who were ready to go anyways.
We went to a wonderful, rustic creation with our model (Ryley is also a great emerging photographer), an amazing gown and the designers. It was all systems are go. It was such a fun afternoon and something I would really adore to do again. So if you are a business out there wanting some fashion shots that stand out be sure to give me a call!
This gown was hand made, completely. Suri Creations spin the fleece and then hand crochet the gown together. These are one off gowns, and something that certainly will see a bride stand out from the crowd. From a photographer point of view, they are such a flattering, elegant and unique dress to photograph. Also very practical for some different sort of fashion like shots. Oh how I loved it!!
Anyway, thought I would share a few of the images (and will update you once I know what image makes the magazine):
I wonder if any of you have seen me lately and not been up to say hello? The town of Bundaberg has been buzzing with a few things going on that I (and my family too!) have been part of. It started with our local show, this is something that we look forward to every year. A dagwood dog (to make you feel so sick!); show bags and fireworks. This year I entered the local photography section as I always do, and gained a 2nd in the “colour portrait” section. My girls also went ahead and entered the competition for the first time. They did very well with some highly commended and a 2nd for G. Here are a few shots:
I also had the opportunity to “woman” 2 stalls lately. The first being at our “Wedding and Formal Expo” in May, and the other at a wonderful evening held at the Bundaberg CitiCoast Church, it was called “Glamour” and was basically a night of fun, pamper and cake 
for women. It was so beautiful to see, and great to be part of! Be sure to try and go along next year ladies!! Here is my stall from the Expo:
Last week I realised how fortunate I am to have my Mum. I got a phone call from my husband saying “your Mum has been taken to hospital, it has been touch and go but they think she will be alright.” You know when you feel yourself walking, but you don’t know if you are actually moving at all? Not nice at all! My Mum is fine now, but she did come dangerously close to not being here. It made me think, yet again how much I love her and how fortunate I am that together as a family we take a lot of photographs.
I don’t however have many images to look at of my Mum from when she was my age (young!! hehe!). Do you have many of your Mum to look at from her younger days? Do your children have these precious, priceless images at all? Imagine being able to show great-great-grandchildren one day what your Mum looked like!
I find that a lot of women don’t like having their photograph taken, as Mothers we don’t get that time to take out for ourselves as we are always putting everything and everyone before us! Maybe for your Mum you could give a gift to her and in turn future generations of your family.
A photoshoot *just* for Mum! One where we get to celebrate the woman that she is, the beautiful nurturer and soft place to fall. The one that really makes us feel like it will all be ok – as she said it would be! This is aimed to be a fun and joyous occassion for your special Mum/lady!
This photo shoot includes the following:
In house consultation, including wardrobe and accessories assistance
Up to 2 hours total of fun, laughs and photographs
Lunch and champage
1 Album containing 10 5×7 images (chosen by Mum)
TOTAL of $300
Dates are filling up very quickly leading up to Mothers’ Day, so please email or call asap to secure your date and time ($100 booking fee required, subtracted from the total cost). I know by taking a lot of self portraits last year during my image-a-day I realised what a great gift I have now got to give my daughters, and their children etc etc. Here are a few more to share with you:
Today was a sad, reflective today. The day of national mourning to remember the (last I read) 209 people who were tragically killed in the Victorian bush fires 2 weeks ago.
7 February, 2009. My G turned 6, it was a lovely day here and we had no idea of what was going on. I photographed the most beautiful wedding, their lives starting a new beginning. Happy times. It breaks my heart at times to know that while one person experiences sheer joy another experiences sheer heartache.
Today I sat in the lounge room playing “babies” with my girls. It was fun, it was great to have a break from my work. As we played away happily a few tears rolled down my face. “I am Australian” was being sung, and I felt so, so saddened to watch the service. I hope that somehow these people can move forward, but as a beautiful friend once said to me after a tragedy “you don’t move on, you just learn to live a new life”. It is true isn’t it? When you loose someone you love, or you are faced with hard times you don’t ever forget them, you just have to keep breathing. Sometimes each breath physically hurts to take!
My offer of all booking fees being donated is still running, so please consider this for the months of Feb and March! Thanks to those who have donated already, it is a lovely gift to give. In light of the mourning I won’t share any of my “education week” topics today. Be ready for tomorrow.
Finally, I am going to share this image of myself. I don’t know who to pray too, I am not 100% set on religion. I just hope that when I ask in my head “please help those in pain” that someone out there hears me and please, please makes a difference!
I have declared this to be “education week” my friends. Through out this coming week I would like to share some of the reasons why I do what I do. I will cover the following and more:
“But a 5×7 only cost $1 why do you charge $xx?”
“If I had a good camera I could take those photographs too”
“Why wall art, what is it?”
“Why should I pay more for a photographer, I can get it much cheaper down the road”
“You only have to own a camera and you are a successful photographer”
Why am I doing this I hear you all ask? I am doing this as I come across these questions from time to time and I have been wanting to educate you and potential clients about what is involved. Almost like an insight into the business of being a photographer. I don’t want to say *ever* that I have all the answers, I definitely have had to learn through some bad decisions!
I will kick this off tomorrow for you all, and hope that you come in daily to give me your feedback and opinions (and yep, each day I’ll share a new image!).
Happy weekend 
I have returned from my 2 day workshop, and I have to say that I am all of the following at once:
*excited
*happy
*inspired
*exhausted
*positive
*exhausted
*overwhelmed
and
*EXHAUSTED*
I am exhausted, but you know that wonderful exhaustion that is so worth it? This is how I feel! I am busy reflecting on all that I heard and all that I have learnt. I have a lot of changes coming this way, please keep an eye on this blog and the website
The TTD offer is still open, and thanks to the 6 couples who have registered their interest! I am very excited and positive about the response. What if you miss out? Well, you can always book a TTD session with me. Now, wouldn’t that make a great anniversary present to you both?
I have had a few requests to show more of my 366 days of images, so here is one that I really liked myself:
The year of 2008, in images. Here is a video of most of the shots I took through the year:
[vimeo vimeo.com/2737186]
2008 saw me take on a personal challenge of a photo-a-day. This wasn’t too hard when the girls were at home and I was able to photograph them. But then at the end of January both girls were in full time schooling. Then I quickly realised that it was mostly me and the camera during the day. So therefore a lot of entries turned into self portraits. It was daunting at first, as I use to really dislike having my photograph taken. But quickly I learnt to feel comfortable in front of the camera and the challenge continued.
I have not only learnt so much about photography (and photoshop hehe!), but also a lot about myself. Well, yesterday saw day 366 finally come around and I was able to complete the challenge. It really felt so amazing to complete it, and such an achievement. Here is the last image that I wanted to share:
Many thanks to those of you that supported and encouraged me though this, it really was a great feeling to know I had you there.
I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas/Holiday period as much as we all did. To have a few days at home, with the extended family really is the best! We took it easy, eat some yummy food and swam lots (well the kids more then me!).
Here are a few shots I took to remember the time we had together:
{Disclaimer: I have a twin sister who is featured in here also!!}
I wanted to take this moment to hope you all have a safe and fun New Years Eve. I know that ‘09 is going to be a great year and I can’t wait to see who I get to photograph and meet It really is a wonderful thing to do. Thanks for the past year, which has been a great (and huge) year for me I appreciate the support from every one of you.
Suse xx