The Secret Garden

These beautiful girls were the perfect way to see in Spring with their insanely beautiful dresses, twirling and dancing and their enjoyment of the beautiful  Botanic Gardens.  Thank you, Elise and Belle, for being so gorgeous! 

Simone xo

Pinterest!

For years now, I've carried around a folder of ideas for photograph displays to show clients and inspire new ideas with their photos. Technology just made that far easier! Have you seen Pinterest yet? This incredible site is the latest phenomenon in organising. Instead of clipping photos from magazines, we now 'pin' them to our Pinterest boards to collate, share and refer back to for inspiration. I have to warn you though. Pinterest is like a black hole. You will be sucked into the wealth of gorgeousness and may not surface for days... Not that I'd know anything about that...

Come and see the Simone Hanckel Photography Pinterest board for ideas and guides on how to plan your perfect photography display. More content is being added all the time, so you should find something that sparks an idea :)

Simone x

A whole new look...

The thing about creative people, is that we’re never satisfied. As soon as we’ve mastered something we’re on the look out to change it up or try something new. My business has been such an exciting quest for innovation, integrity and authenticity in the last 10+ years, and this last year had me really wanting to transform yet again. When I start feeling like this, everyone around me has to watch out as I birth the new incarnation of Simone Hanckel Photography. I have to say, I don’t say birth lightly...it’s taken as long and has been about as painful... My sincere apologies to the loved ones that have had to witness it all. I'm sure they'll agree it has been worth it!

Enter my gorgeous and incredibly talented friend, Kate Burns of Kate Burns Design. Kate has had to listen to me waffle on about what I want my branding to evolve to for the last year, and patiently sifted through the bazillion ideas, all the while getting to know me on a personal level, until the glorious day that this new branding emerged perfect and whole. I’m so thrilled with it. It says so much about what I do, how I feel about my work and the children I photograph.

This new look encompasses a lot about me. The striking black and white that I’m well known for, the little girl jumping that is inspired by this iconic photo of darling Emily, the perfect name for my new loyalty/VIP programme, and the stamp...sigh...this gorgeous hallmark that says your art prints have been created by me with care and love. I hope you love it as much as I do, I am beyond excited about it all. I especially love the little silhouette that Kate unwittingly hit on as being so much a part of me. My own childhood was spent with my head in books as often as possible, and the little silhouette reminds me of those old fashioned, hard covered books with a little stamp on the cover of the book’s main character. I have many of these books, from Peter Pan to Anne of Green Gables, and when I saw this I was taken back to being the little girl who loved reading so much she was known to climb into a tree to escape my sisters long enough to get some peace and quiet to read. 

The part I'm most excited about is 'Kindred’, my fantastic new loyalty programme. My Kindred families are those who have supported me and my business over time, by referring me to their friends and family, bringing me back to photograph their children more than once, or by loving their photos so much that they have invested well in having my prints on the walls and as keepsakes. As a member you will have access to special offers, competitions, exclusive sittings and products, and every Kindred Family be entitled to one complimentary standard sitting per year (valued at $150). This is my thank you to the families that have welcomed me into their lives, and trusted me to be the photographer that documents their kids’ childhoods. It’s such a privilege and I really appreciate the honour. Full details on the Kindred Programme can be found here, and don’t hesitate to contact me to find out how to become a Kindred Family.

To welcome you to the Kindred Programme, I have a very special gift for you. Kindred Families will receive a special email with a link to take you to your very own app containing a selection of your own favourite photos, that can be opened onto your computer, smartphone or iPad and shared easily with family and friends through email or posting the link to Facebook or Twitter! The instructions are here if you have problems loading it onto your device.

We also have the first of our exclusive offers. For a very limited time, you can purchase the full proof set of the images from one of your sittings in 4x6 inch prints for the incredible price of $500. This is the opportunity to have the full set to use as gifts, put into family albums, or pop in a frame to go on your desk. This offer is open until August 31st, so don’t hesitate to call Simone on 83402838 to order your set now.

I want to thank you personally, for helping me build this amazing business, for allowing me to document your family and becoming part of the family of Simone Hanckel Photography. I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Simone xo

Big Sister!!

I love it when I get to see a baby I've photographed many times, become a sibling. To watch their little world open up with someone else to love, share and (let's face it) argue with is just magical. Watching my own son welcome his brother and all that he brought was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. To photograph that journey is even better! Miss Sienna has always been a complete ham for the camera. Her newborn photos blew me away because she (no kidding) actually posed. I've never seen a three week old engage with the camera like Sienna did, so I shouldn't have been surprised that she'd steal the show at this pregnancy sitting! I love that we get to see her perspective on the new baby though. All too soon life will change so dramatically and she'll have to share the stage :) She tells me that a baby sister is coming, so it will be interesting to see if she's right! So often the older sibling just 'knows'.

For those thinking about the winter style of shoot...this is such a gorgeous example. The trees are insanely beautiful right now, and the soft winter light is incredible. We bundled up, romped around, I rolled around in duck poo as usual, and enjoyed the whole thing immensely. Well, the duck poo I could have done without, but it's not all glamourous!

Simone xo

Christmas in July - A gift for those of you who also love Winter!

I was driving out this morning to do the school run and felt like I was in England on a crisp wintery (ok...more like summery over there!) morning, and realised how much I was itching to get my camera out to shoot in that moody, quiet fog. I feel like this every year. There is a paddock at the end of the street of my son's school that has horses in it, and it's an incredible scene on foggy mornings to see the horses peeping out of the mist. What I'd give for a brave soul to tramp around with me one morning to get, what I know will be, an amazing shot. No point asking my kids, they're well and truly over the whole photo taking palaver! What I want, is to find like minded winter-lovers like myself, and offer them something special. If they book between now and July 31st, they will receive an 11x14 inch print with their sitting (valued at $350). Imagine a photograph on your wall with those beautiful bare, sculptural trees, the incredible, silvery winter light, and your children being their gorgeous selves. Actually will someone come and take that photo of my kids for me???!!

I look forward to hearing from all of you that love rugging up in scarves and boots and enjoy a rosy-cheeked wander outside in winter. If we're smart we can do it somewhere that has a pub with a roaring fire nearby! Call me on 83402838, or email simone@simonehanckel.com.au.

xo Simone

My favourite 11 photos of the last 11 years...

Last year I mentioned in my newsletter (have you signed up for the newsletter? You can do so here! ) that May signified 10 years as a photographer. This year marks 11 years of course, but this year comes with a specialness to the anniversary that wasn't there in previous years. This is utterly personal, and more than I tend to share here on my blog, but 11 years ago, on Mothers Day ( also May 13), I should have had my second child. We lost that baby fairly early on in the pregnancy though and while I was pretty philosophical about the loss, knowing that he or she had been due on Mothers Day meant that the day would loom with a lot of the commercial fanfare and a great deal of pain. My oldest son was 2 and I did what I could to make the day about him, but it was a tough one nevertheless. We went on to have Toby of course and the story ended happily with the most insanely amazing children on the planet (not biased at all!), but as with any loss, there is always a 'what if' attached. What I didn't realise, is that what was born that Mothers Day was my beautiful career. I knew I loved photography, I had photographed my first little subject the week before, and it was a small dream deep down in my heart to create a great business from this new passion, but I didn't know that I was actually birthing a different type of child. One that I'd nurture, sculpt, be proud of and exasperated with in equal measure, and that would bring me just as much joy and fulfillment as my two incredible sons. They do say there is a silver lining to every cloud.

I've tossed up many ideas on how to promote my business for Mothers Day. I've gone over specials, promotions and ideas to the nth degree, but in the end what I love most about my business, and want to promote, is that people hire me because they love what I do and they want me as part of their family as they grow. I am their photographer for life. So in celebrating what Mothers Day means to me, I wanted to share my favourite eleven photos of the last eleven years. Many of which feature clients that have become firm friends over the years as we've shared the journey of parenthood together. I'd love you to help my business grow by sharing this post with people you know feel the same way you do about being a parent, and I'd love it even more if you would invite me in to photograph your own family with a bit of my magic.

These photos are favourites for many different reasons, so I'll be putting them on Facebook as well to be able to describe each one and give a glimpse behind the scenes. This is the beauty of a photograph, there is always a depth to it that someone outside the family might not know that makes it all the more meaningful for the children in it. I'd love for you to visit and comment on them.  https://www.facebook.com/simonehanckelphotography

My 12th year will bring change with a new brand, new opportunities and hopefully lots of new families to get to know. I can't wait.

Happy Mothers Day. For all the mothers, not just those that get to hold their babies.

Simone xo