Have you ever spent a significant time of your life living abroad? or perhaps another city? and even if you haven’t, you must have moved flats or houses, right?! so you move and it just feels like a new chapter in your life, new adventure even, but what happens with your past? do you ever wish you had taken more photos, treasured your time living there more than you did or maybe you just want to share that part of your life with your grandma or parents or your children?
Well… that’s how Alison got in touch with me. Because she knows the value of such memories and she also knew that I could help her preserve that experience in photos for years to come. And I couldn’t be more thrilled to do this type of work – moving big and far has just recently been a big part of my life, and I know perfectly well how quick the memory can fade away, and what can bring it back to life.
I posted a sneak peek and another preview from this extended family session the other day. And finally I get to blog about it.
As a Melbourne Family Photographer, family sessions are some of my favourites. I love exploring and capturing connections between family members and always find the time to capture individual portraits to showcase the loving relationships between different family members.
It was a special get together for Lyle’s very special birthday. Both of Lyle’s daughters came down to Melbourne with their families for the weekend. What is a better way to celebrate your life than with a special family photo shoot?!
Although the weather didn’t cooperate, I have to give it out to the family for being so enthusiastic to work with me to create these special images. As typical with the Melbourne weather, it must have changed 3 times just prior to our session although nearly all week before that it was unusually cold and rainy. So inevitably, we ended up photographing the family in their family home.
I am quite flexible when working with my clients and try to adapt to circumstances and such was this case – in fact, family home makes for a stunning backdrop for such extended family portraits. It probably holds special memories for your family so it would most definitely make a great story in the photographs. It sometimes comes with a challenge for natural light when you have large groups especially on rainy and cloudy days like the day of our session. But I think we made it work beautifully and I can’t be more excited to share these with you.
Thank you ‘T’ Family for trusting me to capture these memories for you.
I used to be so extremely organised – everything written down in my diary, appointments and lists… I also studied sciences and always felt a little bit out of place… every once in a while I found my mind wandering in the clouds… because why not?! It didn’t really go well with my organised self. The one that never lost anything and a lost Barbie shoe was something out of this world unimaginable. Because I never lost a thing. Like ever.
The older I got the less organised I became. No, not in a way of artistic chaos kind of things, although I think this is somewhat a genetically inherited trait, but first I abandoned the idea of a diary – everything moved into my head. All my lists and appointments too. In fact, during my first pregnancy people were amazed at how well I could remember little details. And even then, I had no idea I’d soon be a Melbourne family photographer…
I’ve been interested in photography for a while, but really got into it with all seriousness in about 2009. And by that I mean some education, whether formal or reading blogs/articles and magazines every spare minute I had… I got my first DSLR then as well and had no idea where it’d take me. I just knew point and shoot didn’t do it for me any longer.
For years I woke up in the morning and went to my office job and was pretty content. There was no long term plan to move somewhere or God forbid to start my own business. I was photographing still but never really had time to invest as much time into it as I do now. Then something happened. I realised that time is precious and I don’t always have control of my own life. I got the urge to get rid of stuff. Things i’ve been holding on to for years. And even then Australia wasn’t in my cards. It happened so quickly that many people thought we had planned it for years. The truth is, we just reacted quickly when the opportunities arose.
I used to have such hard time even moving houses that I’d never imagined I’d move continents. I loved my last job so much, the team and the family like environment that I never thought in a million years that I’d voluntarily quit. That was so bittersweet. Because it was sort of like as soon as I had this perfect job that I loved I realised there was a lot more to me than just a work. I’ve never been a creative type – on the contrary, I was quite pragmatic and practical, logical and straight forward. I can’t even draw. It’s only now that I look back I can see how I was undergoing changes slowly, but surely.
Now just over 2 years later that I find myself on the opposite side of the world, my life is literally upside down. I am that Melbourne family photographer that finds herself smiling ear to ear every time I drive back from a client. I never really put into words specifically what exactly my dream was. I never knew who I wanted to become when I grew up. But the most interesting thing to me that only once I went against my old self that I felt truly happy. Happy to the very core. No matter that my family is far away. No matter that at some point there was a lot of uncertainty. Literally, everything is upside down now 🙂 And that makes me extremely happy. Weird, I know 🙂
Over time I started noticing that this is like a parallel world – I constantly meet people here that remind me of other people I know from my ‘previous’ life. Sheree reminds me of Sabrina. Anna resembles Julia. Even my son’s little friend reminds me of our former neighbours’ little girl. And, hopefully, we are now better versions of ourselves having overcome a few challenges in the last couple of years.
Among many changes I’ve been living, I am making more efforts to document little details of our every day life. I know I started a few little projects, some of which I haven’t finished. So rather than doing actual projects, I will just concentrate on those little details. As Melbourne family photographer and as a mum, I know what will be remembered years later. Not the picture perfect smile (although this is obviously a bonus too) but The Life. My baby girl enjoying 5 minutes of iPad time while her brother is at kinder. Things like that.
She learns things so quickly, maybe because she is a girl, or perhaps because she has an older brother she looks up to… Here she is very proud of figuring out the buttons on the back of the TV.
Having an unobstructed access to her brother’s room is sort of like a treat so she made sure to take advantage of the opportunity.
Rare moment of just the two of us… Melbourne family photographer and my baby girl
There are so many more things going through my mind and this may seem like a long blurb or I don’t even know if that makes much sense, but I am hoping this brain dump help me get a little closer to myself and my big dreams. But whatever happens next, it is equally important to enjoy the adventure. Whatever you do, just make sure you always stay true to yourself. And that you have a Melbourne family photographer to document your joy and happiness
As a family photographer I love capturing natural connections and genuine emotions. As a mum, there is nothing more dear to my heart than capturing special relationships, especially between mum and her child(ren). When it was Inna’s turn to decide on the session type, it was clearly a no brainer.
Inna is a mum to 7 year old Michael, who very much reminded me of my own son. Facial expressions, the way he talks, his social skills and funny nature – every family photographer would be thrilled to photograph a child who is so outgoing and easy to follow direction.
I met Inna and Michael at one of their favourite places in St Kilda. Your favourite locations always make for a nice story line – very personal and adding a character to a seemingly regular photography session. Inna and Michael proceeded to have a treat at their favourite place at the Esplanade while we enjoyed some word games with Michael and a lovely conversation with Inna. My goal as a family photographer is to make my clients as relaxed and comfortable as possible.
After a quick snack and drinks we proceeded to take a walk along the beach. The weather wasn’t exactly cooperating, but cheerful mood and great company totally made up for darkening skies and strong winds. Inna and Michael share a special bond that only a mother can have with her child, especially son and I am thrilled that I was able to capture these special moments for them.
If you are looking for a family photographer, make sure you are completely comfortable with person who will be there to document your life’s fleeting moments. Let it be someone who can relate to you and your family dynamics, someone who can translate feelings into images. So that when you look at them years down the road, you are taken back to those special moments. Every single time.
Inna, Michael, thank you for trusting me to capture your story.
