Goodbye Holidays

Chris is back to work :( boo! But we did have a great last day of the holidays going for a picnic out near Darboro/Samsonvale. Tavi and I are going to miss having him home so much!

We've been thinking more and more about what we would like for our future, for our family, and for our little son. Even though teaching does have its benefits we're not convinced that it will be Chris's life long career, which is a little bit daunting but also very exciting. My goal is for us to be able to live with less income so that he can be home more, and we can spend more time with each other and investing into this precious little life that we have been given to look after.

It is funny that Chris and I have both studied education, but lately idea of homeschooling is starting to look very attractive. I'm convinced that kids learn so much more from their parents than they ever will from any teacher, regardless of whether you home school or not, so teaching him will always be a priority for us, whether Tavi goes to school or not. We've also been talking to friends who have been home schooled and plan to home school their children and their reasoning why, and so far it seems like it might be a good fit for us.

I know, the pants are ridiculously huge. But also undeniably cute :P

We stopped off at a lavender farm but it won't be in full bloom till June. I'm hoping to buy some extension tubes for one of my lenses by then so should be able to get some cool macro shots. I also took my first panoramic shot yesterday, so much more to learn but its a start :) Next time I'm thinking sunset or the beach or the city, or perhaps all of them.

 


Our little nephew Jace is coming over this afternoon for us to take photos of him :) Looking forward to more newborn cuddles, he is just so tiny and cute! Will definitely share some pics of him next week.

Tavi is getting more and more active every day, having his own mini adventures and exploring his world. Speaking of which...

Lovely Sisters

Family Fun at the Park

You know what I like about taking photos in North Lakes? There is at least one park within five minutes of every house, so during our shoot yesterday we spent some time down at the local park...

 

Love. Smiles. Kisses.

This week I had the pleasure of taking photos for Gemma and her gorgeous girls.

We had lots fun jumping on the bed, playing with toys, blowing bubbles and making a princess tent...oh yeah and we took lots of photos as well. I was thrilled when I saw the amazing quilt Gemma had brought along, so colourful and lovely! I'm feeling inspired to make a big one for us now...although I need to finish off Tavi's first.

Next week is starting to fill up with bookings so if you'd like me to take photos of your lovely family (they make fantastic Christmas presents for grandparents) email me at summertimephotography (at) gmail.com and we'll set up a time.

To see the full set of photos from this session visit my website :)

Her Tattoo Says it All...

I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful moment to photograph during my latest session and I was absolutely thrilled when this gorgeous Mum gave me permission to use the photos. This set was definitely my favourite by far out of all the photos. And the tattoo? Well that is just the icing on the cake.

 

Looking forward to two more baby sessions to finish out the week and then hopefully going to the Lord Mayors Christmas carols this weekend as long as the rain stays away :)

For Hayden's Adoring Fans

I had the pleasure of taking photos of this little cutie today, and by popular request here are some more photos :) Isn't he just the cutest? We had a lot of fun with different props and poses and Hayden took it all in his stride. Thank you so much Amore for letting me borrow your little son this morning, these are just a few to satiate Hayden's adoring crowd, dudes got a following already :P

The second I saw this amazing tattoo I knew I had to get a photo of it!

Such a sweetie. He totally lights up when he sees or hears his Mum. Absolutely gorgeous.

And what could be cuter than a naked baby? Oh yeah a smiling naked baby :) 

 

Many more photos to come of this little guy and even more cuties! Lets just say my week is looking mega full with photo goodness. If you would like some photos taken of your own little sweet cheeks baby then email me: summertimephotography (at) gmail.com for more info or check out my website http://summertimephotography.smugmug.com/

The Best Part

Amongst the beautiful flowers and dresses and the amazing landscape and sunset, I reckon this by far is the best part. This is what we celebrate. These vows and the emotion behind them is the whole reason for the day, the foundation of their marriage, and what will carry them through long after the flowers have dried up and the beautiful dress is packed away.


To all those who celebrate their anniversary around this time of year I encourage you to re-read your wedding vows often and love, respect and cherish that amazing person that you married :)

My gorgeous friend, her proud Daddy, amazing flowers, a memorable day :) 

 

Just had to quickly put up an unedited photo before I go to...zzzzz

What A Difference 6 Weeks Makes...

This is the same little guy at newborn and then six weeks on! Its amazing how quickly babies grow up and change, fill out and get chunky!

After coming home from our hangout at the Sails restaurant at Redcliffe (very baby friendly and lovely staff) I uploaded this photo to facebook with the following caption; tee hee, is it wrong that the first thing that comes to mind is "I shall call him 'Squishy,' and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy."

Evidently I'm not the only one who thinks so judging from the amount likes and comments. He sure is cultivating a fine set of cheeks :)

Along with a lovely personality

It is easy to see that he is absolutely adored by his Mama! I'm so happy to have my beautiful friend back from teaching far far away, and very selfishly hope that she hangs around for a while :) Having babies can be such a huge change, but it is lovely to have friends by your side, especially ones who knew just how crazy you were in high school (and that was before overdosing on a mud cake which we since deemed 'death by chocolate'). It takes someone special to go through all the phases and stages with you, who knows your strengths and faults, and you are still friends with all these years later. Levi, you are very blessed to have such an amazing Mum!!

Could they be anymore different? Kenya vs. Ireland ;) Tavi is enthralled with his little friend, and I think Levi is just starting to notice that he is there.

Lovely Cass and our two lads.

 

We ended up seeing each other the day Mueller had their graduation, seems crazy that we were the ones graduating this time 7 years ago...wonder where we will be in another 7 years?

Hey Baby!

I think I have finished editing the photos I took of Sienna last week. I'm not sure about anyone else out there that takes and edits photos but for me its similar to writing an assignment. I tend to think that I'm totally happy with it but then if I let it sit for a day and come back to it I'll see something that needs tweaking.

Despite having my own baby that I take a gazillion photos of daily, I learned a lot from this shoot and I hope I continue to learn lots and continually improve my skills with every shoot I do. There is definitely something to be said about just getting stuck into it and having a go at whatever it is that you want to do. You can only learn so much prior to trying it and what you learn on the job will often be much more relevant than having tonnes of head knowledge which you may never use.

Don't forget, my photo shoots are still FREE while I am learning and as long as you are happy to bear with me, I'll do my best to capture lovely memories of you and your family, or your kids, your pet dog, your houseplant...although I do draw the line at pet rocks :p

Contact me: summertimephotography (at) gmail.com to set up a date.

So here are some of those tweaked photos. Sienna you were a pleasure to photograph and your Mum was fantastic for letting me borrow you for a while. There are about 50 that I am happy with, and in future I'll aim for this amount of edits per shoot, although I still have something non-photo related in the works for this darling little girl so hopefully I'll finish that off today and have a little package dropped off to your house soon :)

Summertime Photography

In anticipation of my first somewhat serious photo shoot I asked Chris last night if he could think about some ideas for a logo and this is what he came up with and I love it.

What can I say, I married a talented guy. For more proof or to get your very own logo check out his art here. As for the photos I was really happy with how they turned out. Sienna was a little sweetheart and Tavi was very much thrilled to have another baby for company, the little socialite that he is. I'm also trialling a website so I'll have somewhere other than here to put my photos, cuz seriously I take a lot! The grand total today was around 400... I blame Sienna for being too cute, you're ok with that right hun?

I choose to take that happy baby drooly face as a yes.

My website hasn't got a whole lot on it yet but I'll soon fix that as its going to be a very full on week and my camera is going to get a good workout. I'll be taking some beach pics of one of my favorite little guys tomorrow and its also the week that my baby sister is graduating!! I still can't believe it, and I'm pretty sure she is also in denial since she hasn't got her makeup booked for the formal on Friday. Yes that's this Friday. I know, I'd be freaking out too, but I guess she got the majority of the laid back genes in our family.  Stay tuned for some homie pants, strawberry plants and many pretty dresses if you're in to that sort of thing :)

My very own makeshift studio!

These are exciting times in the Summertime houehold, we did a big rearrange yesterday and I now have the beginnings of my very own studio!! The original plan was to find somewhere better for Tavi to sleep (who, coincidentally is snoozing away in my arms while I write this) because although his room is lovely with lots of natural light, it is also at the other end of the house and far away from the air conditioning which makes an already hot and tired baby a seriously cranky one when it is too hot for him to sleep his own room.

As a result of this he tends to have most of his day time sleeps in our room as its cooler but then it is only a matter of time until he rolls off our bed and onto the floor...not good. So for now we have him back in our room till we decide what is the best solution and I might just take my sweet time figuring one out because I'm loving not having to traipse through the house bleary eyed for his night time feeds, plus I just love having my sweet little snoring baby in our room :)

But anyway I had plans to go over to a friends house tomorrow and take some photos of her gorgeous baby girl and while I was trying to sort out the logistics of taking photos of another baby while keeping my own happy and not resorting to carrying him in the ergo the whole time it dawned on me that Tavi's vacant room would make the perfect place to take photos. Thankfully I'm a bit of a material hoarder (hello instant backdrop) and I just have a few more things to sort out and then it will be all good to go for tomorrow, although I couldn't resist taking a few pics of Tavi while I rearranged furniture in there. Those blue eyes just melt me.



I might have missed out on something essential but for now its a start, and hopefully I'll be able to share some photos from our session tomorrow if my friend is cool with that of course. Really looking forward to doing more photography now that I've got a bit more head space available and now that I have a space set up for it hopefully I can start developing more skills to get better photos. Very excited about a prospective shoot featuring many many tattoos soon so stay tuned for that.

Also just putting it out there that I do not consider myself a pro in any sense of the word, I have so much more to learn, but I do love taking a ridiculous amount of photos so if you want to help me build my portfolio and gain experience while capturing some memories of your loved ones then email me janesummertime (at) gmail.com

Did I mention it was for FREE? Oh ok you can pay me in baked goods if you must! Now to attempt transferring my little snoozy baby into his nice cool bed without waking him...