I have to show you this...

The CUTEST tea party, where as often happens, the tiniest one steals the show...and the bikkie.

This is Winston, Hester and Scarlett, at the end of a shoot, taking a tea (ok water!) break. Complete with YoYo bikkies of course :o)

it's hard when you're only 11 months and you can't sit on a chair, so swiping off the table is just as effective...it helps to be cute...

:o) Simone

Mmmm winter...

wood fires, GREAT fashion, boots, rain, thunderstorms, hot food, cool scarves, movie marathons with my boys, the drive-in (we just love the drive-in!), rain, rain, rain and more rain :o) I'm still very excited about the rain! The best bit about winterfor me though is the light. The light is just exquisite now. Have you ever looked out the window and seen that amazing glowy light that makes the world look like it's lit with moonlight in the middle of the day? It's incredible, and such a buzz to create something beautiful with.

Winter is also a fantastic time to photograph indoors. I don't get much of a chance to do it during summer, the outside beckons, but indoor shoots are a real love of mine. I love the way I get to use light and the environment and create something for you that will forever remind you of that time and place.

This shoot was a prime example. This was the weekend we had the most rain we'd had in umpteen years. All in one weekend. I was lucky enough that the rain stopped for an hour or so, but even if it hadn't we'd have managed. We were warm and cosy while it was so miserable outside and the images show it. This is Lynette and Dave with their darling boy Liam. He was the master of many faces, all of them VERY cute.

If you needed more convincing, check out how winter fashion looks in black and white! The most divine Eva, in the most adorable hat. I wish I could get away with wearing a hat like that :o)

Stay warm!

xo Simone

Happy Mother's Day

My mother's day has been lovely. I woke up to a little boy giving me a beautiful laminated drawing he'd done for me, with all the reasons he loves me written on it. The other little boy gave me something similar, with a picture of me on it too! Sob!! I. am. so. blessed.

To all the mums out there that are having their first mother's day, their umpteenth day, spending today pregnant waiting to hold their baby in their arms, to the mums that are missing their mum...or baby, to those that are hoping to conceive this year, or the mothers that are just going about the day as if it was normal...taking care of it all as usual. A huge hug and thanks for letting me be part of your lives. Happy Mother's Day :o)

Our attempts at self-portraits! Very blurry!

Kisses from Morgan...

and from Toby :o)

It rained!!

We're so excited :) For those outside Adelaide, or even Australia, we're in the middle of a drought pretty much nation-wide, and have been in dire straits for some time now. But...last weekend saw rain, lots and lots and lots of it, and I even got to shoot in it!! I'll post some of those in another post, but this one is to herald the end of the summer style of shoots. My last beach sitting with good weather was two weeks ago now and even then it was cloudy and a bit cool. We coped though, and little India and Jett didn't seem to notice after a bit of running around.

So, bring on winter, with the dark skies, wild storms and loads more rain to replenish the land. Just let me have a few dry days to take families outside! It's business as usual through winter, it's rare it's ever tooooo dark, but it's nice to be able to utilise the beautiful winter light and dramatic skies we get. I look forward to it every year :o)

xo Simone

Lock up your daughters

the Hanckel boys are coming ;o) I was playing around with the digital, and of course my little posers had to perform for me. So Morgan leaps into the tree and starts his own Calvin Klein shoot. Oh boy...I'm in trouble... I'm picturing girls doing drive-bys on their bikes, phone calls where all you can hear is giggling and a "No, you say something..." and a hang-up, notes home from school that say 'Morgan is easily distracted in class'. Of course, I never did those things...what do I know ;o)

all this in stark contrast to his little brother to whom it's not funny unless it involves a body part...

The girls of Adelaide better watch out ;o)

xo Simone

It's a bit late...

but I wanted to showcase a shoot from January :) I had photographed Sarah, Peter and the most gorgeous Ebony (the dog!) last year for their pregnancy photos and had a ball, so I was really looking forward to meeting their darling girl, Tehya, who was only a week or so old. She was amazing, she was so alert and so relaxed. A rare combination!

The before...when Ebony still reigned supreme (and why not, how gorgeous is she!)

and after..with the new interloper...equally gorgeous of course :) Love the look on the dog's face, she was so expressive.

I love the baby in this one..

and with Mum...the yawn!! It's all too much like hard work.

and...introducing formally..the beautiful Tehya :o) (channelling Betty Boop in the first one. So cute!)

Thanks again Sarah, Peter, Tehya.... and Ebony :o)

xo Simone

I've gone to write this a few times

but I don't know where to start.  I want to talk about Ava, the daughter of a fellow Australian photographer, who died last week after managing to trap herself in their car. The circumstances were freakish, horrifying, and could happen to anyone. Little Ava battled for a few days, but her little body didn't make it.

So, as an awareness campaign we're trying to educate families on the importance of teaching your child how to get out of a car, or to just get attention by honking the horn. If Ava had known either of these things she'd be here today. All cars seem to be different in how they lock, so investigate how a child could get out, or whether your car's horn works when the ignition is off, and teach your kids what to do. Ava had sneaked into the car to play and then couldn't be found until it was too late. It happened that easily.

Last weekend was Ava's funeral, so to commemorate her passing we released balloons. The wind whipped them out of their hands so fast that we didn't get much in the way of photos, but these are for you Sheye and family. Our thoughts are with you.

xo Simone