Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Priscilla & Matt - beautiful Exmouth beach wedding

Saturday was outstanding with a gentle breeze keeping the temperature just right for Priscilla & Matt's wedding on the beach in front of Exmouth's Novotel Ningaloo.  Over 130 friends and family gathered on the sand to help celebrate.  The wedding party was great fun with four super cute kids to help carry rings and give a reading out of Dr. Seuss!

I apologize if this post is image overload - I'm having such a good time editing the photos for their gallery that I couldn't stop adding images to include in this blog and finally had to cut myself off! Enjoy, leave some love for the happy couple and for the photos...


Priscilla's dad






Their trusty, slightly rusty 4x4 delivered the bride in happy style




Priscilla is just busting with happy!



The reading from Dr Seuss was a hit!

Yes, that is Barbie & Ken mounted to the front of their special wedding car!




The bridal party was very enthusiastic & awesome fun


Bridal party being serious for a minute!



Their first kiss after entering the reception

Thank you guys for having me photograph your special day. I wish you a lifetime of happiness and fun!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Wonderful dives on the Ningaloo Reef

It's been a while since I've been able to get in the water but just realised that I haven't even shared some of the photos from those dives with you yet!  So here are a few from earlier in July.

Firefish - Bundegi, Exmouth Gulf

Margined coralfish - Bundegi, Exmouth Gulf

Raccoon butterflyfish - Labyrinth, Lighthouse Bay

Snoozing turtle - Labyrinth, Lighthouse Bay

Bannerfish - Blizzard Ridge, Lighthouse Bay

Wobbegong shark - Labyrinth, Lighthouse Bay

White tip reef shark - Labyrinth, Lighthouse Bay

Boxfish - Bundegi, Exmouth Gulf

Spangled Emperor - Blizzard Ridge, Lighthouse Bay


Monday, July 20, 2009

Sneak peek - Cill & Matt's Exmouth wedding

Saturday was as perfect as it could have been and Priscilla & Matt's wedding on the beach in front of the Novotel Ningaloo in Exmouth was excellent.

Here's a quickie - they were having so much fun! More soon!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Priscilla & Matt - only hours to go before the wedding

I'm doing the last minute prep before shooting Priscilla & Matt's gorgeous wedding later today at the beach in front of Novotel Ningaloo. We had a rehearsal yesterday and I can tell this is going to be awesome!

Matt & 'Cil are sooo in love! I just love his big grin reflected in her glasses!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Great blogs, fun competitions & super prizes

I have a long list of blogs, mostly relating to photography, that I like to browse through during the week - looking for ideas & inspiration, learning new techniques, finding new things to buy and generally enjoying the amazing talent and generosity of my fellow cyberspace friends.  This week has led me to a couple of great causes and a couple of great give-aways that I'd like to pass on. 

The Pioneer Woman is an awesome blog site created by a strong, independent and funny woman living life the way she wants to. She cooks, home schools, laughs, loves her friends & family, shoots lovely images and shares her knowledge about all things. This blog is extremely engaging and incredibly popular - some of her posts get thousands of comments.

Right now she has a contest going where you can win a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS4 or a brand new dslr camera + lens and it's all in support of The Fat Cyclist's Team Fatty support for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. These guys are working hard to fight cancer and find cures. Click the links, find out more and join in!

Another way to make a difference is to support the Star Shooter program whose mission is to provide kids with cameras as a tool for self-expression and to aid them in finding value in themeselves.  I love this cause! There's an awesome Photo Contest running until 1st August that anyone can join. It's a perfect way to support this worthy cause and maybe even win a prize! It gets better for those who want to jump in - head over to Amanda K's Blog, support Star Shooter by either entering the photo contest linked above or simply making a small donation. It's that easy!

Want to win something just because? Check out Jodi's MCP Actions Blog for a chance to win a very cool Tamron zoom lens.  All you have to do is pop a link to the contest on your own blog or Facebook account then leave a comment on the MCP Actions Blog - the winners will be announced Sunday (US time) so you'd better hurry!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

FREE - Newborn Photo Sessions

That's right, I said FREE!  I'm giving away two Newborn Sessions and it couldn't be easier to make one yours (or give it as a gift to a friend)!

Each Newborn Session will include:
- the photo session
- ONE professional collage print in your choice of size: 10x20, 16x20 or 20x20
- TEN professional 4x6 prints
of the best images in a cute Brag Book
- TEN of the best images on disk ready for you to print and share on the web
Total value over $500!

How do I win one of these?
Easy. Simply send me an email telling me your approximate due date and a little bit about you and your family (or about your friend, if you'd like to win this as a gift). Nothing too long, just introduce yourself. Don't forget to include your email address and phone number!

Are there any conditions?
Only three, really:
1 - you must take the session in 2009.
2 - bub must be 30 days or younger. I prefer to do newborn sessions with babies under two weeks old, but realise that because Exmouth is so remote, Mums have to go out of town to have the baby and sometimes you aren't back in two weeks.
3 - you must be in Exmouth as that's where the session will be!

The first month with a new baby is hectic so newborn photos are the perfect way to capture those first moments that you can look back on for a lifetime.


Sunday, July 5, 2009

Gadget fun - my rockin' Kindle 2

When one of my friends first started talking about an e-reader I thought, "No way would that be something I'm interested in.  I love books.  Who wants to read off a screen?"  And then she gave me a link the Amazon Kindle.  And I started to read the reviews and learn instead of dismissing it out of hand.

And now I'm in love with my Kindle 2!

I am a voracious reader and whip through books in a few hours. Our house is overflowing with books because I can't bear to get rid of them, no matter how bad they are or how many times I've read them. When I travel, I take a minimum of three books for a domestic flight and up to ten on an international jaunt...and I usually buy more along the way. I just can't stop myself and I'd be buying even more if I could afford it or had somewhere to stash them. I'm so bad about my book hoarding, my parents houses in the U.S. also have big collections of my books that I don't want to get rid of; I'm hopeless.

With the airlines cracking down on weight restrictions and charging ridiculous sums, I am always looking for a way to reduce what I carry. Books are a problem because they weigh so much and I take so many that they also eat up tons of room that should be used for other things. No more - my Kindle gave me back over 22" inches and at least 8 pounds of space.

But travel isn't the only time my Kindle gets used. Even I was surprised that I grab my Kindle almost every day - in my hammock, in bed, on the couch, in my bag when I go somewhere I might have to wait. Pretty much it comes everywhere now.

I love that there are tons of free and almost free books out there. The ebook community is awesome for finding deals and introducing new authors and books to try. A couple of my favourites are: The Kindle Boards forum, Books on the Knob blog and Mobileread forum. Books from virtually any author are available and they are way cheaper in the Kindle version than in paper versions - a very nice feature, indeed.

I won't stop buying paper books - just bought a new release two days ago, in fact - but more and more I'll be adding books to my Kindle so I can have my whole library ready in a wonderfully easy to read, lightweight, wafer-thin gadget.

And more room for camera gear (and shoes) is always a good thing!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th Of July!

I love the 4th of July holiday weekend - it's filled with friends, food, fun and fireworks!  Last year I was back home in the US for the 4th and I had a blast.  I'm having a quiet one this year since my hubby is off on one of his annual fishing trips today and I've managed to seriously hurt my back, so I thought I'd relive last year's awesomeness through the photos I took...you know, a little retro-vicarious living!


A huge Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Picturesque Exmouth wedding shot

I'm working on Rhianna & Aaron's wedding album - it's going to be a stunner! - and have fallen in love with this image all over again so thought I'd share it as a little teaser.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Spectacular start to July

This morning was one of those too amazing to be believed daybreaks.  The colours were outlandish and I liked it!  This is what I saw as I was driving down the road heading for the beach. A bit of motion blur since I had my happy snappy Canon A720 in one hand, steering wheel in the other and we were cruising at about 100kph...

The first few minutes of pre-sunrise were pretty impressive, too. This is why I try not to go anywhere without a camera of some sort!