Newborn Shoot | 11-Day-Old Fin

I spent the most lovely of mornings with the Wood family this week.  This session encompassed a little bit of everything.  Of course, when booking a newborn session a client expects to receive beautiful images of their new bundle, but how special (and time-effective!) is it to be able to get updated images of the whole family together at the same time.  I am always more than happy to include family in a newborn shoot and there is usually time during feeding and settling of the newborn for siblings to have their own mini-shoot.

Big sister, Kyra, has the most mesmerising blue eyes and was such fun to play with - in the course of photographing her we played on the slide, in the toddler car, blew bubbles, built block towers, played with the polar bear (my long-haired white rug) and dressed up with jewels, fan and a parasol.   I think she has inherited Dad's appetite for exercise...she was barely still for a moment.  What a gorgeous spirit she is and so photogenic!

Meanwhile new addition and star of the show, Fin, calmly took everything in his stride.  It took a while to get him soundly off to sleep but when he finally went he was out for the count!  I love it when clients bring little props that are meaningful to them.  Fin had received a beautiful sterling silver dumbbell (Dad is reported to be a gym junkie) and we managed to grab a couple of images of him with this.  He'll be giving Kyra a run for her money in no time at all.

Thank you Natalie, Andrew, Kyra and Fin for such a lovely session.

A Personal Project

Forgive the self-indulgence of this post, it is all about ME.  Or, to be more accurate, it's all about my kids.

For us, January means school holidays, more time having fun & adventures, more time together.  This January, like many other photographers, I decided to embark on a personal project involving photographing the everyday, real-life goings on around our home.  These are the things that I want to remember...the way things really were...busy, messy, fun and just a little bit crazy!  Playtime, bathtime & bedtime with my three little people.

I hope you enjoy viewing these as much as I enjoyed photographing them.

This was us in January (well a sample, anyway)...

How exhausted would you need to be to fall asleep on a coffee table?

Enjoying a rare moment of bathtime solitude...

...before it turns into this

Those curls

You can cuddle me but I WILL stick my finger in your ear

He has played with his cars and trains flat on his belly all his life and isn't about to change now

The little crawler - strongest big toes in town

Something's not right with the Wiggles app

Because even pirates need to brush their teeth

Nothing like being woken up by your big sis

Peek-a-boo

Peas in a pod

As fiercely independent as her big sister, she will not be fed with a spoon.  Dinner time can get VERY messy at the moment

Any guesses as to what she'll grow up to be?

Just a bit of crazy on a Thursday morning

Admiring glances

Off on an adventure together - cardboard crown, tops off and suitcases..check, check and check

The bubbles were supposed to entertain their little sister but guess who had more fun?

Bathtime bunny

A beautiful moment after bathtime

Practically her favourite things in the world...high heels and Ted!

A girl after my own (organised) heart - this is what she spends her mornings doing before I wake up

She does love to dance, this one

And just like that it's back to school!

Family Session | Centennial Park

The Sydney drizzle that seems to be a permanent fixture at the moment didn't phase this lovely family  one little bit!  Cloud covered days are actually ideal for portraits and the shelter of the beautiful gum trees in Centennial Park kept everyone dry and happy.

I just love this park location for a family shoot with numerous areas providing stunning backdrops for a good variety of shots and plenty of fun to be had for the kids.  Four-year-old Leo had a ball climbing trees and feeding the birds whilst the newest addition to the family, two-month-old Jasper, was so overwhelmed by all the goings on that he promptly fell asleep on a rug.

Thanks to Lucie, Danny, Leo & Jasper for a fun morning and all the very best for your new lives in Melbourne.

Rachel x

 

(c) Rachel Wildig Photography
www.rachelwildigphotography.com

Family Session | Bondi Beach

Family Session on Bondi Beach

Just prior to the mad rush of the festive season, I met this gorgeous family down on Bondi Beach for an early morning portrait session.

You may have seen my maternity images of a rather radiant Justine and newborn images of youngest son, Barnaby, back in July.  Well, with all the newly framed prints that now adorn the walls of their home, Dad began to feel a little bit overlooked - photographically speaking that is.

I feel that with this set the balance may have been restored!

(c) Rachel Wildig Photography
www.rachelwildigphotography.com

Media Shoot | Car Next Door

Car Next Door, Sydney's neighbour-to-neighbour car sharing scheme hit a big milestone this week with it's official launch on Friday.

If you haven't already heard of the Car Next Door concept, the basic premise of the business is to facilitate the sharing of cars within communities on an hourly or daily basis to the mutual benefit of owners and borrowers.

The primary advantage to owners is in making money from their vehicles whilst they are not using them which goes towards offsetting the considerable expense involved in owning a car, and the benefit to users is access to an extensive and affordable fleet of vehicles on their doorstep.  In addition to this, there are clear and tangible benefits to the community and environment such as freeing up car parking spots and reducing the number of vehicles on the road.  Car Next Door modelling shows that one shared car takes eight individually owned cars off the road!

As a precursor to the official launch of Car Next Door, their dedicated team drummed up interest and spread the word by attending, amongst other places, the Saturday morning Bondi Farmers Markets held at the Bondi Beach Public School.

Last weekend the team got busy with an attempt to cram as many people as possible into a Peugeot and I was there to capture all the hilarious action.  We were just amazed by the final staggering result of 21 people!    

If you are interested in learning more about Car Next Door, you can find them using the links below:

http://www.facebook.com/CarNextDoor
http://www.carnextdoor.com.au

As a Car Next Door car-lender myself I can vouch for this excellent company and I wish Will, Dave and the ever-expanding Car Next Door team great success with this very worthwhile venture.



Rachel  x

(c) Rachel Wildig Photography 2012
www.rachelwildigphotography.com

Newborn Shoot | 15-Day-Old Raphael

According to the general characteristics of placement in families, the fourth born is said to be the "child of the family" and this could not be truer of Rafi.  His three older siblings, Theo, Fifi and Amara, clearly adore their new baby brother and I am in complete awe of just how well parents, Matt and Anthea are coping with the newest addition to their brood.

Rafi was a perfect little model who just loved the "sounds-of-the-ocean" white noise track that we played to soothe him off to sleep - he's clearly a Bondi bub through and through.  He also managed to sleep straight through the combined rampaging of his three siblings and my own three children straight through his shoot, mind you!  There's a lot to be said for being fourth born.

My heartfelt congratulations to you all.

(c) Rachel Wildig Photography
www.rachelwildigphotography.com