Are you serious, Christmas is next week?

OMG what has happened to the year, I am still getting bookings, someone asked for a shoot next week, next week starts with the 22nd of December! I couldn't believe it when I looked at my diary, I'll be busy cooking ginger bread cookies and trying to find room in my tiny fridge and freezer for 3 days worth of entertaining. I am on strike, no more shoots for me until mid January!

This year has brought about a lot of changes, my business has grown extensively, I now have an assistant, I've finished Tafe, became an award winning photographer and bought a puppy!

I wish all my clients a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year, enjoy your time with your loved ones and make sure you relax, put your feet up and have fun spending hours pulling the kids toys out of the boxes they come in - they always seem like they are adult proof!

See you all in 2009!!!!

Natalie

Highlights

Today I had the opportunity to do a shoot for a very close friend of mine, Tara. She is the manager of Highlights in Penrith and was given the task of finding a photographer to photograph her boss Ben for a magazine. Ok, so at the 11th hour, she gave me a call and I squeezed the shoot in today. It was a great opportunity to do something a little different and the payment was PERFECT! A brand new ghd for me.......yipppeeee.

If you want a professional colourist, who knows what they are doing, Tara at Highlights is the woman for you!

I hope you like the photos.

I'm FINISHED Tafe

After 4 long years (2 nights a week) I have finally finished my Certificate IV in Photoimaging. I passed my final exam with a distinction and also found out last week I received a distinction also for my portfolio - the only distinction issued to our class so I feel very honoured.

YAY no more Tafe!!! And no... I'm not silly enough to go back and do my Diploma.... LOL

I'm Finally an Award Winning Photographer!

The International Aperture Awards have been judged and I'm proud to say I've been awarded 3 prestigious Bronze awards.

Judging was just finalised and I sat at my computer with baited breath awaiting the results.

Below are the images I won the awards for.

http://www.internationalapertureawards.com/

So, I can proudly say I am now an International Multi Award Winning Wedding Photographer! Mmmm that does have a nice ring to it.

The Wedding of Kris & Amanda - 15 November 2008

On Saturday, my assistant Kylie and I had the pleasure of photographing one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen. The boys were handsome, the girls, drop dead gorgeous and the locations!!!! OMG. I usually like to cull my blog photos down to my favourite 5 images, but I just couldn't do it. So below is just a "snippet" of my favourite photos.

The wedding was at the stunning old Prince Henry Hospital, with the church overlooking the ocean. Location shots were taken at the hospital and at Willie's Baths. If you've never been to Willie's I suggest you pack the kids up and take them for a day, you'll have a ball and if you are looking for a reception location, well..... this place is just breathtaking!

Thanks Amanda & Kris, Kylie and I enjoyed shooting your wedding very much, and the time you allocated for photos was amazing, and it shows in what we were able to capture.

Sarah & Rob - Hitched!

Below are the shots from today's engagement shoot for the gorgeous Sarah and Rob (Sarah being slightly more gorgeous than Rob!). They are not newly engaged by no means, with the wedding only a few weeks away, but the love that these two have for each other was intoxicating! They were just so adorable and totally natural in front of the camera which is all a photographer can ask for.

I met this lovely couple while I was at Chapel Hill photographing Natalie & Andrews romantic wedding (see my old blog for photos). Although it came to our attention quickly that Rob use to be my gym instructor - I'm very embarrassed to say I haven't been to the gym in years! With the business, work and Tafe oh and being a mum and wife - I struggle for time.

Anyway, back to the reason I'm blogging, I hope you like the photos. I certainly do!

New Storyboards

As you are all aware I love my collages, I have now created a selection of storyboards that are sure to impress. There is quite a lot in the range, and I am hoping to create an example for each and print them so everyone can see how gorgeous they really are.

Below are some examples, I have storyboards for baby boys, girls and teenagers, as well as loads of simple ones for the whole family. I am yet to write up a pricing list for these as I have been so busy, but if you get an example on your proof CD or you would like to inquire about the price of one, please contact me and I will work the price out for you. Please note though, that they are large, they are meant to pack a punch and have the WOW factor. Friends and family who see these on your wall will love them - trust me!

The investment in a storyboard will bring your family years of happy memories.

Below is Lorna and Alan and their beautiful boys Luca and Ethan. They are my guinea pigs with these storyboards. I hope to post more storyboards shortly with different examples.

Tafe Assignment. The Day in the Life of...

We were asked to shoot a person and to capture their day, I chose my son, purely because he is such a poser and also available at short notice (with a little bit of a bribe).

I love them. But I am a bit bias. I chose to tackle this assignment differently, and with my newly found knowledge from Ryan Schembri's seminar and workshop I put my new skills to the test, creating moody and dark images, not to everyone's liking, but I wanted to produce something that was out of the ordinary.

Some of my Tafe work

I thought I would share some of the work I do at Tafe with my readers, below are some of the projects we have been asked to do.

Below are some product shots, I chose to shoot some sunglasses as they are quite a challenging subject, being reflecting and having different surfaces. I am very happy with the results, and thank my model very much! She was such a good sport. I got 96/100 so you have to be happy with that!







A mock up of a magazine cover - this shoot was fun and we all got go eat the sets afterward!



A good friend of mine Tony who I also go to Tafe with lined up for all of us to shoot a Torana in the studio. After all the years in the industry, this was my first time shooting such a large object, it was a huge challenge, but as you can see below, the photos turned out fantastic. 99/100 for this assignment!

Carla & Mario - 27 September 2008

Carla & Mario's wedding was romantic and beautiful. No detail was overlooked and I ensured I captured as much of their precious day as my trusty finger on the button would allow. I broke a personal record at this wedding, with the most amount of photos taken at a wedding. Below is just a snapshot of the wedding. I hope you like them, cause I certain do!