Our weddings are such wonderful events, huge milestones in our lives. So much planning goes into the big day. Who to invite? What to wear? Where to celebrate? How to get there? What to eat? We anticipate the big day with such excitement, enjoy it, then all of a sudden it is over in a flash. You will most likely spend many, many hours choosing your dress, looking for the perfect design for you, going to fittings, getting ready… then you will wear it for a matter of hours before packing it away carefully and putting it into storage. Wouldn’t it be great to wear it again?

Trash the Dress sessions are becoming increasingly popular and fit perfectly with my photography style. These sessions take place in the weeks after your wedding and allow you to dress up again and go out for an artistic, fun photo session. You won’t have to worry about your dress getting dirty or your makeup running, or worry about sticking to a tight schedule. This day will be just about you and having a great time. You might choose to have a beach shoot, or go wandering through the city, or your favourite park or country town. It is totally up to you. You might go swimming in your dress, clambering over rocks, jumping off piers. You might prefer something quieter, less adventurous. All my wedding packages now include either a ‘trash the dress’ session after the wedding, or if you prefer a relaxed engagement / couple shoot prior to the big day. You will treasure these natural yet artistic photos as another reminder of your special day. Contact me to discuss options and to see more examples of these sessions.

Everybody loves a wedding. 10 years after ours I look back though our album and I see pages of ‘lovely’ posed shots. There I am with my bridesmaids posing infront of a vintage car, leaning against a tree staring into my new husbands eyes, clustered around a fountain with various family members, cheesy smiles galore. These are nice to look back on but they are not how I choose to remember our perfect day.

I remember drinking champagne and laughing with friends in the morning… my much loved dog in his blue bow tie, banned by our photographer incase he got my dress dirty… I remember the smiles and tears of joy after the ceremony… the laughter as stories of how we met were recounted during the speeches… I remember taking my shoes off and dancing in bare feet to my favourite songs… I remember the real moments, real emotions, and I wish I had those carefully stored in an album and not just in my memories.

I take a journalistic approach to capturing your big day exactly as it happens. I understand you will want some posed shots, but also know that you will treasure looking back on the real moments more than the posed. Contact me via telephone or email for more information. Packages begin at $2800.

Thankyou to those of you who have expressed an interest in a photo session with me in Queensland in late October. The response has been overwhelming and i greatly look forward to visiting your beautiful state and meeting you. Information packages will be emailed out over the weekend detailing session costs, packages and how to reserve a date and time for your session.

Late October sessions allows plenty of time to prepare your beautiful images in time for Christmas gifts. Christmas cards featuring your favourite images, canvases, coffee table books and prints will all feature in the packages, along with the possibility of purchasing the high resolution digital images.

There may still be time to express your interest and secure a booking if you have not yet done so. Please email me at taylorsoz@optusnet.com.au to be added to the mailing list.

Yesterday i had the pleasure of photographing Jodie and her beautiful children. We had near gale force winds and rain to contend with, but the kids were little legends. We had a great time playing in the leaves and doing super jumps in the backyard. Baby Isabella was so alert and full of smiles. Thanks Jodie, enjoy your sneak peak.

Having had a short break following the birth of my beautiful son, i am back in business and very happy about it. I will be shooting in Gippsland this Thursday and have room for one more last minute booking. Please email or phone me to discuss your interest.

I will also soon be announcing dates for Queensland sessions later this year. (Brisbane and Gold Coast) Spaces will be limited. Please email me to express your interest and to get added to the list. (taylorsoz@optusnet.com.au)

Smile!

Remember photography before the digital age sprang upon us? You might recall dropping your film off at the shop. Returning later to pick up your 24 prints , taking them home and sticking the half that turned out nicely onto adhesive plastic covered pages in an album. I recall the smell of the dark room chemicals, the excitement of waiting for the image to magically appear on the paper in the chemical trough. Hanging the prints up to dry and proudly showing them off to family and friends.

My daughter loves to look through all those old photos now… Out of focus family snaps of me as a child pushing my dog around in a dolls pram…beach photos from the annual summer caravan holiday in Narooma… travel shots from my backpacking days…21st birthdays..weddings. We flip through the old albums and laugh and remember.

So what of more recent photos? In this digital age it is all too easy to take many photos, admire them, then leave them ‘trapped inside’ our computer forever. Sure, it is convenient to be able to browse through a slideshow of your favourites, and to email photos to family and friends around the world. But having photos to hold, albums to flick through, prints in frames that aren’t digital…this is becoming a forgotten art, a casualty of the digital age.

I believe that photos are art, that they should adorn the walls of our homes and the pages of our scrapbooks. My photography leans towards the artistic, and is made to print large. Therefore included in every session fee or package is a mounted print of your choice for you to look at everyday, to share, to remember.

Don’t forget about the current newborn special i am running over Winter. If you want something a bit different from your newborn photos, i could be the photographer for you. As well as traditional family shots and cute newborn poses, i love to photograph newborns in the great outdoors, all rugged up and snuggly and part of the world. Here is one i took today…

In May we were thrilled to welcome the arrival of our beautiful new son Lucas. We have been having a wonderful time experiencing the wonders of a newborn in the home. Remember nappies? 3am feeds? That squeaky newborn cry? More importantly, the adorable almost smiles, the tiny clothes, the sweet milky breath, the love! Photographing these first beautiful moments has been such a joy. It seems they grow and change so quickly, and it is easy to forget just how little and perfect our children are in those first few weeks.

To celebrate the arrival of Lucas i am offering a special on all newborn photos. Book and pay for your session in July or August and receive free 20 beautiful baby announcement cards featuring your favourite photo from our session together.

To capture your newborn at their sleepy, scrunchy best, it is important to photograph them in their first 2 weeks. I come to your home or can suggest many wonderful outdoor locations for your photographs. Contact me as early as possible with a due date so i can pencil your session in. I leave a small number of session spaces free each week for this purpose.

Yes, it seemed about time i ventured into the world of blogging. So to begin, some photos of Tuesday’s sunset. It was beautiful. We stopped by the beach to take some shots and i noticed i was getting quite a few odd stares. Was it the fancy umbrella? The dancing daughter? The dancing daughter’s great sense of fashion?? I could not figure it out. Then it occurred to me. I looked down and saw my snuggly and warm 5 week old hanging out in his sling on my chest. He was sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of his surroundings and the beautiful sunset. He looked so super cute, those stares and smiles had to be for him.