Extreme Sport...

There are times when the weather just does not co-operate. Between the family and I, we do our best to anticipate a gorgeous day, but sometimes a rotten one sneaks up on you! This shoot was on Good Friday, which seemed to be a relatively lovely day, except for the wind... I think we underestimated how strong it would be down at the beach, and coupled with a high tide, it made the whole thing really tricky! This is where a family that is a bunch of troupers comes in. With freezing toes, crazy hair and lots of laughing, we managed to capture a family that has such good grace, and is so loving that they can even look connected and gorgeous after their crazy photographer drags them through a hurricane! Ok, not a hurricane. A cyclone maybe. So, if you're into your photo shoot being an extreme sport, apparently I'm the girl!

Simone xo

The Gardens

The opportunity to photograph families in the beautiful Adelaide Botanic Gardens is always a joy. There is so much scope and every hour of the day gives a different view of this amazing asset to our city. I don't often get to photograph families there in the late afternoon, so it was an incredible pleasure to explore the glorious autumn light with this special family. They showed me parts of the garden I'd never seen before.

A reminder that the mini sessions will be held at the Gardens on April 13th and 14th. There are still some places left (late afternoon Friday is still free...you could take advantage of this amazing light!) so don't miss out. Call for information on 83402838 or email simone@simonehanckel.com.au

Simone xo

Show her you love her, this Mothers Day

Mothers Day is just weeks away and if you're starting to think about what you'd like, I have the perfect gift (and no, it's not slippers or a waffle maker!). My archives are about to be opened for the annual award print choosing for the national awards in May, and it's just in time for Mothers Day! If you'd like to purchase prints from your previous session, I'm offering 30% off reprints for a very limited time. This includes our premium products such as albums and canvas, so if you've been wishing you'd ordered one, now is the time. If that's not enough, I'm also offering for Mothers Day, 'buy one, get one free' gift certificates*. Our gift certificates begin at the sitting fee price of $275. If you buy one, you will get $550 towards your sitting and prints for just $275. Or... you can have two certificates, keep one, and give one to someone you love. How lovely would that be?

Offer ends April 5th, so you do need to hurry. Once that archive closes, that's it! Wish me luck as I trawl through the countless images to find those four award winning moments :)

Simone xx

*Conditions apply. These gift certificates are to be applied to new sittings only and are applicable to the sitting and prints only. Framing, canvas and premium products are not included.

The Autumn Sessions!!

Mothers Day is coming (as are the school holidays!) and what makes a better gift than a gorgeous mini-session celebrating the beautiful Adelaide Autumn. Our mini-sessions have been an enormous hit in past years, and this year will top them all. Held at the magnificent Adelaide Botanic Gardens, each family will have 30 minutes of my undivided attention to have simple and sweet photographs taken that can be used as gifts, art for the walls or just a beautiful keepsake of this time in your lives. To top it off, all families that book will go into the draw to win a $100 gift certificate from the incredibly gorgeous Palas Jewellery. This jewellery has long been a favourite of mine, and makes such a beautiful Mothers Day gift (hope my sons are reading this!).

Bookings are strictly limited and the optimal times will be taken fast. Call Simone on 83402838 to find out about how to book and get the details on the fantastic mini packages also available.

Simone xo

Rosie

Look who I stole some shots of while babysitting. This is my littlest niece, Rose, and we partied hard on Saturday night. We shopped for shoes, watched the telly, ate a...cow(?) and backed (nearly crawled!) into a corner or two. She tried to hold out for midnight, but apparently had planned a 3am wake up, so she didn't make it. No stamina.

I can't tell you how lovely it was to snuggle a baby to sleep in the dark hours again. Anyone want a babysitter? I promise I'll bring my camera...

Simone (and Rosie!) xx

For Carney

A conversation about what a photograph means over time prompted me to remember an experience I had a few weeks ago. I had been going through old photos, looking for a special photo of my youngest son's birth to show him on his tenth birthday. I spent hours going through them, trying to find that one photo that summed up how his birth felt for me and eventually I found it for him and we had a cuddle while talking about it. That photograph, even though it's a blurry snapshot of the moment Toby was placed in my arms, means more to me every year. It takes me straight to that moment, but also reminds me of the ten years we've spent together. A lot of them with him in my arms :) It's a photograph of my grandparents' wedding that caught me by surprise though. I've seen it many times and am fortunate to have taken a photo of it to have it digitised. Coming across it again I saw it in a new light, which really is the true value of a photograph. I've known this set of photos since I can remember and every time I look at them I see something new. As a child I was entranced to see my grandmother (we all called her Carney) as a young girl (weeks shy of turning 18!), the grandfather who had died when I was too little to remember him, her old fashioned outfit, the expression on their faces etc. As a new bride I felt connected to her and her excitement about her life to come, and as a new mother I hung one of these photos on the wall to commemorate her passing the same year as I had my first son. Her life and mine were woven tightly together, and of all of the photographs we have of her life, it's her wedding photo that surprises me every time. It occurred to me tonight that while we consider a photograph to be constant, a permanent record of that moment and something that can't be changed...the truth is that this only exists in a vacuum. A photograph, as with anything, changes with the viewer. Where I am in my life greatly influences what I see when I look at it and how cool is that? The photographs I hold the most dear, like the one below of my beautiful grandmother, show me something new and intensely profound, not only about the people who have gone before me, but about myself.

So what did I see when I looked at this last? I saw my Toby, and also my cousin's daughter too! It was ironic that in trying to find a photo of Toby's birth I found one that reminded me that he existed in my grandmother long before he was even thought of. She never got to meet him, but I hope one day he looks at this photo and sees something I never did.

This March marks what would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday. I'm early, but this is to love and remember her. I hope everyone has photographs they feel like this about. Go dig them out and have a think about what you see in them this time around :)

Simone xx

Summer

I have to start by saying, I can't wait for it to be cooler! Could it have been any hotter this summer? I'm well aware that the worst is probably yet to come, February and March usually turn it on even harder in Adelaide, so the air-conditioner will be getting a work out. This fantastic Summer Session should make you feel cooler just to look at. We had such a great time, all got drenched, and I got some of my favourite images of all time. I just love them. I've extended the Summer Sessions to include February as well, to make the most of the hot weather, so if you missed out for January, give me a call on 83402838.

Simone xo

"Never work with children or animals"

I must have heard this a thousand times! It's something I have a think about every now and then, because surely it's a special kind of crazy that loves to photograph children being themselves, and if there is a loopy dog or a disainful cat in the mix it's even better? I've had a few days off now, and the luxury of taking the camera out of my hands, along with the daily grind of the business, has meant time to examine what I do, and why. I got into this career by fluke. I'm not someone who's been the photographer-type all my life. I've always loved story-telling, yes, but didn't realise I was going to do it in a visual fashion until relatively recently with the birth of my first child. What I AM completely and utterly passionate about is kids. I don't claim to be an expert in much, but this is truly my life's work.

I remember attempting to understand Morgan when I got home with him as a newborn, falling for the strange but popular notion that they're tiny aliens that we have to 'learn'. Morgan was my best teacher though, and quickly taught me that he was just a tiny, needy and helpless human who needed me, and most of all needed me to be instinctual... and confident about it. I couldn't absorb enough about him and how he would grow, and my love of learning about child development developed from there. I read a few books, then chucked most of them! We never looked back. He is now a gorgeous almost-teenager (thirteen days and counting) and although he has his dirtbag moments, I'm just as excited about the new frontier to explore with him :)

The reason I'm talking about this is that in my world, there is much talk about 'photographic style', 'business models', 'products and pricing' etc, in order to differentiate ourselves from other photographers. That's ok, and I've figured that part out as part of running a business. What I think gets missed sometimes though is that when you hire a children's photographer, fundamentally you will want someone who's great with kids. Someone who knows the developmental milestones to watch for, or be able to recognise a particular cry in a newborn. I've had the great privilege of patting many a baby to sleep, talking endlessly about breastfeeding, putting hair in pigtails, bandaids on knees, seeing first steps and watching as a very proud six year old pulls out a tooth (something I'm sure they know grosses me out!). Even if I was a child psychologist, or perhaps a child-care worker, I wouldn't get to be part of what I am now. I get to be part of all this AND create story-telling images of that child's life for them to treasure long after they're watching their own child's first steps. This really is less about the photography for me, and more about your children.  I think that makes all the difference.

Tomorrow I'm officially back on deck, and it's knowing that I get to go out and create something special with the kids that has me excited. January looks like a load of fun with the Summer Sessions about to start. There are still some places left, but you'll need to be fast. Any time I don't book will be spent with at the beach with my soon to be thirteen and ten year olds. If they'll be seen in public with me...

(and just to prove that there's something to photograph in any mood...some of my old favourites of my boys.) I look forward to seeing you and  your family in 2012.

Simone xo

PS, if you were photographed in 2011, don't forget to check out the last post!