Kylie Douglass Photography

I have a new blog!

2010-07-22T20:46:00.001+12:00

Hi everyone, well it's been very quiet in here lately, but that's because I've been incredibly busy working on my fantastic new blogsite. And I very happy to say that it's finally live! So, update your bookmarks - I have moved!

You can find me at: www.kyliedouglassphotography.com

See you there!
Kylie xo

Rain, Gumboots, Puddles and Fun!

2010-06-09T20:12:00.001+12:00

We have had so much rain here over the past few weeks, and so many days indoors, that yesterday it was time to rug up, put on Hayden's new gumboots and jump in some puddles! Oh, and grab the camera!

It was absolutely freezing out, although we were lucky enough to find a break in the rain. We even had a small glimpse of sun, which made for some gorgeous colours and back lighting. It felt so much later in the day than 2pm!

Hayden had heaps of fun running up and down in the water, jumping about, and of course lots of kicking! Gumboots came off and went flying on a few occasions, and by the end of it, I think there was just as much water in the gumboots as in the puddles!

Although it was cold, and our time outdoors was fairly short, there's something quite nice about going back into a warm house on a winter's day and feeling those red fingers and toes warm up and start to tingle.

And here are some photos to share with you. I hope you're staying warm this winter but also getting out to enjoy it too!

Don't forget that you can have a photo session done during winter! If you don't want to brave a cold winter's day outdoors, you can always come to my nice warm, cosy studio to have some shots taken. I'll even promise to have a hot drink waiting for you!

Feel free to contact me for more information!
Kylie :)

Miss B

2010-05-30T17:33:00.000+12:00

I have known this family for nearly three years now through our Plunket Mum's group, and I'm pleased to announce that Miss J is now the proud big sister to little Miss B, a true little cutie. Mum knew she had no choice but to let me in to photograph the new baby, lol, but luckily she was all for it.

Miss B was 12 days old when I went along to photograph her, and it was a terrible, horrible, cold, wet day, so the fire was on, wheat bags out, and lights on! I don't normally like to use studio lighting with newborns, but there just wasn't any choice on this day.

We managed to get some little 'snooze' photos right at the start, but then Miss B wanted to see what all the action was about and was wide awake for the rest of the shoot. She was happy just to lie there for quite a while, so we got some lovely shots in before it was time to go back to Mum and Dad for more cuddles.

S and S, here is a little sneek-peek of your shoot - finally! I will have your full gallery up for you in the next couple of days. Thank you for letting me come and photograph your new wee daughter. Kylie :)

Happy Birthday Hayden!

2010-05-20T13:59:00.028+12:00

Well this is just a little belated Happy Birthday post for my gorgeous wee boy! Hayden was 3 a couple of weeks ago - my little boy is growing up!

We had a little party with family on the Saturday prior to his birthday and had his Thomas the Tank Engine cake (it was very much a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday!!). Then on his actual birthday, we headed into the city and went for a ride on the tourist tram for the first time. Hayden loved his ride on the tram to the extent that we ended up going around the circuit three times!

And here's a few photos of the birthday boy!

The cake!

A couple of photos that I love of Hayden taking it all in on the tram:

And getting up to mischief with Dea (Grandad) at the tram stop! (Just had to share this photo!)

Happy 3rd Birthday Hayden - I hope that you have so much fun being 3 and I can't wait to have lots of fun with you! Lots of love, Mummy xxx

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T11:35:00.000+12:00

For birthdays and special occasions I like to take photos to make my own little cards. With Mother's Day approaching, I set Hayden up last week with some flowers to take some shots to turn into a storyboard card. As is usually the case with Hayden, I had to work quickly as you only get a few minutes before he's had enough and says "no more photos" - or in the case of working with flowers, the flowers get a bit of a rough time!

So a belated Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mum's out there, and here are three little pics that I wanted to share with you :)

And the final product:

Autumn Leaves in Hagley Park

2010-05-06T20:46:00.001+12:00

It is fast becoming a tradition to take Hayden to Hagley Park each Autumn for photos in the leaves. Autumn is such a beautiful season and I just love the autumn colours. This is our third year of going, and we were a lot later going this year than last. In fact with being so busy after the shift, I was getting worried we were going to miss the best of the leaves. But, thanks to a gorgeous late summer and therefore a late Autumn, we were pretty much at a perfect time.

Last year, Hayden pretty much had no interest in playing in the leaves at all, but this year he was more than happy to kick big piles of leaves - in fact, when you look at the photos below you'll notice a little 'kicking' theme going on! As long as I kept making piles of leaves, Hayden was happy to run and come and kick them. Although I simply couldn't convince him to pick them up and throw them in the air - maybe next year!

Anyway, it was a gorgeous morning at the park; a lovely mild overcast day and not a breath of wind - perfect photo weather! So lots and lots of photographs were taken, and I've finally managed to work my way through them and have chosen a few favourites to share!

My gorgeous boy and me

2010-05-02T17:35:00.006+12:00

It isn't very often that I get a photo of Hayden and I together as I'm usually on the other side of the camera, and it's been such a long time since I've done a 'self-portrait' of Hayden and I together. So, the other day, out came the tripod, and Hayden and I had an impromptu photo session together. We actually had heaps of fun and Hayden was all up for it. I even managed to capture a few great shots before the 'fake' smiles came out.

So, I thought that I'd share three of my favourites with you in a storyboard.

I think we sometimes undervalue the importance of getting photos of ourselves with our children - there's always the excuse of, I need to lose weight... I need to get my hair done... I hate having my photo taken... But I know that these are little photos that I will treasure (even the fake smile ones). So make sure you do get photos of you with your kids, or book in that family photo session!

It's been a while... (and a little Thomas)

2010-04-30T20:44:00.001+12:00

Well, at the end of my last post, I did mention that I'd be 'away' for a while given that we were shifting house, but even I was a little shocked when I recently checked my blog and saw that it was February when I last posted! It's a pretty clear reminder how quickly the year is going already, considering it's the last day of April today!

So, for those of you who are interested, a very quick fill in on what has been happening over the last couple of months. In fact, apart from our shift, there isn't a lot of other news! The last few weeks before we moved in were so busy with making lots of last minute decisions and were spent meeting various tradesmen almost daily on site. The shift itself went incredibly well - nothing broken or damaged, which was great after the disastrous shift last time! Typically we had taken out the extra insurance this time. It has really proven though that you do get what you pay for!

We've now been in our new house for a month! It's still been a little like Grand Central Station though with tradesmen in and out, but apart from a leaking toilet (don't ask!!) things have finally settled down somewhat this week.

So, the long and the short of it; the camera has finally been dusted off, the memory cards cleared and the batteries charged!

One of the wonderful things about designing our own house is that I have been able to incorporate my own little dedicated photography room/studio, which is so exciting. It isn't a huge space, but it has the basics of what I need, and lots of storage!! It will make studio sessions so much easier and I'm really looking forward to making the most of this space. Therefore, I have been dying to get in there and try it out! I decided that my first little project would be to have a test run in the studio (as it's called!) - and with what better subjects, than my favourite little boy and his favourite little toy! Yes, it's Hayden and Thomas!

Well, I'm back up for business, so please contact me if you'd like to have some photos taken. Will be back soon to share some more with you too!

Kylie :)

February "Photo A Day" | Week 4

2010-02-22T22:44:00.014+13:00

It's the final week of my "Photo A Day" for February. I still have so many ideas and shots I want to try so I think we'll make it to the end of the month!

Day 22
22 February 2010 | 1.56 - 2.14pm

It feels like summer has finally arrived - nearly at the end of February! We have had some gorgeous weather the past few days, so today we headed into Hagley Park again (you can probably tell that this is one of our favourite places for a trip out!), but this time to cool off in the paddling pools. We met up with Hayden's little friend, Miss Z, and her little sister, Miss L, and had a lovely afternoon together. It was just so nice to get out and enjoy the wonderful weather.

As per usual, the camera had to come along too, although it definitely wasn't the best time of day to be taking photographs on a bright sunny afternoon. But, I guess sometimes you just want to capture those fun moments anyway, and you have to do what you can do to make the most of it. I also have to add though that I did feel somewhat conspicuous wading around in the pool with my huge camera around my neck! You do get some odd looks!

Anyway, I thought that I'd just put together some of my favourite snap shots of the kids playing to share for today's PAD.

Day 23
23 February 2010 | 2.29 - 3.53pm

Today is all about the cutest little girl, Miss L, who celebrated her first birthday today! (And yes, you might recognise her from the photos above!) I was excited to be asked to pop along to her birthday party this afternoon to take some photos of the little star herself. It was probably the hottest day we've had of summer so far, so an absolutely gorgeous day to turn 1! Here's just a little selection of pics - mainly involving the cake eating of course!

Happy Birthday again - have lots of fun being one!

Day 24
24 February 2010 | 2.34pm

I love looking at 'little feet' photographs, they are just so cute! And even though Hayden's feet aren't so little anymore, I've been wanting to try and get a photograph of them for a while now. So, after a couple of hours helping me in the garden this morning, and then lots of playing in the paddling pool this afternoon, I finally managed to exhaust him enough to sit still for a few tired-out 'little boy feet' photos! I just love those little toes :)

Day 25
25 February 2010 | 6.22pm

My parents live a 6-hour drive away, so when they come to visit it's always a very special time. Naturally, Hayden loves spending time with his grandparents and drags them around the house to show them his toys, play games and read books as soon as they walk in the door.

Mum and Dad arrived today to spend the weekend with us, and even though I thought I already chosen my photo for today, I just had to share this one with you. It's simply a little glimpse of special moment with Granma captured earlier this evening.

Day 26
26 February 2010 | 11.10am - 12.02pm

One of our favourite places to go for an outing is to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, not far from where we live. We've had annual passes there for the past couple of years. The first time we went Hayden was in the buggy and didn't really know much about what was around him. These days, he knows the place so well and tells you which animal is coming next. Today, for the first time, we took Granma and Dea along too.

In the past, Hayden hasn't been too keen to feed the animals, usually just looking and throwing the food to them. However, today, he was wanting to pat and hand feed the animals, although we had to convince him that hand feeding the kuni kuni pigs probably wasn't the best idea!

So, my PAD today is actually a little storyboard of photos, with Hayden feeding some of the animals at Willowbank.

Day 27
27 February 2010 | 3.27pm

The photo I have chosen to share today can pretty much be described as one of those simply "classic" photos; the photo you just have to take as you know when you look back on it in years to come it will still bring a smile to your face, and probably a giggle or two as well!

We had just been out to check out the progress on our new house, and this is Hayden just after he had got back into the car - as you may be able to tell, it's been a hot and thirsty day!

Day 28
28 February 2010 | 11.03am - 8.16pm

Well, I can't believe that this is my last PAD for the month! It suddenly feels like it has been an incredibly quick month! I would love to challenge myself to continue for the year, but I have found that it actually takes up a lot of my time as once I get the camera out, I don't seem to be able to stop at just one photo! So for every photo you see on here, there's probably at least another 10 (or 20!) sitting on my computer! I really do applaud those of you who do Photo 365! Maybe next year!

But, for today's PAD, well actually 'Photos'. Once again, we ended up in at Hagley Park again today. With Mum and Dad up, and it being yet another gorgeous day, we decided to make the most of our late summer, and head into the park for some bike riding, playing, swimming, another picnic and of course feeding the ducks and ice creams! I have chosen just a few favourite photos to share to end the month...

I couldn't help but share another "green bike" photo!

After a year of sitting in a drawer, Hayden has suddenly decided he is quite fond of his sunglasses - and his new 'smile' to go with it! LOL!

Time for a picnic - this is the "I'm hungry, no more photos, get my lunch" look!

And, finally, I have always wanted to sneak in and grab a shot of Hayden sleeping at night, so I thought that this would be a fitting way to finish...

I have really enjoyed the challenge of PAD over the past month. I achieved my goal of taking my camera along to all the places I just haven't taken it before and have been too self-conscious to take it. However, there are still so many ideas I want to try and photos I want to take, plus I never really got the time to get as many 'creative' shots as I wanted. Often they're definitely not shots to try when you've got a two year old hanging around your feet all day, and usually by the time Hayden's gone to bed at night, I'm ready to sit down and the computer and start editing my photos for the day. But it truly has been fun, and I'm already kind of missing it - although I'm sure my husband will be pleased to see a little more of me again!

Anyway, after all the activity of this month, I may be a bit quiet around here for the next couple of months. As you may know, over the past six or so months, we've been in the process of building a new house, and we are finally moving in at the start of next month! It's incredibly exciting, but at the same time, it's going to be a fairly hectic couple of months - packing, unpacking and starting the task of landscaping! Therefore, the camera probably won't be coming out as much, and I have no client shoots booked during this time. But please, stay in touch, leave me a comment or send me an email - I'd love to hear from you!

February "Photo A Day" | Week 3

2010-02-15T22:15:00.004+13:00

Well I'm half way there! If you do stop and have a look at my blog, please feel free to leave a comment at the end of a post - I'd love to hear from you!

Day 15
15 February 2010 | 1.59pm

I'm starting out this week with another photo of my favourite subject! Hayden had never been a teddy bear/soft toy type of boy until relatively recently, so this is a pretty cute photo to me. It's also very special as the big teddy bear he is holding used to belong to my Nana. Hayden took a real liking to it the last time we stayed at my parents' house, so my Mum gave it to him and we brought it home with us. It now sleeps on his bed most nights and even comes on the odd outing with us.

Day 16
16 February 2010 | 2.40pm

After nearly three years our Plunket Group still meets most Tuesday afternoons for a catch up, taking turns meeting at each other's houses. Today's photo is a bit of an action shot of Hayden having a go on a trampline at one of the other little girl's houses. He's only been on one a few times and it's a real hit, so I can see that one will definitely be Santa's list in the next year or so!

Day 17
17 February 2010 | 9.27am

We have my Parent-in-Laws visiting at the moment and Hayden loves to go and visit them in their caravan parked in our driveway. Most mornings he takes off straight after breakfast for his first visit of the day! As I've already mentioned, he is totally Thomas [the Tank Engine] crazy at the moment, so there's usually an armful of Thomas toys in his hands as he runs out the door.

In one of the Thomas DVDs that he watches there is a 'Lightning Tree' that nearly gets knocked over by two of the naughty trucks. Hayden has absolutely taken to that little story and loves playing the 'Lightning Tree', so he was very excited when he discovered that Nana and Poppa had their very own 'Lightning Tree' in the caravan - their little Christmas Tree! It's now become a regular amongst the other Thomas toys!

So today's photo probably needs no further explanation!

Day 18
18 February 2010 | 10.08am

Today I took my camera along to Hayden's music group. We've been going to the same little group with many of the same people since Hayden was 9 months old, so it's pretty much how we spend most of our Thursday mornings. Like with Gymbaroo, I've never taken my camera along before, so today was the day. With lots of children moving and dancing it wasn't the easiest place to take photos, but I grabbed a few shots anyway. This one is of Hayden and his best little friend, Miss Z, taken in the middle of a wonderful rendition of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" - both intently concentrating on the job at hand!

Day 19
19 February 2010 | 4.05pm

The little "orange bike" that has been an all time favourite in our house definitely hasn't been forgotten yet and still makes a regular appearance, despite the arrival of the new "green bike". I was getting the washing in this afternoon when Hayden turned the back path into his little race track once again, so I grabbed my camera and got some shots of a little boy having lots of fun! I couldn't help but choose one of these for my PAD :)

Day 20
20 February 2010 | 4.28pm

Today's photo of the day is of a totally different subject - my new little piece of photographic equipment! I finally decided that it was time to replace my speedlight that was stolen when we were burgled last year. Although I love to use natural light whenever I can, often it's just not possible to get the shots you want, especially if you have a combination of fast moving children in a darker space. Additionally you can shoot some fun, creative shots using off camera flash. Now just to find the time to have a play!

Day 21
21 February 2010 | 12.04pm

The "Festival of Flowers" is currently on in Christchurch, so there are lots of floral displays around and things happening. In one of the city parks, they have these large, almost life-size topiary animals. They are absolutely amazing and you can see how much work must have gone into them. There are giraffes, deer, penguins and elephants. We went into the city today to show them to Hayden today, so here is a photo of Steve and Hayden next to the giraffes. Steve is 6 foot tall, so it just gives you an idea of how big they are.

And that's Week 3! One week to go...

Hagley Park - AND(!) the bike photos

2010-02-14T21:39:00.000+13:00

Firstly, a bit of a background to this post... about a month ago, I did a post entitled "Hagley Park and the non-bike photos" due to a little boy who decided that they had a sudden,complete fear of their new bike. I also mentioned at the time that not long after, all fears were conquered and there was no stopping that same little boy on his little green bike, with his little dinosaur helmet on! The challenge was then to capture this very fast moving, dinosaur helmeted child! LOL! And so here we are...

I mentioned in my PAD post last Friday that it was a gorgeous day and we decided to head into the city to Hagley Park for the morning. Hayden decided that he wanted to take his "green bike" (what he calls it) along with us, so off we headed with the bike, our picnic lunch, and of course my camera - and video camera! It really looked like we were going away camping for a week with the bag-full I had when we left!

As hoped, we had a fantastic morning. Hayden took off on his bike, way ahead of me, although luckily he found a number of puddles to ride through, turn around, ride back through, turn around, ride through again... so I had some time to catch up! He was even quite intent on getting his training wheels clean at one point! He also absolutely loved going down some little inclines, back up again and down again - you get the story! Lots and lots of photo opportunities! We then headed to the playground for heaps of swinging, sliding, climbing and all sorts, before stopping briefly for lunch. We also managed to feed the ducks, have an icecream, and then a last play before it was time to go home.

I really well and truly took way too many photos, but we did have heaps of fun! And again, there were so, so many photos that I loved, so lots of trouble deciding on which ones to share!

February "Photo A Day" | Week 2

2010-02-08T21:15:00.006+13:00

The first week is done, and it's time for Week 2!

Day 8
8 February 2010 | 1.11pm

This time last week I shared a photo with you of Hayden at Gymbaroo; today it's one very tired boy after Gymbaroo! Hayden doesn't have day sleeps anymore, but occasionally if we're out, he'll still nod off in the car, and today he was sound asleep by the time we got home. So today's photo is more of a 'mum's photo' and simply a picture of an exhausted little boy.

Day 9
9 February 2010 | 12.54pm

Hayden decided that posing for the camera wasn't too bad today, and let me grab a few shots while he was sitting on the couch. Amongst some interesting faces being pulled (we're just reaching the 'cheesy grin' stage), I managed to capture a rare shot of Hayden both smiling and looking at the camera! If you've been visiting my blog for a while, you'll probably know that I simply love Black and White photos, so I just couldn't help sharing this one with you in Black and White! It's very quickly become one of my favourite recent photos of Hayden.

Day 10
10 February 2010 | 11.39am

It was a horrible drizzly rain outside today, so rather than heading outdoors, we decided to do a little baking instead. Hayden loves to do the mixing but isn't too sure about licking the spoon yet! I decided to pop a few photos into a storyboard today, with something a little different on the editing side of things too.

Day 11
11 February 2010 | 11.28am

Time for a haircut today, and it's another one of those things that you tend to do and not ever really take photos of. When Hayden had his first haircut about a year ago, I had grabbed a few snaps on a terrible P&S from Steve's work as I felt too self-conscious to take my 'big camera' along! Well, I did take my 'big camera' along today and got some great shots of Hayden sitting up in the chair - he even looks like he's enjoying it for a change! Here's a couple of my favourites.

Day 12
12 February 2010 | 11.03am

We had nothing planned today and the forecast was for a gorgeous day, so we decided to head into Hagley Park. With the thought of taking a photo for today, I was armed with camera in hand, and Hayden on his bike! Well, Hayden had a fantastic time and I managed to get completely carried away taking photos, to the point where there was no way I could choose just a couple to share, and thought it would be nice to share a whole selection of my favourites from the day in a separate post. So today's photo is just a little introduction to our day at Hagley Park, and following Week 2's February "Photo A Day" post, you'll find lots more of our day out!

Just a little more about today's photo: in the Flickr group I joined a couple of year's ago, we often have challenges that we chose to participate in. They started off with learning camera basics, and now we are looking at more advanced photographic techniques. Currently our challenge is "Backlighting", so I thought I would try a few different shots, as it's definitely not as easy one to master (especially when you're chasing a two year old on a bike at the same time!) The basic principle behind it, is that you are shooting into the sun, which often as a photographer you would avoid. Anyway, here's my first attempt at a backlight photo for our challenge. And don't forget to look back in a couple of days for lots of photos from our morning at Hagley Park - biking, playing, ice creams...

Day 13
13 February 2010 | 3.25pm

Since Hayden was born nearly three years ago, I haven't been able to make it to any of my husband's work functions as we simply haven't had any possible babysitters living nearby. But at the moment we are lucky enough to have my Parent in Laws staying, so tonight will be the first time that I will have been to a work function in all this time - in fact the last time I was at one, I was heavily pregnant with Hayden! Anyway, we were up for desserts tonight, so here's a photo of my latest little sweet creation - chocolate covered fudge balls. I am definitely no cook, but these really are yummy!

Day 14
14 February 2010

Today we decided to get out and enjoy one of the many, many Christchurch walks, and headed to Godley Head to do the Tunnel Walk. It's about a one hour return journey, and is the first time we've taken Hayden on a walk like this, so we weren't too sure how he would go. However, being the ever full of energy two year old that he is, he had a fantastic time walking, running and jumping down the track, and then walking all bar about the last 5 - 10 minutes on the way back up, so we were so proud of him!

The Tunnel Walk is a fantastic, relatively easy walk from the top of the Summit Road, down past the old WWII generator shed, battery plotting room and mini range. At the bottom there is a 120m long tunnel which leads through to some amazing coastal views. You then return back up the same track to the top again.

I was just going to share a couple of 'family' photos from today - one of Hayden with Steve and one with me (again, we hardly have any photos of me and Hayden, so making an effort to change that!) But I can't help myself and I've also decided to add in a few landscape shots as well. I by no means claim to be a landscape photographer in any way, but I know that so many of you reading this blog will have never been to Godley Heads, so just wanted to share some of the gorgeous scenery with you :) And, it's a nice way to finish off Week 2!

So, I hope you like these photos - I took so many photos today, so it was hard to choose just a few!

February "Photo A Day" | Week 1

2010-02-01T23:12:00.023+13:00

I guess with photography sometimes you need to challenge yourself to get out there and take photos of new and different situations so that you can push yourself to improve your work. So with that in mind, I've decided to take up a 'Photo A Day' (PAD) challenge for the month of February. Many of the girls in one of the Flickr groups I belong to did this for January, but I managed to completely miss that, so I've decided to make February a little personal challenge for myself. I really want to make myself look for different photo opportunities as well as to make myself take my camera out to places I normally wouldn't take it. Be warned, there will be lots of photos of Hayden, but I really want to try and find other subjects too. I'm hoping to get a photo for every day, so we'll see how we go!

I've decided to start a new post for each week, and add my photos each day - or as I get them edited - I'm a little behind at the moment!

So, here we go, Week 1!

Day 1
1 February 2010 | 11.46am

Hayden has been going to Gymbaroo for about a year and a half now, and he really loves going to "baroo". His confidence in the class and on the equipment has really improved over this time and the structure of the 'lessons' is great for him too. However, in all the time we've been going, I've never taken my camera along with me. It has been such an important part of his toddler years so it would be a real shame not to have any photos of him there. So I decided that this was the day and we got there nice and early to grab some shots before the class started. Here's just one of the many shots I took of Hayden on the equipment (although he looks more like he's daydreaming here!) They have a really big window at the end of the room, which Hayden is looking out of, so you get the most gorgeous light - I want one!

Day 2
2 February 2010 | 12.59pm

A little natural light portrait of Hayden today, taken when he was playing on the floor inside. I decided to do a Black and White conversion as there was quite a lot of distracting colour in the background. When I look at photos like this I realise my wee boy is growing up so fast!

Day 3
3 February 2010 | 3.09pm

Today we spent the afternoon with one of Hayden's little friends, Miss Z. It was a gorgeous day so the kids spent most of the time splashing in the paddling pool and running around. I just couldn't resist grabbling this shot of Miss Z, who copied me as I was bending down to take the photo. She's such a cutie!

Day 4
4 February 2010 | 1.20pm

It was off to the swimming pool for a trip today. Unfortunately there's no way I can take my camera there and get any shots of Hayden, so I decided to settle for a photo of him in his new swimsuit (which he thinks is pretty cool!) at home before we left. Today it was his turn to bob down and copy me when I was taking the photo!

Day 5
5 February 2010 | 2.25pm

Over the past few weeks "Thomas the Tank Engine" has become an absolute favourite in our house, and that's probably an understatement! Hayden loves playing with all his little trains, trucks and diggers, and watching his Thomas DVD. Various Thomas toys are carried around all day, go out in the car and go to bed at night. It's very cute! And I'm definitely not complaining as it's a wonderful change from "Hi-5" and "The Wiggles"! Below shows Hayden playing with his wooden Thomas and track set.

On a side note, I've decided that PAD is a great opportunity to show some different conversions with some of the photos. This is a 'Creamy Chocolate' action, which I really enjoy using, and have used it in the past a number of times. It's a great alternative to a straight Black and White conversion.

Day 6
6 February 2010 | 12.10pm

Well, it's definitely not a photo of Hayden today! We decided to spend our Waitangi Day this year at Orana Wildlife Park. We first took Hayden there over a year ago, and even though we thought he'd be more into the animals this time, he actually was more interested in stones, running, kicking and jumping! Oh well... But it was a lovely day out, with some long awaited gorgeous summer weather, and we did get to feed the giraffes, hence the photo today. This photo was only taken with a 70mm length, so yes, we were up close (no cropping!)!

Now, normally it is just 'a' photo of the day, but I also wanted to share a family photo that we took today. It isn't very often that we actually get a photo all together - or in fact that I have my photo taken at all as I'm usually on the other side of the camera! So for those family and friends that read this blog, here we all are (also taken at Orana Wildlife Park).

Day 7
7 February 2010 | 4.59pm

Well, I've made it through the first week! We were heading down to Sumner late afternoon today for a BBQ for Steve's work, so we made a quick stop by the beach so I could get my photo for the day! Unfortunately Hayden wasn't really in the mood and this was about the best we could get of him!

I've done a slightly different Black and White conversion, which has a hint of brown and purple in it. It is a wonderful free action from the amazing Rita at the CoffeeShop blogger site. I quite like the dark, moodiness of the photo, as it was a dull afternoon with lots of clouds.

Anyway, here are the two gorgeous 'boys' in my life :)

Martha and Lucas - A Wedding

2010-01-29T19:52:00.002+13:00

Earlier this month I was extremely privileged to be invited by the talented Rana Rankin to join her shooting a wedding on New Brighton Beach. (Thanks again Rana!) I was very excited by this opportunity as this is the first time that I've actually been to a wedding as a 'photographer', not a guest. And, it was a wonderful experience in many ways; not only did I get to take lots of photos of a beautiful wedding, but it was an amazing feeling to be part of someone's special day even though we'd only just met. So I would also like to say a huge thank you to the lovely Martha and Lucas for allowing me to be part of your wedding day :)

Unfortunately the weather didn't really cooperate and the early evening beach wedding was moved indoors to a beach-side restaurant. However, we did manage to get outside for some wonderful beach shots in the rain. Although rain was obviously not part of the plans, I think you often end up with some unique photos that you would have never have taken had the weather been perfect, so I guess it all works out in the end. And Martha and Lucas were fantastic, getting into the spirit of things - and getting a little wet at the same time!

So, I have chosen a few favourite photos to share with you of the bride and groom, and their three gorgeous daughters. There's quite a few as I couldn't decide!

Hagley Park and the non-bike photos

2010-01-17T22:24:00.003+13:00

A few days ago I decided to take Hayden into Hagley Park to ride his new "green bike" that he got for Christmas and to grab some shots of him riding it at the same time. While we were away on holiday, he had learned how to use the pedals (it's his first bike with pedals), and as expected, it wasn't long before we had to run to keep up with him. With this in mind, I thought Hagley Park would be a good place to head for our first ride back in the city, minus the worry of cars and driveways.

Well, it turned out to be a much shorter outing than expected, and it wasn't due to the rain shower that decided to join us either! For some reason, Hayden had developed an absolute 'fear' of his new bike since returning home, one that to this day I'll just have to put down to another mystery of the two year old's mind! He would literally get on and then do one pedal if we were lucky, jump off again and then want "up!" as if it had bitten him! The last time he had ridden his bike, all was fine, and he'd never even had a crash or fallen off, so who knows!

Anyway, there was no point in forcing this issue - or more to the point - wasting a photo opportunity in one of my favourite parks and photo spots! So the camera came out anyway, and I grabbed a few shots of Hayden before we packed the bike up in the car and drove home. (And yes, it took us longer to get there and home than what we were actually there for - just not the right day!)

I am happy to report though, that within a couple of days, we had conquered all fear and I am now getting very fit trying to keep up with a little boy on a VERY fast "green bike"! I'm still hoping for some bike photos, although I now have a very new challenge in hand - how on earth to get him to slow down a bit! The irony eh!

And finally, a few favourite non-bike photos!

A belated Happy New Year!

2010-01-10T21:29:00.004+13:00

Another year has started and already seems to be flying by. I'm a little late - OK very late - with this post, but with no internet access for the past couple of weeks while we've been on holiday, I have had a good excuse :) It's actually quite scary how much 'spare' time I find myself with when the good old world wide web is not at my hands!

We had an incredibly relaxing and quiet holiday down in Central Otago, my second home, and favourite spot in New Zealand. I managed to get in lots of runs, a couple of mountain bike rides (first in a long time, thanks to wonderful Grandparents babysitting!), and lots of back yard water fights with Hayden! Hayden had really started getting into Christmas this year too, which made it lots of fun. My camera made it out of my bag more at the start of our holidays than the end (it really is a relaxing place down there!), which I'm almost ashamed to say! But I did catch up on some good photography reading, and am all ready to go for another year.

So it's time to catch up where I left off, keep moving ahead with my photography, and of course, look forward to a wonderful year ahead! And please remember, if you would like to have a photo session with me, just send me a short note via the contact page.

I thought I'd finish off this post with a storyboard of photos taken of Hayden discovering a new little 'game' during the holidays. This might explain the water fight comment above! He had so much fun with this hose and I think everyone got soaked at some point or another!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-17T21:42:00.001+13:00

It sounds so cliched, but I really can't believe how fast the past year has gone! You would think I would have been forewarned with all the wonderful Christmas shoots over the past few weeks, but that was November, and now suddenly December has pretty much disappeared on me. So before Christmas arrives, I thought I'd squeeze in a quick post in between ticking things off my growing 'to do' list!

I just want to thank you for your support during the year, the photographs you've let me take of your gorgeous families, the time you've taken to read this blog, and all the wonderful comments you've passed my way. It has been an amazing year photography wise for me, and I'm glad that I've decided to take the leap into this field. I am really looking forward to next year and what is to come.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and holiday break. We are heading down Central for a couple of weeks, so when I'm not trying to catch a few relaxing moments with my feet up (really not possible with a two year old around!), I'll have camera in hand, and therefore, hopefully some great holiday snaps to share with you when I return.

Take care and safe travels... and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A little more Christmas - this time Master H and Master C

2009-12-09T20:16:00.000+13:00

Well, if you've visited my Blog before, these are a couple of cute little faces that you might recognise, although Master C was only a few weeks old last time, so he's changed a little! It was great to be able to do my last 'Christmas session' for the year with these two boys as I know them all so well through our Plunket Group, which still meets every week and is still going strong after well over two years.

Master H was all geared up for lots of photos during this session, so with a cooperative two year old on hand, we couldn't complain! Master C is now 4 months old and he too was full of so many smiles for the camera! It was a really relaxed and enjoyable morning and we got some just gorgeous photos of the boys together all decked out in their Christmas outfits!

Here is a little preview of some of my favourites from the sessions - it was so hard to choose!

J and H, your two boys are just wonderful, Merry Christmas to you all, and I hope you like your photos! Kylie

A little bit of Christmas with Miss Z and Miss L

2009-12-06T20:16:00.000+13:00

Last weekend one of my good friends popped around with her two little girls to get some Christmas shots. Miss Z (2.5 years) is one of Hayden's best friends, so she is a regular visitor to our place. In fact, she was more interested in going and finding Hayden to play with, instead of having her photo taken! However, Miss L (9 months) was happy to sit and play while being snapped away. I can't get enough of her big smiles!

All in all, it was a pretty short session (about 10 minutes!), but we managed to capture some cute little shots for the Christmas cards. In fact I think when two year olds are involved, often the first 10 minutes can be the best anyway!

So, here are some of my favourite shots of the two 'Christmas' cuties.

Thanks again L for letting me photograph your beautiful girls! Have a fantastic Christmas! Kylie :)

Miss M

2009-11-30T22:32:00.000+13:00

Just over a week ago I spent a wonderful morning photographing this gorgeous little doll and her Mum and Dad. I first got to meet Miss M and take some photographs of her when she was only 4 weeks old, so it was fantastic to get the opportunity to photograph her again and see how much she's grown! This was such an enjoyable session, as once she got over her stage fright (we did have a dropped bottom lip on arrival - but no tears!), Miss M was so happy to sit and have her photograph taken for ages. Thanks Mum and Dad for working so hard to get those smiles!

After we spent some time in the studio, we made the decision to brave the cold, grey day and headed to the local beach. So much for spring - poor wee Miss M even had to have her jacket on! But it was all well worth while as I think we got some lovely family shots.

So, here are a few of my favourite shots from the day, and S and J, a little sneak-peek for you.

S and J, I hope you like this little preview and I'll have your full gallery up very shortly for you! Thanks again for letting me photograph your family and I hope that we can do it again one day! Kylie

Miss N and Miss S

2009-11-24T21:57:00.004+13:00

This past weekend I had a fantastic time catching up with an old friend from university that I haven't seen for years, and at the same time photographing her two gorgeous little girls! Miss N is 3 and a half years old and was a keen little model; Miss S is 20 months and is a typical wee toddler, full of energy and not wanting to stop for too long to look at the camera - reminding me so much of my wee boy!

We spent the morning taking some Christmas shots at home in the studio, and then headed to a local reserve - one of my favourite photo spots - for some shots of the girls wandering around. It really was a delight to photograph these two girls, and catch up with an old friend at the same time!

So, A and K, here is a little sneak peek of some of your outdoor shots - I will have your complete gallery up for you to view within the next couple of days. Looking forward to catching up with you again soon. Kylie.

An exciting day

2009-11-17T20:38:00.005+13:00

Well, it's been a busy time as usual, still spending the majority of my spare time moving all my computer software and files from PC to Mac, but I think I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! So not too much time spent in here lately, but I just had to pop in and share my exciting news from today!

I had called into the shops briefly this afternoon and noticed that the latest edition of the NZ Photography Magazine "D-Photo" was on the shelves. It comes out once every two months, and I always buy it as my little treat. Well, I was totally blown away when I checked out the Kids Competition pages my entry for this issue had been chosen as the winner! It was probably just as well I wasn't in the shop when I had looked at it as I was so excited! I usually enter a photo for each issue and have been doing so for just over a year now, so it is such a fantastic feeling to have been chosen this time!

Anyway, here's the photo I sent in (which I've previously posted on my blog) with a link to the magazine's website and the image:

Winning Image

Well, I have a busy few weeks coming up with lots of Christmas shoots, so hope to be back soon with lots of my favourites to share with you.

Hayden and a little bit of technology

2009-11-01T21:51:00.001+13:00

Just popping in to share a few recent photos of Hayden taken a couple of days ago. I decided to be brave and get my backdrop and strobe out to see if I could 'convince' him to let me take some photos. Anyway, we roped in one of his favourite toys - an old telephone - and then resorted to a little bit of modern technology and did some "Hayden txt" (his words!). I'm a little bit scared to think just how 'young' Hayden will be when he starts asking for his own mobile phone!

Anyway, some photos...

Updated Galleries

2009-10-23T22:21:00.003+13:00

I am starting to feel a little camera-deprived at the moment. Over the past few weeks, I have been spending every spare minute transferring all of my old photos onto my new computer, leaving not much time for getting out there taking new shots. However, I have now completed my major mission (thousands of photos!), and with my photos all back at my finger tips, I have finally been able to update all of my galleries, something I started a while back now.

I have updated all of the galleries with some of my favourite photos from recent shoots, but the biggest change is that the galleries are now in a slideshow format, which I hope you enjoy!

You can visit the galleries by clicking on the 'Galleries' link in the tool bar above.

And, just so I could shake the dust off my camera, here's a little pic of Hayden taken the other day. He loves scratching loose nails against his face and won't let you cut them off! Very strange, but this is a very typical pose - although we don't usually get the smile with this one!

Well, would you believe I have to take my new computer in to get (hopefully) get fixed this weekend, so it may be a little while before I'm dropping by again. Lately, I've been wondering if this whole technology thing is worth it, but that's another story!

Enjoy the long weekend! Looking forward to getting back and sharing more photos with you soon, Kylie :)

Sumner Beach

2009-10-05T21:24:00.003+13:00

Last week, we decided to head down to Sumner Beach for a walk and play at the park, although Hayden much preferred to stay on the footpath versus the sand! He had a great time running along though and playing at the park. Just before we had lunch on these steps, I grabbed a few shots of Hayden - on an incredibly rare occasion that he was up for some posing for the camera! I really love his natural look of these shots - and if you look close enough you'll actually see the dirt on his face, a typical boy! LOL!

Painting days...

2009-10-04T21:05:00.000+13:00

Just thought I'd pop in and share this little storyboard of Hayden painting. After a week of rain, I decided I'd be a 'good mum' and do some painting with Hayden. It had been such a long time since we'd had the paints out, and he had such a great morning. We did lots and lots of painting, and I even managed to take lots of photos, and no paint on the camera!

Anyway, here's the little storyboard we've made into a card to send to Granma and Grandad, along with one of our many paintings.

Miss F and Miss H

2009-09-22T22:37:00.003+12:00

I was thrilled to be asked to photograph these two absolutely gorgeous sisters, Miss F, 2 years, and Little Miss H, 7 months. They were just so delightful, and so willing to be the perfect little models.

I really enjoyed this shoot; it was so relaxing, and I think we got some lovely shots of the girls. In fact, I really couldn't choose which ones to share, so there's a few here!

A and R, I hope you enjoy your sneak-peek of the photos! I will have your full gallery ready for you next week.

Finally, thanks again A for the opportunity to photograph your two beautiful girls. Look forward to speaking with you soon. Kylie

Baby C (Part 2)

2009-09-19T22:12:00.003+12:00

Here is the second part of the photos of little Baby C. When this little one was 16 days old, I went around to the home to take some more photographs. Unlike in the hospital, Master C was incredibly intent to stay awake for the whole time and see what was going on! So we got some wonderful shots of him looking around and taking it all in. He wasn't too keen either on being without his clothes, and when mum redressed him, he was actually happy to have a little snooze for us!

So, J and H, I know you've seen these photos, and I am so happy that you like them! Thank you so much again for letting me take them, and sharing them here. Kylie xx

Baby C (Part 1)

2009-09-18T21:42:00.003+12:00

A couple of posts ago, I shared some photos from J's maternity shoot, and now finally, it's time to meet little Baby C. This post is in two parts, as I was lucky enough to photograph this gorgeous wee boy on two separate occasions.

In this first post, are some photos of little Master C when he was just under 2 days old. I was incredibly privileged to be asked to visit mum and baby while still in hospital and take some photos, and I was thrilled to be able to do this. He was pretty much sound asleep the whole time I was there, so we got lots of photos of him cuddled up in his cot. (I also got to have some cuddles too of course!)

This all happened at the time we had just been burgled and I really didn't want to miss taking these photos, so I was literally begging the insurance company for my new camera! I picked it up the night before these photos were taken, and these are some of the first photos I took with it. One of the main reasons I decided on my new camera was for its low-light capabilities, and it didn't disappoint! These were all taken under hospital lights, at night and with no flash. I was really impressed.

Anyway, here's little Baby C, only 44 hours old here.

In the second part of this post, you'll get to meet Baby C at home...

New Price List

2009-09-17T22:16:00.000+12:00

Alongside the launch of my 'new look' blog, and new logo and watermark, I have slightly adjusted my pricing structure. I am now charging $50.00 for sessions, but this includes a $50.00 print credit. This means, if you order $50.00 worth of prints, you get your session for free! In addition, if you order over $50.00 of prints, you will receive a complimentary 6 x 9" black and white print of your choice.

Print prices remain the same, with 6 x 4" high quality matt prints in colour or black and white starting at only $5.00. I have also added another option to print orders, where you can order your print and get it framed with either a black or white box frame with white matt, all ready to hang (from 6 x 9" and up). This is a great option if you are looking to frame a print, as many of the standard sized frames you buy in shops require cropping of your photos, or you need to get custom matt borders made. I recently tried out this service for and got a print framed for my mum's birthday, and it looked fantastic!

I also thought I'd take this opportunity to remind you about the option of putting the photos from your on-line gallery onto a DVD accompanied to music. This is such a wonderful little keep-sake, and there's just something about viewing the photos to music. It also makes a great gift to send to family and friends as the DVDs are viewable on TV or computer.

Please check out the full pricing list on the Information page. Full price lists are available on request.

And, finally, I couldn't post without a photo, so here's a recent photo of Hayden taken on our front steps. Oh, and I promise to be back over the weekend with some gorgeous newborn pics!

J's Maternity Shoot

2009-09-15T20:20:00.005+12:00

Way back at the end of June, the weekend before we shifted, I did a maternity shoot for my good friend, J. We had a wonderful child-free morning chatting and taking photos, making it such a relaxing shoot.

However, with everything that happened in the weeks following, and the amount of work that ensued, it has taken me a terribly long time to get these photos done. But, finally, I can post some of my favourites to share with you.

J, thank you so much for letting me take these photos. Apologies again in the delay getting them to you, but I hope that you find something special to remember your pregnancy by.

Photos of baby coming soon!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-09-09T21:14:00.002+12:00

Just thought I'd pop back in quickly and share this storyboard I made into a card for Steve last Sunday. We had been to Willowbank the previous weekend and I had happened to take a whole lot of photos while we were there. I hadn't even been thinking about father's day at the time, but they came in handy!

I love creating storyboards, and they are great for making into special cards!

Springtime in Hagley Park

2009-09-08T22:34:00.011+12:00

I really can't believe how fast this year is going, and how the weeks are flying by! Life seems to be on a continuous fast track, and I can't seem to keep up with my photos at the moment - which is probably quite obvious from the lack of posts here lately! Although, I feel like I've almost got things organised with my new computer now - except for ALL(!!) my old photos still to transfer over.

Anyway, the daffodils are out in Hagley Park, and we have been having some absolutely gorgeous late winter and early spring weather. So just over a week ago now, Hayden and I headed down to the park for some photos. Being typically Hayden, my little bundle of energy was not keen to stand still for long, and was more interested in picking the daffodils than looking (ahem), but I managed to capture a few shots before he took off to explore things 'more interesting' than flowers. LOL!

Enjoy the sunny days!
Kylie

My new-look blog

2009-08-25T13:43:00.016+12:00

Hi everyone. Well if you have visited this site in the past, you may have already noticed that my blog now has a new design. I had lost so many of my computer files when my old computer got stolen (thanks to corrupt back-ups!), so I decided that since I had to redo things anyway, I might as well have a change and an update. With one thing leading to another, I also decided to redesign my blog at the same time - of course the last thing I really had time for, but once I get an idea in my mind, I tend to have to do it! LOL!

Anyway, I hope that you like the new look. Everything is pretty much how it was before, although to access any previous posts (from January - July 2009), you will need to click on the old blog posts link at the top of the page.

I am also currently updating all my galleries to slide shows, and this will take a little longer to complete as I still don't have all my archived photos back onto my new computer. I hope that you will enjoy this new feature.

As for news from home, I am loving my new iMac computer - after saying I'd always stick by PC, I can't go past this big 24" screen and am slowly becoming a Mac convert - missing my right mouse click though! I have also become a new user of the Aperture imaging software (for you photography buffs out there). It has been a huge learning curve and after a few late nights of wondering if it was going to be the right thing for me, I am now loving it. I still have absolutely tons of photos to transfer over and upload though, so that is keeping me really busy, and will do for the next few weeks.

And further on the home front, some fantastic news to finish off this post. Our cat, Milo, who had been missing for 7 weeks, is home! He basically disappeared from our rental when we moved here and we had pretty much given up hope after six weeks had passed. Then last week I received a call to say that there was a cat matching Milo's description at a near-by retirement village. He had apparently turned up there a couple of weeks ago, made friends with the cook, and found a nice sunny patch in their gardens (thankfully there were lots of cat lovers there!). So we now have our gorgeous big boy home with us again - and locked in for a week! Goodness knows where his adventures took him for the rest of the time, but hopefully he's keen to stick a bit closer to home from now on!

Finally, I have some maternity and newborn shots to process - yes, some from before the burglary (I am really behind at the moment!) - so will be back with those hopefully very soon!

Enjoy my 'new' blog!
Kylie :)

A move, a buglary.. and a new camera!

2009-07-31T20:12:00.005+12:00

Well I've been missing in action lately and it has been a while since I have posted in here - not through my own choice though! So, time to explain my absence...

I had expected to be off-line for about a week at the end of June as we were moving house, and due to new 'rules and regulations' we had to change internet providers at the same time. The move all went OK, and we were just settling into our rental, when 5 days after we moved in we were burgled. I had been out to Hayden's music class in the morning and arrived home to find basically anything of value (to a burglar anyway) gone! They took the usual stuff - TV, computer, all our jewellery, some clothing, and all my camera gear! It was a pretty big shock at the time, and I was devastated to find that they had taken the back ups for all my recent photo shoots too! (I have since found out that my second back up was corrupt, so yep, despite having two back ups, have lost a huge number of photos!!) Anyway, four weeks later, I have a new computer (finally!), new camera gear (more about that soon), and we have our new TV. We are still waiting on the jewellery and clothing!

Anyway, apart from my backdrop and large lighting kits, they took my main camera bag, which held pretty much all my camera gear - camera body, lenses, external flash, spare battery, memory cards etc. So I was left to start over again! I then decided that I might as well upgrade my camera body and just get one good lens instead. Then I had some big decision making on which way to go. In the end after much deliberation and trips to my local camera shop, I decided to move from my Sony a700, and go to Nikon, mainly because of the fantastic low light performance of the Nikon! So I am now a Nikon girl, and the owner of a fantastic full-format Nikon D700, and Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 lens!

(Excuse the terrible photo taken on my old P&S, but I had to include a photo in the post somewhere!)

I am been incredibly photo deprived over the past month or so, so really looking forward now to getting everything set up again, and getting out there and taking some more photos!

In the meantime, I have a maternity shoot to still process from before all the dramas, so will be getting onto that very shortly, and hope to post some photos from that really soon!

Kylie

Miss L and Miss M

2009-06-21T20:35:00.006+12:00

I was thrilled to be asked to photograph these two beautiful little girls, Miss L, nearly 10 months, and Miss M, who has just turned 5. We met up at our house for some studio shots a couple of weeks ago and spent about an hour taking some shots. Miss L was a little star straight away, having lots of fun crawling across the floor towards the camera, and although big sister Miss M was a little shy for a start, we managed to get some great shots. A photo of the two together was a little harder!

So, T and Z, it was great to meet you and your girls, and thank you again for the opportunity to photography your family. I hope you like this little peek of your shoot, and I will be in touch very soon to show you the rest! Kylie

The B Family

2009-06-15T14:03:00.006+12:00

Well I'm back with the photos from my second session the other weekend with another little girl from our Mum's group. It was a real day of little girls and tutus - a nice change from 'boys' things'! LOL!

This time I was photographing the gorgeous B family, with little Miss P, also two. She was a wonderful little one to photograph, and even managed a few suggested poses! We also spent some time getting some great family photos too. So P and D, thanks for letting me take your photographs, and I hope you enjoy this sneak peek of a few of my favourites. Can't wait to show you the full shoot sometime later this week! Kylie

Miss J

2009-06-08T20:28:00.005+12:00

Last weekend I had the opporutnity to photograph a little girl I've come to know well over the past two years through our Mum's group. We still all meet once a week, and it has been lots of fun watching all the children grow into fun loving little two year olds!

Miss J is a typical active toddler, so we got our best shots in the first 10 minutes when she was still willing to sit still! S & S, I had lots of fun photographing your daughter and you guys, so I really hope you like this little preview! Looking forward to showing you the whole session very soon!

So... introducing Miss J looking gorgeous in her little tutu!

I also photographed another little girl from our Mum's group on the same day, so will be back soon with some photos from that shoot!

Baby M

2009-05-30T20:03:00.002+12:00

Just over a week ago, I had the wonderful experience of photographing five-week-old Baby M. She was awake for most of the shoot and had lots of fun kicking her arms and legs and sticking her little tongue out, which was very cute! She was happy to lie for the camera for a little while at the start, but then just wanted lots of cuddles with Mum. So not so many photos of Baby M on her own, but we did get lots of great family shots with Mum and Dad!

S and J, thank you so much again for letting me take photos of your family, and here are a few of my favourites - a little peek before I show you the full session! Will be in touch very soon! Kylie

Little Miss V and Little Miss O

2009-05-27T20:18:00.016+12:00

I had the great pleasure on Saturday of photographing two absolutely gorgeous little girls. Miss V is 7 months old and she was just the perfect little model - after nearly 2 hours (with the odd break in between), she was still going strong! She was happy to just hang out with us and take it all in! And her big sister Olivia, nearly two, is just as photogenic. Although, there was no way she was going to have her photo taken with her little sister, no matter what we tried - maybe next time! However, we did manage to convince Dad to jump in for a few shots!

I took so many pictures and have had such a hard time cutting it down to just a few to share on here, hence there are a larger number of photos following than normal! So, A and L, here is your sneak peek from Saturday - I really hope you like them, and can't wait to show you the rest soon!

A little photo session

2009-05-23T14:49:00.007+12:00

I was setting up my backdrop and lights yesterday for my client sessions this weekend, so couldn't help but try and take some photos of Hayden at the same time! He is really going through the stage where he does NOT want his photo taken (unless he's taking photos of himself on my cell phone!!), so it's getting harder and harder to get him even near the camera, let alone stay still! I did manage to capture him reading a couple of his favourite book though, which I've included here.

I've also included a very rare self-portrait/photo of Hayden and me together! I find that I'm usually on the other side of the camera, so decided to get my tripod out yesterday. However, Hayden was much more interested in the camera and tripod, and was simply having great fun looking through the viewfinder at me sitting on the floor and saying "Ma, Ma", while I'm madly trying to get him to come and sit on my knee! We got there in the end though - just - but with a pretty good result! Well, I'm allowed to say that :)

I have a couple of client shoots this weekend, so pop back in a few days and you'll see what I've been up to!

Happy Birthday Gorgeous Boy!

2009-05-16T20:06:00.008+12:00

It seems to have been a while since I've posted in here, and this is mainly due to the fact that we have been busy with Hayden's 2nd birthday! Yes, my baby is 2! And we have been really lucky this year to have both Granma and Grandad, and Poppa and Nana in town specially to help us celebrate too.

We had a little party last Saturday with our family and some close little friends, and then Hayden's actual birthday on Tuesday. So we have had lots of presents and lots of cake over the past few days!

Although nothing too amazingly photographic here, I just wanted to share some of my favourite pictures with you of the birthday boy! As usual, it was pretty hard to keep him in one spot for too long, but presents and cake did a pretty good job! LOL!

Here is Hayden with his cake. We had 'The Wheels on the Bus' as our theme, and this year we got a photo cake made of Hayden with some of the main characters from his favourite DVD (www.thewheelsonthebus.com).

Opening some presents at his party.

Hayden developed an instant love of 'fairy bread' at his party, which was cut into star shapes. Luckily 'star' is one of the words he can kind of say. I lost count of how many he ate, but here is some of the proof!

And who can turn down a bit of mud cake??

Hayden's actual birthday, and more presents!

I really love this series of pictures of Hayden with his new toy from Granma and Grandad. They hardly made it in the door with it, before Hayden wripped off the paper and then no one was allowed to touch it for hours! We weren't even allowed to take it out of the box! LOL!

Finally, I just wanted to share this little picture of Hayden taken again just staring at his new toy!

Happy Birthday my gorgeous boy! Lots of love, Mum xxx

More Autumn!

2009-04-27T14:43:00.008+12:00

I truely think autumn is my favourite season for taking photographs! So at the end of last week, Hayden and I headed to The Groynes, a local reserve, which is a fantastic totally natural setting for photographs - and is only about a five minute drive from home! Camera in hand, we set off for our walk! There are lots of great spots for different shots, although it was more a matter of Hayden leading the way and me following!!

Here are a few shots from one of our 'stops'. Hayden just loved walking around and around (and around!) these trees, walking over any 'bumps' (as he calls them!) he could find.

I simply love the light in this photo, and the way it is just falling on Hayden between the trees.

Mind the 'bump'!

Autumn Leaves

2009-04-21T19:59:00.004+12:00

Well, Autumn is here, and at the end of last week we had a gorgeous dry, warm, overcast day - the perfect day for taking autumn photos in Hagley Park! Hayden wasn't too sure about it all for a start, but it wasn't too long before he was running around kicking up leaves, in fact, pretty much non-stop as usual!

Eventually he slowed down enough to grab some shots, and had fun picking up leaves and pulling them apart. Unfortunately though, our fun was short lived as the big mower decided to come along just as we were in the midst of it - talk about timing! So that took all Hayden's thoughts away from the leaves, and worst of all, munched up all our gorgeous leaves! Oh well, some things you just can't control!

Anyway, here are a few of my favourite shots from our trip out - before the mower!!

Happy Easter

2009-04-10T14:31:00.002+12:00

Just wanting to wish everyone a Happy Easter! Have a wonderful, safe weekend. Kylie :)

Hayden's first Easter egg! (And, no he didn't eat them all - solely for photographic purposes! LOL)

Hayden's (and my!) new chair

2009-04-05T14:01:00.002+12:00

As soon as I saw this chair I loved it, and I knew that it would be great for photography! So after a lot of sweet talking my wonderful husband, I finally got to buy it, and that of course meant, time for a photo session! Hayden thought it was pretty good too, so although you wouldn't exactly say he sat still, he at least stayed in one place for a little while - long enough to grab some photos anyway!

I had black and white in mind for these photos right from the start (yes, from the moment I saw it in the shop!), but I also love the colour versions, so have included some of both. I'd love to know which you prefer too, so feel free to leave a comment at the end! Anyway here are some of my favourites - there are a few as I couldn't decide!

And, if you've visited my blog before, you may have noticed that I have recently changed my Heading, and it now includes photos from this session. I hope you like it - again, feel free to let me know what you think, Kylie :)

Wheels on the Bus

2009-04-04T16:17:00.010+13:00

We are going to do a Wheels on the Bus theme for Hayden's birthday this year (nearly only a month til he is 2!) as he has a Wheels on the Bus DVD that he loves to watch, and he also loves playing with this Wheels on the Bus toy. I took some photos of him playing with it yesterday to use to make the invitations for his birthday party. Here are just a few of them...

Playground Fun! Storyboard

2009-03-29T13:35:00.008+13:00

When I get the time, I love to create storyboards of the photos I have taken, and I find that they make great cards for family and friends! Since I haven't put any on my blog so far, I thought I would share this one with you that was actually created for Hayden's gymbaroo class tomorrow, which has a 'playground' theme. (You'll recognise some of the photos from the previous post!)

I usually create my own templates, but this is based on one that I have been wanting to try out for ages, and is quickly becoming a favourite! There are lots of ways you can modify it and play around with it, so if you want to have a go, you can download the template from:
http://dawnm.com/fresh/2008/05/photoshop-storyboard-book-template.php

Hayden at the Park

2009-03-20T13:43:00.008+13:00

Well, I've decided if you can't beat them, join them! Since it's nearly impossible to get Hayden to sit still for a photo at the moment, I decided to up my shutter speed and follow him to the park. It's also been a while since I've taken some shots of Hayden there, so it was time for some new ones. (And I thought it was time to pop in here again!) Here are some of my favourites.

This little orange motorbike is Hayden's favourite new toy! Well actually, it's actually my old one from when I was a kid so not exactly new! He loves riding it to the park, finding every bump along the way. At least chasing after him is keeping me fit!

Hayden absolutely loves the swing and heads there first everytime we go to the park.

I really like this shot of Hayden mid-air. He just looks like he's relaxing and taking it all in. It was such a grey day, so I like the B&W conversion.

Hayden at the bottom of the slide - having a great time!

This was Hayden in a tunnel. He loves crawling from one end to the other calling out 'Hello'! The bright blue and yellow of the actual tunnel seemed to take away from the photo, so I tried on B&W conversion on this one too.

Baby L

2009-03-10T21:02:00.010+13:00

I had my first newborn shoot at the weekend, which was both exciting and nerve wracking! I got to photograph the gorgeous Baby L, who was just 13 days old. She was awake for most of the shoot, but we did manage to catch a few sleepy shots as well. It was wonderful to be asked to take these photos, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites with you. (Here's your sneak peek L & S - I hope you like them!)

Mum and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary

2009-03-01T20:15:00.012+13:00

We are not long back from celebrating my Mum and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary. They are the most amazing couple and such an inspiration. So I thought that I would simply share some family photos with you for a change. Congratulations again Mum and Dad!

Mum and Dad

Mum, Dad and me

My wonderful gorgeous husband, Stephen and me (It's very rare for us to get a photo together, so had to share this one!)

Maternity Shoot

2009-02-15T14:50:00.008+13:00

I want to share some photos from my first maternity shoot with you. It was such an wonderful priveldge to take these photos, and it was a lovely relaxing shoot. It was also a nice change from running around after toddlers trying to get them to sit still LOL!

Thanks for letting me take these L!

Kylie xxx

Hayden, 20 months

2009-02-11T13:49:00.006+13:00

I think it's almost an understatement to say that Hayden is a really active little toddler, who really doesn't have time to sit still to have his photo taken! So I resorted to the couch and The Wiggles (a new favourite)! Although, with that, also comes the thumb in mouth and his 'rag' in hand! But that pretty much is Hayden!

I have recently purchased my dream lens (a Carl Zeiss 28-70mm 2.8), so I was able to use all natural light for these photos, which is usually a challenge in our very dark family room. Although in trying not to block my natural light from behind me, I also had to make sure I wasn't (most importantly to Hayden) blocking his view to the TV!

I really love these photos, so even though I took them last month now, I wanted to share them with you . They are the photos that are I'm currently using at the top of my blog; these are the colour versions.

Welcome to my Blog

2009-02-06T14:11:00.007+13:00

Thank you for taking some time to visit my blog. Since this is my first post, I thought I would introduce you to our little boy, Hayden, and share with you just a few of my favourite photos of him from the past year (you'll be seeing a lot of him from now on!). He is 20 months old now, so it is amazing to look back at these and see how much he has grown!

I just love this expression! (11 months old)

Autumn leaves at Hagley Park. This was so much fun and Hayden was just mesmerised by the leaves! I took so many shots of him that day that it is nearly impossible to chose a favourite! (11 months old)

These are both long-time favourites! (15 months)

One way to keep a toddler in one place! I actually got some fantastic shots of Hayden standing in this basket, although the flowers didn't last too long! (15 months)

Springtime and daffodils galore at Hagley Park! After trying to eat the daffodils and deciding they weren't that great, Hayden decided it was time to wander! (15 months)

Hayden playing with his mega blocks. Again, this belongs to a whole series of photos. (17 months)

A couple of Christmas shots. (17 months)

And finally, Hagley Park again - summer this time! It is such a great location for taking photos! (18 months)

I really hope that you will enjoy catching up with me from time to time on this blog. Thanks for visiting!

Kylie :)