I remember when I was about 6 or 7 years old (WAAAAY back in the 80's!), I was obsessed about nail polish. My mum had a few bottles, all in very neutral (non-exciting) colours. I would plead to be allowed to wear it, but I was only allowed during school holidays when mum knew there would be plenty of time for it to chip off before school started back! But oh that feeling of being girly and grown up and having pretty nails! I have never grown out of that, my nail polish collection these days is epic and all the colours of the rainbow! In the last few months, my own Miss 6 has launched herself head first into a fairly serious obsession about make-up, specifically lipstick. In a desperate bid to grow up, she now carries her handbag with her everywhere, with her collection of lipsticks, lip glosses and lip balms in tow. She rummages through my old handbags and in drawers, looking for long forgotten lipstick treasures lying about. Every time she sees her cousin, she comes away with a few more cast-offs, in varying shades of pale pink (which is all she is allowed to have). We cannot go to the shops or the supermarket without endless pleas to buy her more. She has even started keeping a written inventory of which colours she has! Did you have any girly obsessions when you were a kid? And is this all normal??? :) Jaclyn and her two cuties came to our property at Tamborine Village recently for their family shoot - it was a beautiful morning and I was thrilled to be able to use my own big backyard to capture these special family moments... Thank you for choosing me to capture these memories for you!
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Don't you love it when plans backfire on you? Today was meant to be a super productive day. I have to-do lists, a massive editing pile to get through, galleries to finish, disks to finalise and post, and emails to answer... So it was with some degree of glee that I arrived at Kindy this morning to drop Master 4 off, anticipating 6 child-free hours of productivity... only to be told it was a Pupil Free Day, no Kindy today! Silly me had obviously not read the calendar, because when I got home, yep - there it is... in bright yellow highlight so I wouldn't miss it. We dropped Miss 6 off at school, and then Master 4 spent the whole drive home saying "Silly Mummy!" which I found really helpful, thanks buddy! So master 4 is very disappointed (he loves Kindy), and now mummy is resigning herself to a much less productive day, but one extra day of love and cuddles instead. There is a silver lining to every cloud, after all. Today's blog features the Cragg family, and what a lovely, fun family they are! So many gorgeous kids and happy moments, the park was beautiful and the weather was gorgeous - gotta love my job, right? Thanks for a fun afternoon guys! There are some things that money just cant buy. For Mother's Day, Mr 4 has been making something for me at Kindy for the last week. Its been excitedly spoken of, vague descriptions of things "having to dry" and "what I painted today" have all added to the mystery. He's been bursting at the seams to tell me about it, but with the help of the rest of the family, he's been "shushed" into silence. A few days before Mother's Day, I was tucking him into bed when he asked: "Mummy, is there a day for Daddy's too?" "Yes" I replied, "Its called Father's Day, its later in the year". His face lit up... "Oh yay! I'm going to make daddy a necklace too!!" And then confusion reigned as I burst into fits of laughter. I assured him he hadn't given the secret of the present away, and he happily went to sleep. On Friday at Kindy, he thrust the wrapped present into my hands and hugged me, then demanded "open it mummy!" It just about killed him to learn that he had to wait until Sunday! When the big moment finally did roll around, the look on his face just about burst my heart with emotion. He was so proud of himself for making something just for me, to tell me he loves me, and it gave me the warm fuzzies for the rest of day. And thats what its all about, isnt it? These are my beautiful hand-made necklaces. I spent a beautiful day with my beautiful family, with some lovely gifts and cards from miss 6, a delicious cooked breakfast by my husband and the rest of the day with my own mum and mother-in-law. How did I get so lucky? I hope you had a lovely day as well xx Today's blog post features the Bereznai family! Our early morning shoot was at a little environmental park that I'd never been to before, but we were blessed with beautiful weather and gorgeous light. and the family dog came along to be included in the family shots too! Thank you for a lovely morning, guys! x
Its always exciting when plans start to come to fruition. Its long been a dream of mine to have a natural light photography studio. Up until now, all my photo shoots have been outdoors on location, subject to the wrath of the weather gods! When we searching for our new family home earlier this year, one of the boxes that it had to "tick" was space for a photography studio... and we found it! Now the plans have been drawn, and the work has commenced and I'm hoping it wont be too long before "Hilary Hudson Photography" will have its home base open at Tamborine and ready for a new world of photography services! Wall framing is complete, electrical work has been done - time for some gyprock! Watch this space! Featuring on the blog today is Kathy's family shoot. Kathy was given a gift certificate for Mothers Day last year, and I was thrilled to finally meet her and her fabulous fun family! I tell you what, as a photographer, I absolutely LOVE it when everyone gets involved and has a great time, and that's just what happened during this shoot! This lovely group had no qualms doing anything their crazy photographer suggested, and as a result there was so much laughter and joy shared! I hope you enjoy these images! Thank you for such a fun morning, guys!
Some time ago, we decided to stop watching the nightly news on TV. Our kids don't need to see all the dramas in the world, and honestly, we are so much happier without it. Some might say we have a "head in the sand" approach - however we still get to hear the main news stories via social media and radio, and that's enough for me. It took some time to get used to. I felt like I was missing out on something... knowledge... information... ? But in its place, we now have family "happy hour". Family Feud, followed by M*A*S*H! Both kids love watching M*A*S*H and Miss 6 even shouts "YAY!" when she hears the theme music every night. She likes Radar and Frank, while Mr 4 likes Klinger best. I never really watched it much as a kid (personally I always preferred Hogans Heroes and Get Smart) so its mostly all new to me as well :) Do you feel the same way about watching the news? Jen, Bryce and little Hudson are featuring on the blog today - their shoot was a prize from a competition I ran earlier in the year. I was thrilled to hear that they were also bringing along their Spanish Water Dog, Muffin! Hudson was super cute and full of smiles, and Muffin was so well behaved - we had a great morning! Here's some of my faves from the shoot: Thanks guys for a lovely morning!
I saw my first brown snake yesterday... sure it was a baby, about as thick as my little finger and maybe 30cms long, but it was the first snake I've seen at our new place and I'm not ashamed to admit that it rattled me. It wasn't hiding in the bushes, or under a rock - it was sunning itself right in the middle of the concrete path. Our little dog actually stood right over the top of it without even realizing it was there, and I FREAKED! I called our dog frantically, trying to get him away from it - but being the happy little chappy that he is (and very non-observant), he just got excited that his mama was calling him and started dancing around RIGHT ON TOP OF THE SNAKE! Mr Snake naturally freaked out too and after getting tangled in dancing dog legs, hightailed it into the nearest shrubbery. Which alarmingly, is right beside the house. Luckily he didn't seem to have taken a bite of our fluffy little dog, as I watched him closely for the rest of the day, and he seems to be fine. We did see a few snakes at Ormeau, but never any of the brown variety. For all I know, it could have been just a brown coloured, non-venomous tree snake, but who knows - I just know that I hate snakes! Better get used to it, living at Tamborine I guess! Todays blog feature is of Kathy and her fabulous family! Such a fun loving, happy group of people and we had a great afternoon exploring our location. I think that beautiful flowers, beautiful people and beautiful golden-hour light is a photographers match made in heaven! Here are just a few of my favourites from this awesome afternoon... Thanks guys for sharing such a lovely afternoon with me!
We have been going through some major life changes over the last few months. Big. Mega. I have been about as stressed as I ever want to get, I have cried, laughed, felt very deflated, worried, sad and excited - and sometimes I have felt all those things in the space of one day. It took over 8 months to finally sell our family home. That in itself felt like a bit of a marathon and was quite an emotional process. Then the challenge was on to find the place for our next adventure - and we discovered it nestled at the base of beautiful Tamborine Mountain - 5 of the most amazing, beautiful acres I think we'd ever seen, along with a tiny little house! Despite the tiny house, the potential here is massive, and we are excited to finally turn some dreams into reality here. I cannot get over the peace and serenity! No more helicopters overhead at all hours, no highway noise, no more sirens or traffic congestion - its just such a breath of fresh air. I also look forward to using my own backyard for some photo shoots! Our little dog Dutchy, meeting one of our friendly neighbours! Donna's family shoot was originally scheduled for some months ago - however in my profession, we are always at the mercy of the Weather Gods! That day was a little showery but we decided to persevere - I got one click of the shutter before the downpour started!! Ok - time to reschedule! Luckily, our next attempt turned out to be a glorious afternoon - the sun was shining, the kids were happy, the location was stunning - what more could you ask for? Miss Ayla - love that gorgeous smile and twinkly eyes :) These trees are made for climbing! Super cool - Kayden and Leyton Thanks Donna and family for sharing your afternoon with me!
Who doesn't love a beautiful love story? I know I do! I quite often stop and think to myself "I have the best job in the world!" - but sometimes, it just gets even better. I was contacted by Sarah a few months ago and we booked in her family shoot on the beach. I knew the shoot would include extended family who would be visiting from Brazil, which was quite exciting in itself, with the challenge of working around the language barrier! A few weeks later I heard from Sarah letting me know that her sister-in-law's boyfriend Leo was going to propose during the shoot! I knew right then and there that this was going to be awesome. We organized some extra time for the end of the shoot to capture this beautiful moment in their lives. Instructions and discussions had to be translated! We started by capturing some images of the Martelli family together, and can I just say, what a gorgeous bunch of photogenic people! So after capturing so many beautiful moments of the family, it was time for the surprise proposal! I'm not sure who was more excited and nervous, Leo, the family, or me! Leo took his beloved Leticia by the hand and led her along the beach, walking and talking and looking so in love... they stopped and shared a spontaneous kiss as Leo reached into his pocket... Of course, she said YES! A crowd had gathered behind us and they all clapped and cheered! The happy couple! Thank you so much Martelli family for allowing me to be a part of such a wonderful family occasion! Behind the scenes from this photoshoot - I spend a lot of time running back and forth, finding the right angles and the best light... and yes I do beach photshoots in bare feet! Its a great workout for everyone, and lots of fun too! :) Capturing that all-important shot of the ring... A very big thank you to Sarah for capturing these behind-the-scenes photos for me!
It was a simple comment: "Thanks mum"... but to me, it spoke volumes. Up to now, ever since she made me a mother, Miss 6 has always called me "mummy". From the first time that word came out of her sweet little mouth, I was hooked. She didn't have me at "hello" - she had me at "mummy". I remember waiting and watching patiently while she was a baby, knowing the first words were developing and wondering what her little voice would sound like. There was nothing sweeter than hearing that word for the first time and knowing that she was talking, actually referring to me. The word has been used perhaps thousands of time since then, sometimes plaintive, sometimes crying, often followed by the never ending: "... can I have something to eat?" Sometimes, in tiredness and frustration, hearing it has made me want to hide in the bedroom, but most of the time it has warmed my heart. But when one day recently, she swapped "mummy" for "mum" - I noticed, and I felt a twinge of sadness. She is growing up fast, my girl. Like most of us, I alternate between rejoicing at every new step of independence and watching her become her own person, and feeling melancholy as with each step she pulls a little bit further away from needing me. For now, the term "mummy" is still in frequent use (with the occasional "mum" thrown in), and so I'm focusing on enjoying the 'now'. I know its all part of the journey, but its bittersweet all the same. I love photographing kids. I love chatting with them, finding out what they like, teasing smiles out of babies and gaining the confidence of toddlers. I love telling silly jokes and acting the fool to raise a giggle. Most of my littlest clients are well under the age of 10, and still think super heroes and Disney princesses are cool! When I met Michelle and her family, I knew that it would be a little different as both kids were teenagers, and this required a different approach. Particularly as master 14 was absolutely determined not to raise a smile during the entire session! With lots of coaxing and the help of one of his mates, we got there in the end! Two gorgeous ladies with matching beautiful eyes... Finally cracked a smile, and it was worth the wait!
Thanks guys for a lovely morning! Fords vs Holden - a story about brainwashing your children... The other day we were doing a bit of a car switcheroo. I had both kids in the car with me, while my husband was somewhere in traffic behind us in his Ford. Now, hubby is a big, BIG Ford fan. Both kids have been schooled on this since birth, especially during V8 supercars season. Each kid has numerous Ford t-shirts. We all have to wear them on Bathurst day haha! Our blood bleeds blue, and "Holden" is a bit of a dirty word in our house! So when we were in the car the other day, miss 6 kept peeking behind us to see if she could see daddy in his car. Finally we pulled up to a roundabout and she spotted a white car behind us. "Oh! I think I see Daddy, I think that's him behind us!" I snuck a quick look in the rear-view mirror - "Nope, thats not Daddy. Thats a Holden!" Miss 6 then said "A HOLDEN?? Bleurghh YUK!" (And when he heard the story later, he gave her a high 5!) I'm still playing catch up with some family shoots from late last year - this weeks feature is of the Stephenson Family. It was a super hot morning but we had fun exploring the park, looking at the ducks and finding some shady areas to run around in. And how gorgeous are these two little ones? I feel so privileged to get to capture so much love between families, thank you Stephenson family for sharing your morning with me!
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AuthorHilary Hudson Photography. Natural Light Newborn and Families Photographer based in Tamborine, QLD. Australia. Archives
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Hilary Hudson Photography is located in Tamborine, Queensland, photographing newborn portraits and family sessions in the Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim areas of Queensland, Australia.
COPYRIGHT 2024. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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