john and clare...yes, THE clare day...

well...talk about nervous, excited, anxious...all those emotions combined with a bright sunnny afternoon and one grungy alley...clare and john were putty in our hands...





perfectly in sync, and beautifully complimenting each other with colour coordination - and just a dash of clare day purple...




i'm sure john fell in love with those dimples...ever present and sweet...come in sucker...

we then travelled up the mountain to avalon...where the happy nuptials will take place in september...tranquil family farm, surrounded by peaceful bush serenity and boasting a spiritual limestone quarry...where we headed for these few...

love this one...john is THE absolute calming balance to clare's effervesence...

take 1 x 'b' squat, 1 x 'j*" sassiness, 1 x 'jc' colour, mix well and sprinkle with 'cd' dimples and giggles = great success!

a few yummy buttery portraits...

now young john is a bit of mystery man...firstly with an uber cool t shirt...

then a bit of a super sweet smile...

and what mike calls a ted bundy stare...but he watches way too many episodes of criminal minds...

found this pretty laneway on the walk back to the home...


what happens next is not fit for posting on this family friendly g rated blog...but i will inform viewers there was plenty of screaming...


so much so that liz was concerned 'avalon' had timewarped to 'picnic at hanging rock'

avalon was all a buzz with spring cleaning and tidying and painting and weeding...heres our intro to clare's lovely mum...

and there soon will be paddocks of these...images are already brewing in my mind guys...

avalon also contained a delightful menagerie of farm life...here is katie...mike fell promptly in love and took 17 thousand photos of this young lady...

foghorn leghorn wasnt at all impressed that we ventured into his yard...

but the girls were more than happy to strike a pose...i seriously can not stop laughing when i see this image...

and heres some silly woman who forgot to dye out the greys before a big important photo shoot...cuddling sweet little baby jarrah...

i have the best feeling that this gorgeous location will be spick and span and sensational come september...even though right this very minute it is just perfect...


these are aunty's legs...another image that just cracks me up...

there is an '100 acre wood', a 'wool shed' containing an old blue car (dont ask me - i dont do car talk ...), a one-woman tractor, a fairy clearing and even a waterfall...hhhmmmmnnn...do we have about 6 hours between ceremony and reception guys?????

there is an instant sense of comfort upon entering the home... mike says it feels 'like grandma's"...which started a whole new topic of conversation during coffee...i love all the collected antiques and renovated furniture...and especially the story about this clock...

and this rare find of enamel ware...which perfectly balanced with the earthy green of the walls...hey - is this a wedding blog or country living????

now to the grand finale of the shot of the day...a day combined with anticipation, the desire to provide awesomeness, a couple heavenly in love and so balanced in their relationship and a soulful location...allows bloody mike to pull this shot out of his proverbial...doesnt the famous clare day look so..well, famous???????


more on the way to your letterbox soon you two...along with a rsvp to some gig in september...hope you love them!!!

oh my gosh...

the most stunningly beautiful wedding of shaun and candice has been featured on THE wedding blog...polka dot bride...we are so flattered and so honoured...





...and here is a new family pic of shaun and candice and bouncing baby boy finnlay...


there are literally hundreds of wedding blogs that are incredibly inspirational...polka dot bride is particularly one my favs...but if you are looking for ideas from around the world ...click on over to these few...

peonies and polaroids

snippet and ink

the brides cafe

once wed

brooklyn bride

happy blogstalking sunday...

brittany and cody and baby makes three...

this beautiful loving family was such fun at bree and simon's wedding, that we were thrilled to bits to be invited to capture young britt and cody during the last few weeks of pregnancy...the nursery is all pooh bear and light and bright and just perfect...







then i remembered britt's room from the wedding day, and how i fell in love with the rasberry pink...so we ventured there for these few...

the teddy is special and he featured quite a bit...
i have seen this done a few times - but it is still sweet...love the contrast between cody's tradesman hands and britt's fine delicate fingers...

this insanely beautiful young lady has the most amazing blue eyes...

then we borrowed a hoodie from mum (thanks Jodie!...hope you love these as much as we do!)...for the next few incredible images...

but this is definately my fav...postprocessed as a joint effort between mike (grasshopper) and me (master)...are you freakin kiddin me???...how amazing is this image???...we should work together more often...hope you two adore it also...

many many thanks you two gorgeous people...keep well and rested and we will see you when precious baby arrives...

bravery and a whole lotta love...

we had the absolute privilege of meeting the gorgeous davies family a few weeks back - stephen, vicki, handsome mostyn and beautiful claire...for a family portrait shoot at their tranquil property before they flew out for a roller coaster ride of a holiday on the gold coast with endless and mountains of thanks to the make-a-wish foundation...

claire was born with a complex cyanotic heart disease, and underwent incredible major 12 hour surgery in january this year. after over two weeks in a coma, she miraculously beat one in a million odds, opened her eyes and said 'i love you mum'...

claire's specialists have said that she possesses an amazing will to live and fight and overcome incredible adversity and she is a real life hero...

read more about claire's story here...

i think she is an absolute sweetie with beautiful soulful eyes and a wicked sense of humour, who is blessed with the most loving, dedicated and determined family we have ever met...

here is one of vicki's favourites...


this is one of mine
love this one of vicki as she watches the kids working it for the camera...speaking of heros...you are one remarkable lady...i love being able to capture the love for your family in your laughing eyes...


and love this one of stephen...the eternal joker...owner of all things funny...and general all round mr nice guy...love your work steve!

get ready girls...here is stud muffin mostyn...cool name, even cooler attitude and can you believe he is only 12!!! mum and dad...you will be beating them away at the door...

apparently, the last time steve and vicki had a portrait was at their wedding...so i told them to gaze at each other and think of that day...and they both cracked up!...hmmmmm...do we need to know something you two????

heres mostyn...typical little brother..stealing his sisters possessions...
and heres claire...not at all impressed with mike's lame jokes...i know love...i have to live with him...

now claire is a bit of a photo wizz...so we were under a bit of pressure to make these special...how did we do gorgeous?

this is my fav of the day...(just happens to one mine - go figure)...just love the serenity and calmness of a beautiful, brave young lady...

vicki, stephen, claire and mostyn...thank you ever so much for inviting us to your home and capture an important time in your family's extraordinary life...we were so touched by your comments and look forward to october when we will see each other again for bronnie and paul's magnificent wedding...sending you our strength in our prayers...mike and kyles

forget gordan...daisy is da bomb...

cooking 101 with toddler...take one bowl of macaroni cheese (first choice for dinner)...

then a bowl of mixed vegies (second choice for dinner)...

then a tub of "princess" yogurt (third choice and the bribe)...

finally a slice of buttered bread (the staple we now settle on)... and leave toddler for a blink of an eye...just a blink...while starving toddler layers macaroni, vegies and yogurt on bread...

then folds it carefully over and squashes with pretty little fork...(bribe #2)

and low and behold...exclaims loud enough to wake the senior citizen around the corner from their 5pm nanna nap..."i dont like this...make me somting else!!!"

in the spirit of pioneer woman...just 'keeping it real' ...

chloe the gorgeous

we had the pleasure of chloe's company prior to her high school ball...and even though the light was fading fast, we managed to capture these stunning images...car headlights make for awesome off camera lighting!




chloe's gown was from elysia boutique in bunbury and her make up was beautifully applied by the very clever brylie steiner

the next three are definately favourites...

thanks chloe the gorgeous...you rock girlfriend...

jason and catherine photobooth

Click to Play

turn up the music!...lllloooovvveee this song and love this photobooth...what a cranking awesome crowd at jason and catherine's engagement...for those not in the know...the pixel magix photobooth arrives at all weddings for the amazing low cost of absolutely nothing and produces an extra action packed smiley happy people dvd just for you