Bel, Curt and baby Hudson - a Family Portrait

Belinda and Curt were featured in one of our very first blog posts when we showed them visiting our studio when collecting their wedding album. Time has flown and now Curt and Belinda have a beautiful little son named, Hudson.

Hudson was keen to meet his mum and dad and arrived five weeks early back on June 21st. Obviously under such circumstances, a newborn shoot was out of the question as he spent his first few weeks in hospital growing stronger each day. Now at 4 1/2 months old he a still a little tacker, but healthy and absolutely perfect.

So here is Hudson's first official photoshoot with his very proud mum and dad.

Belinda and Curt, he was just so beautiful. I can't wait to see how he grows. I hope you like this little preview.

Merrin and Mario - 25th October 2009

For this wedding, Alex had one of our favourite second shooters, Serena, head out with him while I had a day at home with my boys.

Merrin and Mario both looked great and Alex and Serena were impressed by the willingness of another wedding party who were all happy to be in front of the camera.

After the touching marriage ceremony at the Seventh Day Adventist Church at Mt. Gravatt, it was off to the favourite locations around Mirra at Fortitude Valley for a few more photos then in to Mirra, where Merrin and Mario partied the night away.

Congratulations to Merrin and Mario on your marriage and we hope you enjoy a few of these images from your day.

Tracy and Jeff - 24th October 2009

Wow! What a day we had with Tracy and Jeff. We arrived to shoot the boys and within two minutes we were introduced to their humour and the laughs just kept on rolling all day. There wasn't a hint of shyness with this group and even one of the groomsmen's mothers got into the spirit by helping Jeff to dress (er, umm... and undress.) The hot pink undies on the groom must have done the trick.

We headed over to the girls to be met by Tracy who was excited and a little nervous about the day ahead, but very soon she got into the swing of things and along with her maids, they were all hamming it up for the camera.

The ceremony was at Sirromet Winery then we whisked the bridal party away for some photos by the bayside. When we arrived back for the last of the photos at Sirromet, the storm clouds had rolled in and there was lightning off in the distance. We couldn't believe our luck with the magnificent light and weather. Perfect for photos.

The reception room looked amazing and was topped off by a very popular chocolate fountain from "Chocolate Cascades". After capturing all the amazing room details and taste testing a few of the marshmallows and strawberries dipped in chocolate it was time for us to head off leaving everyone to party the night away.

Congratulations to Tracy and Jeff, we hope you are enjoying your Thai honeymoon and hope you like your sneak peek.

A New Beginning - Birth Photography

A few days ago Carmen contacted me asking if I would photograph the impending birth of her son. Birth photography is one of my favourite things - it is a time in a woman's life when she is most vulnerable yet also most powerful. I obviously jumped at the chance and chatted to Carmen about her due dates (another week away) and all the little details.

Just two nights later as I jumped into bed I received the phonecall to say her waters had broken and I was off to Ipswich Hospital for the big event.

I arrived at emergency at the same time as Carmen, her mother Bev and her sister Gretchen. We all made the trek to the bith suites together to wait and see what happened.

Carmen ended up sleeping for a bit with her sister close by her side. She soon hopped up to go to the bathroom and ended up staying in there until the birth of her perfect little son a couple of hours later. The high pressure shower head and gas were the only pain relied used. A huge thumbs up has to go to Gretchen also who was everything a support person should be and more - she barely left her sister's side the whole time.

Please enjoy this birth slideshow. It runs for 8 min 34 sec so you might want to grab a coffee.

Thank you to Carmen for allowing me to document this most amazing part of your life and congratulations on the birth of your not so little man.

*no graphic birth pictures are included*

Alison and Boyd - 17th October 2009

Alison and Boyd had their pre-wedding photos taken by Alex in the weeks leading up to the wedding. We knew we were going to have a bright and colourful day if the results of the e-shoot were anything to go by.

Boyd was preparing for the day at his mum's house where everyone was so relaxed, you wouldn't have thought they were about to head off to a wedding! We were welcomed in and shown around and even got to pat the dogs before getting into the job of taking photos.

Very soon it was off to the girls where we photographed Alison who looked divine in her designer dress finished with French lace. I'm not one to cry at weddings but the pure emotion displayed by Alison's mum was quite powerful and even I couldn't help but shed a tear at how proud she looked of her daughter.

The ceremony saw us back at one of the prettiest ceremony venues, Latrobe Chapel in Paddington. Although Alison had to be sent around the block a couple of times as the priest was a few minutes late, however he did make it and the ceremony went off without a hitch.

The reception was held at Mirra in the Valley. It's a great venue and has the advantage of being a short walking distance from a variety of photo locations. We had a great time shooting with the whole bridal party in and around Mirra and taking in the Valley sights. The staff at Mirra always impress us with their dedication to service and this time was no exception.

Congratulations to Alison and Boyd! We know from your facebook updates that you are enjoying your French honeymoon and we hope you also enjoy your sneak peek.

Michelle, Shawn, Jake and baby bump

Michelle had found us through another happy Savvy Studios maternity client and when she called she told me that she loved her friend's photos and wanted something like that for herself. This is always a great compliment to hear.

At 36 weeks pregnant, Michelle looked radiant and with a busy little Jake climbing over her it's no wonder she's keeping active. We started the photoshoot in a studio setting but after the maternity shots I suggested we take Jake to the park so he could explore (as three year olds like to do).

Jake had a ball! He was throwing stones and checking out the ducks and the tiny fish when suddenly he tumbled in. Hats off to Jake though as he picked himself up and promptly went and high-fived mum. All caught on camera! There are photos of this in the slideshow.

It was lovely to meet up with you Michelle, Shawn and Jake and I hope you have an easy few weeks before your next little one makes an appearance.

Sara and Jacob - 10th October 2009

Sometimes we are presented with a photographic challenge and we love to meet these challenges head on. Sara and Jake had requested from us as few posed photos as possible, keep a focus on their friends and family and scheduled us 30 minutes of photo time after the wedding to get all we needed to capture.

Usually our day involves Alex as 'primary shooter' who will set up scenes and give a couple direction ensuring he captures the shots that are the must-have images, and I am usually in the 'second shooter' position and have the luxury of walking around the scene Alex has set up and capturing from a different angle or I even just get to sit back and wait for the moment a couple will relax and take the shots with the great natural smiles or the intimate looks at each other between Alex's shots.

However for Sara and Jake, both Alex and I were shooting mainly photo-journalistic style (with a few mildly directed scenes thrown in)... and we loved it! It was great to have a day where we were doing something sightly different with the challenge of a time limit added. Great fun :)

Sara looked absolutely stunning, Jake couldn't wipe the smile from his face and all the little details that went into this day were perfect; from the three different yet complimentary maids' dresses, the variety of flowers used through all the bouquets and also the table settings, the venue and the entertainment. It all came together perfectly and then there were speeches that were all heartfelt, sincere, warm and outright hilarious.

Congratulations to Sara and Jake for inviting us to be a part of your day and we hope you enjoy this small selection of your images.

Jacob's First Official Photoshoot

A few of our regular followers might remember a maternity shoot from a couple of months ago featuring a very radiant mum and dad, Vanessa and Warren.

Vanessa and Warren welcomed little Jacob to the world and I was invited to their home to take his newborn photos.

At five weeks old, he's a little more alert than the typical newborn so 'posing' was kept to a minimum. Jacob is a beautiful and calm baby so shooting was made very easy as long as he wasn't moved around too much.

Congratulations to Vanessa and Warren on the arrival of your beautiful son. I can't wait to be invited into your lives again in the future to take photos of Jacob as he grows.

My Newest Little Niece... newborn photos

This is a special shoot for me. I'm one of five children and before this year, between my brothers and sister, there were seven grandchildren and only one of them was a girl. I'm the biggest producer of boys in the family having four of my own. However this year saw the girls making a comeback. I had two neices born in March and April named Amaya and Tiffany then my sister found out she was pregnant with her long awaited baby girl.

Mariska has two older brothers, my oldest nephew Alex who is nearly 18 and my chatterbox nephew, Craig, who has just turned seven. My sister has always wanted a little girl so this was a case of third time lucky for her.

This session took place in my mother's very dark house using natural light only. It was a bit of a challenge.

So here is my newest and very gorgeous niece, Mariska with her brothers and her mother...


My youngest brother and his fiance are the next in the queue with a baby due in January. Boy or girl, time will tell...

Rebecca and Chris - Sunday 4th October, 2009

Sunday morning brought an early start, heading out the door at 8.20am to be at the groom's family home by nine. After two weddings in the two days prior, we were just a little bit tired and felt as though we started the day running on empty. However as soon as we arrived to take photos of Chris and his groomsmen, Chris's dad, Neil made us feel immediately welcomed and pretty soon it was full steam ahead.

The boys were definitely a group of lads and happy to ham it up for the camera. It would be possible to make a slideshow purely of the Chris, Scott, Sam and Anthony, however there was also a stunning bride to take photos of.

We headed into the Stamford Plaza and were met by a very excited Bec. Bec had reason to be excited; she had received a free upgrade from a junior suite at the Stamford to THE Stamford Suite. The Stamford Suite has housed celebrities and royalty including the Queen, Madonna, John Travolta, Rod Stewart and many more - infact, there is a plaque in the room as you walk in telling you who else has stayed there. We received the grand tour and have to admit, if you have $4000 to spare, a night at the Stamford Suite wouldn't be a shabby place to stay. With the formal tour out of the way, we got down to the nitty gritty of shooting the final preparations then some last minute photos of Bec. There is one photo of Bec that we just adore, with Bec's history of dance it was hard not to incorporate her strength and grace into one amazing image.

After a ceremony at St Mary's Anglican Church, we headed under the Storey Bridge to start shooting the location images. It was here that we realised just how crazy for each other Bec and Chris are as they frequently went into their own little world while we were shooting. It was just so nice to be witness to those moments of tenderness. This continued for the remainder of the shoot in the Botanical Gardens before making our way to the reception venue; Oxley's on the River.

When we made it to Oxley's there was a full moon rising over the city so we quickly bundled Bec and Chris off to take adavantage of the photo opportunity before their formal entry to the reception as husband and wife.

Congratulations to Bec and Chris on your day and thank you for allowing us to be a part of it and letting us see a glimpse of the obvious tenderness you have for each other. We hope you enjoy your sneak peek.