Monthly Archives: November 2008

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335 days down, 31 to go.

November 30, 2008 – 9:37 pm

For those of you who’ve been following my ‘366 pieces of life’ project, you’ll know that I’m on the last leg. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, and haven’t yet followed the link, I’ve spent each and every day of this year making sure I capture at least one photo each of both our children.  And I’ve yet to miss a day (and I don’t plan on doing so now that I’ve come this far. I think I’d cry for a very long time. :)  ).
I have to confess the last month or two has been hard, as I’ve had a lot of other work on my plate, and there’s been more than a few days where I’ve ended up taking ‘lazy shots’. But I want this last month to count, and I want to be held accountable. So I figure the best way to force me to keep the game up is to post them right here, where I know they’re going to be seen. Not that I’m doing it for everyone else, but I want more than a month’s worth of photos taken in the bath or as they’re being tucked in to bed.  :)
So hopefully you’ll all enjoy a peek into the lives of my children as much as I enjoy capturing those moments. I just hope they appreciate all the effort in the years to come…

And here’s just a few photos from the last 11 months.  I had great fun going back over them to select these - I’d forgotten half of what I’d taken already. 

Jaedon

Alicia-Rae

By Narrelle | Posted in Baby Photography, Child Photography, Children, Family Photography, Melbourne, Personal | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

My New Camera

November 26, 2008 – 8:38 am

Before you get too excited - take a close look.  :)

I came across this recently on another blog (I’m not even sure whose it was now so I can’t even give credit - all I know is someone’s a whiz at photoshop!), and figured it was something to dream about.  :)

I love the inboard editing option (as if I didn’t spend enough time with my camera in hand already) and the nikon mount - it’s all about sharin the love, hey.

And being a dedicated XP user, I had to laugh at the Vista restart button. Any need to say more.  :)

By Narrelle | Posted in Things that make me go 'hmmmm' or 'haha'. | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

The Idea of North - Live.

November 24, 2008 – 3:18 pm

If you’ve been to my website recently you’ll have heard an awesome, if not familiar sounding, song playing in the background.  I was kindly given permission to use this song by the amazingly talented vocal group The Idea of North.
They were in Melbourne this weekend gone, playing at Chapel off Chapel (in Prahran), so I not only had the pleasure of going to see them live in action again, but I also got to photograph them in action as well.
Before I share some of the pics I have to say that if you ever get the chance to go see these guys, do it!!  These are seriously not only incredibly gifted musically, but are brilliant and witty entertainers as well.  You certainly get a lot of bang for your buck at their gigs.  :)
This one below is one of my favourite moments from the show - during their version of The Bee Gees’ ‘Staying Alive’.  Not only should it be illegal for men to be able to sing that high… but dance moves like that should be banned too, Andrew.  (And from the looks on the faces of the other three, I’d say they agree. :) )

From up the back of the seating (thanks again for the use of your lens, Nick - I’m still suffering serious glass envy here…)

I love the lighting in this one

And I also loved the casual interactiveness of this show. And I can’t help but feel Nick was keeping an eye on me here just to make sure I was taking good care of his baby (his glass one, that is)

And here’s each of the team members in action.
Naomi:

Nick:

Andrew:

Sally:

And last, but not least - in honour of Movember I couldn’t help but post the following photograph.
The Village People would be proud.  :)

Thanks again guys for the great afternoon. It was an absolute pleasure.
Narrelle x

{Melbourne Photography}

By Narrelle | Posted in General Photography, Melbourne | Tagged , , , , | Comments (8)

A weekend in photos

November 17, 2008 – 10:16 pm

We had a fun weekend as a family (a rare one off). Lots of driving (not too much, but enough to allow the kids a decent nap each), visiting good friends, chasing birds and feeding ducks, terrorising daddy, indulging mummy her endless habit of whipping her camera out, jumping in puddles, running in long grass… the kind of stuff all great weekends, memories and photographs are made of.  :)
One project I had in mind for the weekend was to take a photo of Alicia-Rae with a chair that used to belong to me when I was her age.  This was for an online child photography forum I’m a part of - they have a competition/challenge going at the moment and the theme is ‘Old and beautiful’ - the only stipulation being that the photograph had to contain a child and something antique (ie over 25 years old).  I guess that would make me antique, but unfortunately I didn’t qualify.  :)
I had to give up on getting a photo of Alicia-Rae actually sitting in the chair - I don’t know if there were many other ants about but her pants were definately full of them. She would not sit still for me!  Maybe she was trying to tell me something though, as I think we did ok anyway.  :)

While this was going on Jaedon was busy chasing a baby Magpie around, or being chased himself for some food.  The poor little bird wasn’t too impressed with Jaedon’s thoughts that it might like some dried leaves and twigs to eat.

Alicia-Rae then got involved in her own thing again, when mummy had stopped harassing her (all in the name of photography). But she did notice when Jaedon had disappeared, wandering off after the bird who was in search of a more appetising dinner, and was keen to keep an eye out for him. Probably after inspiration for more mischief she could get up to. 

And just a couple from the day before. I love this one below. It reminds me of the scene from Gladiator where Maximus is dreaming about walking through the wheat fields of Elysium, to be reunited with his family (though Alicia-Rae looks like she’s searching for something to destroy instead).

And spot the Jaedon in the same patch of rye-grass, our very own Crouching Tiger, Hidden Jaedon.  :)

I could handle lots more weekends like this last one. Which is just as well as I’m sure there’ll be many more to come.  :)
{Children’s Photography Melbourne}

By Narrelle | Posted in Child Photography, Children, Family Photography, Melbourne, Personal | Tagged , | Comments (6)

Could you say no to this face?

November 11, 2008 – 1:11 pm

We have a very hard job of it.
We often comment between ourselves how Jaedon, being that ‘magical’ age of two-going-on-three, gets away with far less than his sister.  We’ve caught ourselves so many times laughing at Alicia-Rae, and questioning who she got her adorability from, only to realise that if it were Jaedon doing the same thing it wouldn’t be so cute. And we probably wouldn’t be laughing.
I wouldn’t say we’re being too tough on our little boy - he’s at an age where he needs to be kept in line. And though I can’t say Alicia-Rae’s not aware of what she’s doing (because it’s more than obvious it’s totally calculated) while there’s still in essence of innocence  we don’t want to squash it.
And, lets face it, Jaedon was never one for hitting us with an expression like this and daring us to say no.  Could you do it?  :)

Narrelle x

{ melbourne baby photography }

By Narrelle | Posted in Baby Photography, Melbourne, Personal | Tagged , , , , | Comments (8)

We are family…

November 9, 2008 – 3:07 pm

Everyone’s heard the old addage about a cobbler’s family having no shoes - well it’s pretty much the same with photographers.  I personally have very few photographs of my family all in the one frame. Individually, it’s another story.  :)
Fortunately the same priciple doesn’t apply to extended family.  My two nieces and nephew are very familiar with my camera - I don’t think they’ve ever seen me without it.  And this weekend we all finally had few hours free to do a family shoot for them.
I think it was actually easier to get the dog to look at the camera than all three of the kids at one time, but we had fun trying. In the end I think I prefer the shots where they were doing their own thing anyway.  They were certainly being themselves.
I just love this first one, perhaps my favourite from the day.  I’m thinking of getting it enlarged myself.  :)

Jay doing his ‘Sitting Elvis’ impersonation

I love the wall in this photo. And I love the kids expressions. So not interested, LOL.

I know we didn’t have much time guys, but I think we did well.  :)
{ Melbourne family photography }

By Narrelle | Posted in Family Photography, Melbourne | Tagged , , | Comments (6)

The Sweetest Thing

November 6, 2008 – 10:03 pm

I’m not technically talking about Alicia-Rae here, though she could easily qualify.  But I just had to share this recent photo of our girl because, to me, the sweetest thing is watching Alicia-Rae with her daddy, and seeing the love between them.  She just adores him. Like mad. And you can bet the feeling’s mutual.

By Narrelle | Posted in Child Photography, Family Photography, Melbourne, Personal | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

This is Australia

November 6, 2008 – 8:37 am

I love Australia. I love the sights, the sounds, the smells. I love getting in the car and going for a drive into the middle of nowhere, and feeling like I’m the only person around for miles. Which could very well be true, but probably not on this occasion.  :)
On Tuesday, when everyone else in Melbourne was at the Melbourne Cup, or at home watching it, I grabbed my camera and took a bit of time out.  I didn’t venture too far from home - only 40 minutes drive or so - but far enough to be able to smell the Eucalyptus again.
I don’t know how many photographs I took, but I do know I went mad.  And as much as I love photographing little people (even big ones) there’s something about being able to take my time, breathe in, and savour the moment before I press the shutter.  And I don’t have to make silly jokes and jump around like a lunatic to keep the cows smiling. :)

By Narrelle | Posted in Landscape Photography, Melbourne, Personal | Tagged , , , , | Comments (10)

Almost Newborn Photography

November 3, 2008 – 10:19 am

I had a session yesterday with an ‘almost newborn’ baby boy.  At 7 weeks he falls just outside of what us photographers would normally classify as a newbie.  But he was as well behaved, perhaps more so, than most newborns I’ve photographed.  He slept almost the whole time I was there, patiently putting up with the prodding and moving we subjected him to, and settling like a dream.  The only time he wasn’t feeling so patient was when he was due from cuddles and feeding from mummy.

After a quick feed we got some wide awake shots of the little guy.  It always maks me wonder what babies have to frown about so often - if only then knew how easy their life is at this point.  :)

And while he was feeding I snuck outside with his 6 year old sister, and had a bit of a play in her gorgeous cubby house.  Taking photographs of her at the same time was a good excuse to relive my childhood, even if only for a few minutes.  :)

Thank you for the lovely afternoon, Tony and Snez. You have a beautiful family, and a gorgeous house (when you’re ready to move on can you let us know :) ).  I’ll be in touch soon when your gallery is ready. I hope you enjoy these in the meantime.

Narrelle x
{ Newborn photography, Melbourne }

By Narrelle | Posted in Child Photography, Melbourne, Newborn Photography, Sneak Peak | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (9)