I've been trying to write this post for a week now! Our life has been slightly turned upside down this last week with sleepless nights and feeding on a schedule - we welcomed a new family member into our home! Meet our super-cute Miniature Bull Terrier pup named Yohsi! (Yoh-si) - 9 weeks old! Ever since our beloved dog Elke passed away 2 years ago, we've been doing some serious thinking about getting another dog as a companion to our little fluff-ball Dutchy . The time never seemed right, it took us a long time to get over losing Elke, and we came up with all kinds of good reasons why having just one dog was just fine with us. But in the last year, little Dutchy has become increasingly clingy, suffered separation anxiety and we noticed he just didn't seem to have a lot of fun anymore, and he's only 6 years old. So we decided that the time was finally right, and then had the agonising wait for the litter of pups to be born... it was love at first sight when we went to choose our little girl. The kids knew she was coming but didn't know quite when - so we surprised them last Wednesday night when they got home... eeek so much excitement!!! Stand by for lots of puppy spam in the coming weeks - but right now we are all a little bit tired from lack of sleep - having a puppy is a bit like having a baby in the house again! 3 month old baby Elizabeth came for a studio session here at Tamborine recently. This gorgeous little girl has the most captivating blue eyes, she was just like a doll and has just about the cutest smile I have ever seen! She tried very hard to hide that smile from me though, especially whenever the camera came out - but after many attempts we managed to capture a few of those precious grins! Here are a few of our favourites from the session:
0 Comments
I have started to call my computer desk "The Abyss"... whenever I sit down here, its like time just disappears from me. Its a black hole, a time-sponge - sometimes I sit down to just quickly reply to one email, and before I know it, 2 hours have gone by and I've become lost doing a zillion other things, and surprisingly very little of it involves social media! So lately whenever I need to do something quickly on here, I have introduced a new rule - do NOT to sit down - because I know that once I sit, I'll get swallowed up. Normally I'm only woken from my 'engrossed computer twilight zone' by one of the kids appearing at my elbow, asking for something to eat :) I imagine I must appear bleary-eyed and dazed... blinking rapidly like one who has suddenly woken from a dream in a strange place. And oh my desk is such a mess... yet there is order in my chaos and I know where everything is (unless one of the kids has been stealing my highlighters again). I take comfort in those studies that say a messy desk is the sign of a creative mind - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it! Do you have a technology time-sponge? Is it your phone? Social Media? Or like me is it your computer? I just loved having handsome little Beau come to visit me in my Tamborine Studio recently, along with his lovely family. Big brother Levi was so excited to get to cuddle his little brother too - those big smiles just say it all, proud brother moment! Bec and Scott your boys are just gorgeous! Here are a few of our favourites from the day: We took the kids to the Beaudesert Show on the weekend. Random fact about me - in my 42 years, I have never, EVER been to the Brisbane Ekka. When I was a kid, it just wasn't really in mum and dads budget and so we never went. I thought this was grossly unfair and no doubt sulked about it for days each year, as all my school friends brought in their showbags and bragged about the rides they'd been on. I figured I'd go once I was an adult, but somehow, year after year it just didn't really rate high enough on the importance scale. It sort of became a "thing" - the "I've never been to the Ekka" discussion, and then I started announcing it as some kind of tradition to be proud of! Now that the kids are a bit older, I guess we'll have to take them eventually, but for now, they are satisfied with a bit of fun at the local show. The Beauy Show was much bigger than I expected, with lots more things to see and do than just rides and showbags! Miss 7 particularly loved watching the equestrian show jumping and the circus, while I thought the panning-for-gold, and venomous snake show was pretty cool too. Hubby enjoyed watching the wood-chopping, and Master 5 thought his Dagwood Dog was the best bit of the day (along with his show-bags)! So what do you think - should I break my tradition next year and brave the actual Ekka? Hayley brought her gorgeous boys, aged 4 and just 6 weeks old to the studio recently for a mini studio session. 4 year old boys have so much energy and I loved capturing this gorgeous little personality! Its also lovely seeing the bond develop between siblings and such an honour being able to capture the memories of these early days together. So much love in these cuddles! Here's a few of the favourites from this session: Ahh book week. Each year so far I have vowed to be prepared and organized well in advance... and each year so far I have managed to leave it to the last minute and hash together something vague in the days before the big parade. Alas this year was no different... after last year's effort, I had big plans to go all out. I actually wrote the date down in my diary and was determined that I would not be slack this year. I asked the kids weeks ago what they would like to dress as. Both were no real help. Miss 7 had a vague idea of going as Billy B Brown... Master 5 just shrugged and left it up to me. So I put it to the back of my mind and then promptly forgot. With a week to go, I asked them again - Miss 7 proudly announced that she had decided to go as Scooby-Doo (we dont have anything vaguely resembling a Scooby-Doo outfit so that was never going to happen) - and again Master 5 just shrugged. In the end, with one day to go, we raided the dress up box and chose two items that we already had. Miss 7 - a panda - from one of her Barbie books. Master 5 - a crocodile - from... ummm... hmm lets see if we can google a book that has a crocodile in it! Nope we wont be winning any costume awards this year! (Mr 5 was not very happy about having his photo taken!!) Todays blog features my Mother's Day mini sessions at Tamborine. Photos make lovely gifts for mums and grandmothers and makes a great excuse to get the whole family together, even the grown up kids! All sessions held at Tamborine have the option to make use of my purpose built studio as well as our 5 rural acres, giving two very different looks within the one portrait session, at no extra charge! Here's some of the favourites from these mini sessions. This week I'm shamelessly indulging in a proud parenting moment! Miss 7 has dabbled in a few after-school activities in the last few years, swimming lessons, drama classes etc - but this year she was determined that gymnastics was to be her "thing". She absolutely LOVES it, I mean, during every training session, you cannot wipe the smile off her face, grinning from ear to ear. So brings so much joy and enthusiasm that its rubs off on me a little too, when I watch. When she's not at training, she cartwheels... I mean everywhere! I have lost track of the number of times I've nearly been wiped out in the kitchen due to a cartwheeling leg flying past me. ("STOP CARTWHEELING IN THE HOUSE!!" has become a common cry in this home) The school-yard is prime cartwheeling and handstanding ground and she takes every opportunity she can get to practice. So on the weekend she competed in her very first competition in WAG 1/beginner, and she did SO well (hehe, biased mummy here)!! She was not nervous, just super excited and jumping out of her skin to get out there and do her thing. She finished up with two 1st placings, a 2nd and a 5th, and ended up placing 2nd overall in her division. Not a bad day out, when you're doing something that you love. Right - onto gorgeous miss Charlee's fabulous portrait session!! Two year olds are not normally known for being co-operative or for loving the camera, but I have to say, this little cutie sure knew what to do when it came time to have her portrait taken! This little one has so much personality, and I loved being able to capture these memories for her family. She did everything we asked of her and more! We were able to capture some lovely images here at Tamborine using both the studio and the back fields... so much fun and energy with this little poppet - and she gave us a wonderful performance singing and dancing to Frozen songs as well! Charlee's family had these kind words to say about their experience: "Not only did we have a wonderful time, we ended up with the most beautiful and stunning photos. Hilary was fabulous when I contacted her through email answering all my questions. She was even more fabulous on the day, getting a cheeky 2yr old to do photos is not an easy task, though she captured her in such a extraordinary way. We most certainly will be going back to do our family photos with her. Hilarys photography is natural, beautiful and exactly what I was looking for, I can't thank her enough" Its pretty easy to get overwhelmed isn't it? I mean, the kids are always wanting something, the noise in the background gets louder and louder, you've still got dinner to cook, you forgot to buy dog food, and the pile of washing still hasn't been folded or put away... add in a cranky mummy with a sinus infection and its a recipe for disaster. Yesterday, fed up with everything, I spent my morning barking orders at the kids - yelling at them for their lack of organisation. Frustrated that it takes 3 reminders to get dressed, that teeth brushing is turned into a messy/noisy game which takes 10 minutes and leaves the bathroom looking like a disaster, that they cant find a shoe, or that they wont stop bickering with each other. And yet even while yelling at them, I felt guilty. I know they're just little kids, I know they don't have any concept of time management. I know that a lot of the frustration comes from my own lack of organisation, from letting them sleep longer than they should, for not having pre-packed their school bags or for letting them watch tv while they have breakfast... I'm venting at them when really I'm just annoyed at myself. So today I'm turning it around. I'm reminding myself to take a deep breath and be calm. To stop yelling and actually ask them to help mummy instead of barking orders at them. I'm going to use the Star Chart more often (lately it has fallen by the wayside a bit). I'm being organised and will have things ready the night before to avoid the morning panic... I have also started banning TV in the mornings until both kids are dressed and ready! How do you cope with the morning rush? I'm loving having a studio! Not only do I have a back-up plan for when an outdoor session is rain-effected, I love having families come into my new little space (especially since the air conditioner was installed!) I'm loving trying out new backgrounds, seating, props and lighting for these sessions too - and my Christmas Mini Shoots was the first time I got to have a proper "play" in my new studio! Here's a few of my favourites from my Studio Christmas Mini Shoot sessions: |
AuthorHilary Hudson Photography. Natural Light Newborn and Families Photographer based in Tamborine, QLD. Australia. Archives
May 2023
Categories
All
|
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.
|