Yesterday I was thrilled to catch up with Sarah and Mike again.  Their wedding was a particularly special one, one I'd happily go to all over again!  Well, Sarah has kept in touch and become more of a friend then a client, so when I heard that she was coming through Blenheim again with their gorgeous little Callum, there was no doubt that we had to do a photoshoot!

Look at him!  Don't you just want to squeeze him?

It was great to see Julia again too, she is Sarah's sister and a bridesmaid at the wedding.

Callum's first time in a swing.

Do you get the feeling that he quite likes his Daddy?

Gorgeous family!

Sarah is still looking beautiful!

Mike and Sarah live in Singapore, and one thing they don't get over there is icecream in cones like we do.  Here in New Zealand they are still sold in most dairies, and you buy them by the scoop.  So we had to stop by and get some!

Bear with me while I play with some textures!  Until now I hadn't really bought into the whole texture thing, but it may just grow on me yet.

Mike has the FUNNIEST sense of humour, we had a real ball.  I'm not sure what the dairy owner thought of us though....!

Thanks so much for coming to see us guys!  It was so much fun, I don't think I've laughed so much in a long time!  Can't wait till we do it again :)

This weekend we've been lucky enough to have Paul's cousin Ruth and her gorgeous family staying in Blenheim.  Of course, we couldn't let the opportunity go without a photoshoot!

So this afternoon I packed up my six kids, and took them to Nana and Grandad's.  It was no small task getting everything ready all by myself, as Paul is away at an AIPA conference right now.  Nonetheless, I thought I was doing remarkably well..... until..... I discovered I was wearing odd shoes.  I kid you not.  Sure they were both black, but they were different heights!  It's quite a skill to not notice that for half an hour!

Anyway - if my pictures are on a slight lean, you know why.

First up, we went to the blue wall.  I asked "Who's going to do the best jump for me?"  And this was the response:

I'm pretty sure Aaron won that one!  He's got some mad jumping skills!

This is Sam, and believe it or not, this shot was his idea!

Alyssa is the picture of her Mum, what a cutie!

I don't know why I always like to do a 'feet shot'.  It's just part of what I do, I even did it this week on a commercial shoot, I just can't resist!  As Paul says, "the head part of the body is so over rated!"  I'm loving the sign on this one:

Who's doing the meanest face, do you think?

Then off to the park so that the kids could get some playing done!  In the meantime, I got some lovely pictures of just Ruth and Aaron.

Can you believe that Ruth doesn't think she's photogenic?!

I think even Aaron surprised himself, to be honest.

These guys are such a lovely couple, really warm and loving.  I totally wish they lived closer!

Check out the 'That's my Dad!' look on Sam's face.  Too cute!

Ok - that's me for now!  I've got a big month lined up, no weddings, but a whole bunch of family shoots to do.  I might even throw in a trash the dress for good measure!  Don't forget you can stay a little more up to date with the goings on at our place by joining me on facebook!

Well, I was right again!  Lisa looked absolutely beautiful yesterday!  Her dress was so magnificent, perfect for a church wedding!

Hayley and Julia were great bridesmaids...

And gorgeous in their own right!

Beautiful!!

And for all you detail junkies:

Chris' Dad shows him how it's done.

Greeting the wedding guests as they arrive at the church.

I LOVE this photo!  I love how Paul has managed to keep a sense of movement, while Chris had paused for a moment.

And then they arrive!

The first look, how cute!

St Mary's Church is so photogenic!  Paul snuck up to the balcony to grab this.

And they're married!  Lisa is just glowing!

I think this may just be my favourite group photo yet!  It was so chilly outside, I couldn't bare to drag everyone out.  I think that may have been a blessing in disguise.

And then off to have some more photos taken!  Spring in Pollard Park, you just gotta love it!

You know, they're laughing at me lying on my back on the cold grass.  This must have been the funniest scene to passers by!

And then off to Montana!  It's the second wedding in a row to go there!  It's no wonder, it's a really great place for a reception.

The barrel room was almost empty, but it did mean there was room to play!

The reception has started....

Thanks so much for including us in your special day guys!  It was just lovely, and I can't wait to show you the rest of the photos! 

In other news:

I have caved to the social pressure of creating our own photography facebook page, so if you're a facebook type of person - come on over, become a fan and lets hang out!  It'll be more informal than the blog, with mini updates, before and after pics and it's easier for us to interact.  Come on over and say hi, you know you want to!

Today I had the great pleasure of having an engagement shoot with Lisa and Chris.  They're getting married on Saturday, and I can't wait! 

It's almost impossible to take a bad picture of Lisa, somehow she knows exactly where to put herself to get the best picture, she's just gorgeous!  

One of the first things Lisa asked for was cherry blossoms, we found some on the far side of Pollard Park.  We took plenty of them under the tree - then I just had to get among the blossoms.... and funnily enough, this is my favourite shot! 

I love this little brick wall and I often try and use it in shots.  Other than looking good, I don't think it actually has a purpose?  Works for me though!

These guys are so lovely together, it really wasn't very difficult to capture their chemistry.

Love it!  LOVE it!

I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with these guys this afternoon.  They really were happy to try pretty well anything!  I love this one, Chris looks like a superhero  - so great!

See what I mean when I say that Lisa really works it well!

Chris did pretty well too!  In fact, he was our ideas man.  I wouldn't have thought of going on the golf course, but it worked!

I'll leave you with my favourite for the day.  There is a whole series of these - but I've already put in too many pictures for it to be a preview, so I'll just stop right here!

I can't wait for Saturday!  I just know we're going to have a blast!  Watch this space on Monday - I for one can't wait to see these two all dressed up and getting married!

What a wonderful start to the wedding season!  We've known Ben from Windhawk Helicopters for a while now, he takes Paul on all those marvelous helicopter jobs.  I've been looking forward to this wedding, not only because Ben is our friend, but also because I knew Alice would be a beautiful bride, and I was certainly not dissapointed! 

I'm such a sap.  For some reason this wedding got to me.  There were beautiful moments all day, I simply had to collect them.

Check out the time on the watch.  The wedding was at 3pm, ten minutes to go!

I know I've said it before, but YAY for Pink Poppie!

Beautiful!

This next photo is my favourite of the day.  I can just stare at it for ages.  A 'mother of the bride' moment.  Absolutely stunning.

Meanwhile Paul is with Ben while he gets ready. 

Wow, this one gets me too.  How gorgeous!

While Ben was saying his vows you could really tell that he meant every word.  Sometimes I wish I took video as well, I don't think anyone could watch it without getting a little teary!

I'm pretty sure Ben's parents could tell that he meant it too.

Time for some quick portraits.  Although it looked warm, the day was absolutely FREEZING!  Poor Alice is an Aussie girl, and I don't think she enjoyed the arctic feel in the air!

This is actually where they live, up on this hill.  Not too shabby a view!

Can you tell these two are brothers?!

Into the Limo...

And then off to Montana!

And a 'mother of the groom' moment.  You can see why I adored this wedding, can't you?

Alice and Ben, what an amazing day it was.  We were so thrilled to be part of it - there are still sooooo many more moments to show you, I can't wait!  See you when you get back!

In other news:  You'll notice that the blog has slightly changed to allow for larger images.  Paul's been busily programming to make the pictures look even bigger and better.  I'm sorry to those of you still on dialup!

Meet Mark and Chistina:

And their too CUTE for words baby, Rose:

They're our cousins, and when I heard that they were coming to Blenheim, I just knew I wanted to have a session with them!  I had not met Rosie yet, so I was busting to get my camera out and capture this adorable family.

How delicious is she?  Look at those cheeks!

Ya just wanna kiss them!

To start with she did just fine on the grass.....

.....and then things were NOT FINE anymore!

Christina has the most amazing story, having come from the Philippines when she was young, we're so thrilled to have her in our family!  She's always a delight to catch up with, and now seeing her with her husband and baby, the story just keeps getting better!

Thanks for your time yesterday guys, it was a real blast!  We had so much fun catching up with you, lets do it again sometime!

In other news: Charlotte is 6 weeks now, and still the world's most perfect baby (sorry to all you other parents out there, I've got the best!)  She's doing all the right baby things, smiling and already sleeping though the night!  Yep, I'll keep her alright! 

Our wedding season kicks in next weekend.  And just WAIT till you see the bride, she is real model material, can't wait! 

Meet Nadine and Phillip:

Nadine works at Topshots, where we get our photos printed.  You can imagine how thrilled I was when she told me she was engaged and asked us to be her wedding photographers!  That's got to be the ultimate compliment!

Today I met Phillip for the first time, and let me tell you, he suits her down to the ground.  They are so lovely together, and he is a super nice guy!  The kind of couple you can just talk to for hours, really easy going.

We started the shoot at Nadine's home, where she grew up, and spent her spare time as a child playing on the river.  I found out today that we lived a few doors down from her about 12 years ago, back when she was just a young 'en, and I only had one baby to my name!

Gorgeous!

Then we headed off into the country, and wow there were some awesome spots there!

Gotta have the feet shot!

Look at these guys workin' it, love it!

Then I swapped my trusty 50mm 1.2 lens, to the 10-22mm - and it just got better!

and just as the sun was leaving us....

I had such a great time with Nadine and Phillip today.  It was an easy going, fun shoot, the perfect way to ease me back into taking photos again!  I've been feeling a bit rusty since having some time off with the baby, but it feels fantastic to be behind the camera again! 

Guys, I can't WAIT for your wedding next year!  It's going to be so much fun!