This weekend I had a family shoot lined up at the malthouse, which has been postponed.  I was still pretty keen to do a session at the Malthouse, so I put a call out on my facebook page for a half price last minute booking.  (See, it does pay to join me on facebook!)  Before long Katherine called me up and booked her boys in.  I always try to capture the personality of everyone I photograph, and so all my 'romantic' malthouse ideas took a backseat!

I love this shot!  (and yes, we did have permission to be there!)

These boys certainly don't lack any personality, that's for sure!  And how can you NOT use a perfectly good outhouse in a photo or two?

I was shooting something else entirely, turned around only to see a much better photo happening behind me.  Sometimes you've got to have eyes in the back of your head!  As tough as these boys are, you can see they really do love their Mum!

They actually did exceptionally well, especially considering they had missed lunch completely!  I only have one boy, but I know that boys do like their food, and would rather not miss any meals if possible! 

I love the drama in this shot. 

Inside the Malthouse, and the light is just gorgeous!

Such a nice shot!!

Thanks for playing along boys, you really were great!  And well done Katherine for spotting my facebook announcement.  We had a lot of laughs, didn't we? 

Often I get so caught up with the fun of posting weddings and portraits on the blog, that I completely neglect showing off the other stuff we do too!  Here is part of a series we shot for Highfield Estate recently.  What I particularly like about this series, is how each photo illustrates the job that the person does.  They're not just the usual "This is Joe" photos. Sure they take more time and forethought, but I think it's totally worth it!

Setting the scene with one of Paul's gorgeous winter shots.  This was just before bud burst, we were super lucky to get a good frost!  Taken just as the sun was rising, this was not a shoot I was too upset about missing! 

But give me people to photograph, and then I'm all in!

This is one of the winemakers, Al.  I particularly love what Paul has done with the lighting here.  See the light pattern behind him?  That was Paul up on the catwalk with the external strobe through the grid.  Cool ey?  Another strobe camera right, lighting up Al and the doggie.

What I love about this shot, is the perfect spider's web on the tree, also the look of responsibility on the doggie's face.  It's a big job being the winemakers dog you know!

In other news:  We have released our Wedding price list and information for next summer (2010/2011), so if you've been waiting for us to open the calender for bookings, now's the time!  Drop us an email, and I'll send you all the info.

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!

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!

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!