Love this image of them all running along the beach. You can see their squeals and laughter on their faces – bet little Phoenix is even having a chuckle over mum’s shoulder!

Now I am telling you…

Kisses for Mum! L.O.V.E.

A few years ago we shot a fabulous wedding for a chirpy, slightly zany bride called Sarah from Brisbane, who booked me after only 10 minutes on the phone. Cut to a few years later, and I get another phone call from Sarah – her little brother Ben is getting married to Chelsea. AWESOME!

Ben and Chelsea are madly, passionately, sometimes infuriatingly IN LOVE. I rarely meet couples that are so intense, while also being so perfect for each other.

Their day started at Coogee where Ben and his family were getting ready. I love Coogee weddings. (Nothing at ALL to do with living at Coogee…)

 (Guess who.)

 So, umm… this kinda sums up the entire shoot with the boys. Kinda awkward, but funny. :)
 

Chelsea got ready at the family home in Ramsgate. How beautiful are the hedges? Mum & Dad had been working hard in the lead-up to the wedding…

Chelsea: “Dad, you look so young!”
 

And seriously, I’m not a shoe guy, but these shoes are AMAZING. And yes, Chelsea wore them the ENTIRE day.
 

The ring, and brooch on the dress were both significant family heirlooms. Chelsea was really pleased to have them incorporated into the wedding day.
 

Ben & Chelsea’s wedding ceremony was at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Randwick. Unbeknownst to the couple, Chelsea’s parents got married at the same church, some 25 years earlier!  
A nervous Chelsea taking some calming deep breaths before the ceremony starts…
 

 Poppy the runaway flower-girl made for an interesting group shot of the whole bridal party! 
 

Despite a late finish for the ceremony, we managed to get down to Trenerry Reserve at Coogee (locally “The Dog Park”) for some gorgeous late afternoon light. Oh, and some antics with the bridal party.   As I mentioned. Antics. Tango, anyone? 
 

You could be forgiven for thinking that all Ben & Chelsea did on the day was kiss each other – actually, they did lots of that. I think Ben was kinda overwhelmed at how gorgeous Chelsea looked that he couldn’t keep away. ;) 
 

Word. 
 

Chelsea & Ben’s wedding reception was at the Crowne Plaza, Coogee – here is the view from their hotel room, where we all enjoyed a quiet beverage before the party started.

      More brides should do the running man on the dancefloor. Just saying. (Oh, and there is NO truth to the rumour that your humble photographer tore up the dancefloor once the cameras were put away. No truth whatsoever.) 
 

Thanks Chelsea and Ben for having me along to your fabulous wedding day. I loved every second of it, and I look forward to many more happy family events with the Donald/Larkin clan. x

Now our princess is turning 6, and we continued a tradition of sorts – a photo shoot of our girl a week before her birthday. Here’s our girl, shot on Sunday night in our studio, in her favourite party dress and her new wedges from Nanny!

Here is a small selection of the wonderful portraits James captured of these Cousins at Centennial Park.

Liz has been practising yoga for 12 years. She is a member of Yoga Australia and has completed her reiki level 2 and kids yoga training. She has two beautiful girls, Ella (6) and Abbie (4) and wants everyone to experience the benefits of yoga, but only when they are ready.

Yoga with Liz offers the following services:

- 1 on 1 traning in core strength, flexibility & relaxation. This is ideal for those with an injury or wanting to focus on a specific area. For more information call Liz on 0433 124 388.

- relaxation workshops. Let Yoga with Liz help you understand the relaxation response and learn active relaxation techniques. The next work shop is on Sunday 3rd June 10am – 11.30am www.joesgaragegym.com.au to register

- Kids Yoga. Who doesn’t want calmer kids, and seriously what better gift to give a child than techniques on calming oneself. How powerful for all stages in life. For more information email your contact details to Liz on elizabethkerr@y7mail.com

Liz is based in the Northern Beaches but can travel to you also.

To make it more like a birthday cake, I bought a Justin Bieber edible cake topper that says Happy 6th Birthday Indrani Florence. Can’t wait to see her face! I will add a picture of the cheesecake here next week after her birthday so make sure you come back to check it out.

 Ingredients
Base
250g Nice biscuits
120g butter melted

Filling
125g light cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk (395g)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (125ml)

Method
1. Use a food processor to crush the biscuits finely
2. Combine melted butter with crushed biscuits
3. Firmly press biscuit mixture into a 23cm pie plate (3cm deep). I use a square dish – it’s easier to cut into’ slabs’
4. Place base in fridge to chill & start to make filling
5. Use electric mixer to beat cream cheese until smooth & creamy (make sure you scrape down the bowl as you go)
6. Keep mixer going, and gradually add the condensed milk (again remember to scrape down bowl as you go)
7. Add the lemon juice & beat until combined. The mixture will thicken when the juice is beaten in
8. Try not to eat too much of the mixture, and now spread it over the biscuit base
9. Cover in a airtight container & put in the fridge for at least 8 hours (I find over night is best)

This is delicious as it is but you can make this a little more fancy by adding scrapings of chocolate or breaking up flake on the top too. You could also add whipped cream to the top with some strawberries. Go wild!

Paige runs Cherish Beauty & Body in Coogee and lives local too, so having their family portraits taken at beautiful Coogee Beach was the logical choice of location. You will see Coogee Beach turned on all it’s glory of colour and sunshine on the day of their portraits. Here we share the family’s favourite portraits.

  Love this sweet little moment and the result below. How great are the colours of Coogee?     Ah Big Sister loves her little brother – very sweet!   How fab do Paige & Hans look?

Before I left IT for a career as a professional photographer, Bel & I decided that we’d take a 3-month “spare no expense” trip to Europe as a great last hurrah before starting the business full-time.

Between March and June 2003, we travelled through the UK, Sweden, most of Western Europe, Turkey and the Greek Isles. The second last week of our trip was spent in Turkey, where we took an overnight trip to Gallipoli (Gelibolu) for a real sense of what Anzac Cove was like. As an Australian, it felt like something of a rite of passage to visit the spot where so many Aussies lost their lives in defence of a way of life we hold so dear.

Since it’s Anzac Day 2012, I thought I’d share a few of my favourite images from that part of our trip as a remembrance of sorts.

One thing that strikes me looking back at these images is how it felt standing at Anzac Cove. There was a stillness about the place; a kind of reverent silence that enveloped each of us as we stepped off the tour bus.

I couldn’t help imagining what it must have felt like for the Anzacs and the Turks, before dawn on the morning of the first landing, waiting to run up the beach toward almost certain death.

Our tour guide was a Turkish local who had combed the beach as a boy with his father, collecting old rusted bullets, shell casings, and other reminders that a massive battle occurred here. He gave a stirring account of both sides of the Anzac legend – the strategy of Ataturk to seize the high ground as quickly as possible, and maintain a defensible position; and the almost impossible plight of the Anzacs who battled up the beach through constant gunfire to try and take a tiny sliver of coastline in support of the Allied Efforts.

The overwhelming lesson I took away from the visit to Anzac Cove was of the ultimate futility of war. I should qualify this – by no means do I intend to diminish the courageous efforts of the Allies or the Turks; I hold their efforts in the highest respect, and I am almost certain I would break before I was able to go over the top to confront enemy guns.

What I mourn is the huge loss of life on both sides. Almost an entire generation of men were killed – some 130,000 dead from both sides* – all of whom never realised their potential, and many of whom may have held the key to enormous breakthroughs for the arts, sciences or humanities.

I hope as a race we’ve at least learned something from this.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.

The image above is of “The Sphinx” – a natural land formation that the ANZACs nicknamed during the campaign.

Looking up at it from the waters edge was one of the most eerie moments of our visit. That, and the time we spent at the Lone Pine Memorial, site of one of the bloodiest and most intense battles of the entire Gallipoli Campaign.

The first image in this post, and the next series, were taken on Lone Pine. I get shivers simply remembering how I felt taking these shots, as our guide helped take us back to the actual event with his words.

For those craving technical data, these were shot on a combination of Fuji Velvia 35mm film on my Nikon F80 and Kodak Tri-X 400 B&W 120 film on my Mamiya C220 Twin-Lens.

For full details on the Gallipoli Campaign, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign. 

Here are a selection of Kylie and Andrew’s favourite portraits captured by Israel.

Welcome home beautiful baby Jonty – you certainly are the centre of attention!

How proud is big brother? And what about big sister – you can just see she is going to be protective and very attentive to her new brother.

Love you to the moon & back mum!

Hey dad, how you doing?

Beautiful family at home with baby Jonty

I just love love love this moment – mum’s expression is so content and you know she is just taking in that beautiful baby smell. And Dad, well the adoration is so clear.

Big Love! Mum, Dad & the tiny bundle that’s made the love even bigger!

Perfection – just saying.