Farewell Brisbane

We arrived 4 years ago... a family of 3... an adventure waiting to be had.
You shocked me with your intense summer humidity and heat... and those late afternoon summer storms? Whoa! But you enamoured me with your beautifully mild winters and all was forgiven...

You gave us so much to do in the outdoors... the beaches, the long drives, the theme parks, the pools, the parks and playgrounds... Although the myriad of wildlife that accompanied it all (cane toads, green ants, midgies and mosquitos) I could have done without...

We discovered and enjoyed frequenting our favourite eatery haunts - Trang's, Gelati Cremonia, Brett's Wharf, Movenpick, Sushi Sushi...

We grew our family... and you have been the a perfect place to begin to raise a family... the only place my girls have really known as home...

You gave me the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing people... who became wonderful friends...

Tomorrow we leave... now a family of 4... we have had a wonderful time in this relaxed, laid-back welcoming city... Thank you for the memories Brisbane... You will always have a special place in my heart.

Poor Neglected Blog

With 4 weeks to go 'til our move I've been busy... so my poor blog has been neglected... but a quick update on a few things that have been happening...

1. I lasted 9 months, but I'm sad to say that I have fallen off the photo-a-day wagon... I really wanted to able to see the year out, but unfortunately life has just got in the way... That and I somehow managed lose the first week of October photos that I was sure I downloaded onto the computer but vanished somewhere... While I'm disappointed I didn't make it through, I don't regret for one second undertaking this project and not being able to finish it... I started it with the intention of improving my skills... changing the way I think, the way I see light and composition, the mental creative side of it all, and I think I can say, this year has been my year of enlightenment and it's enabled me to take that step to the next level... I already have a new project lined up for next year, so you'll have to stay tuned to find out all about that!

2. Catherine turned 17 months yesterday! She's almost 1.5 years old! Wowsers! Really?! She's learning more and more things everyday... She can now walk and take a step off a single step (up and down)... She used to pause everytime she came to a step and just wait for someone to help her, but she's figured out how to keep her balance now. Her latest trick involved batting her eyelashes... She will sometimes just look at you and then deliberately blink her eyes several times and then give you the most heart melting smile... She totally knows it melts me...

3. We had a garage sale today... we had so much junk to get rid off... made $300 in the process so it was a worthwhile exercise.

4. I've packed up probably 1/3 of the house up and starting to reach a point where I don't think I can pack much more stuff because we actually need it...

5. I have 2 shoots left in Brisbane... one tomorrow... and one next weekend and that's it for Brisbane... Can't believe it's coming to an end so soon.

6. I'm now the proud owner of a 50mm f/1.2L which is (like most photography gear) a rather expensive lens... but Phan was stalking some online forums and saw one come up that was only 5 weeks old and asking 25% off the retail price, so we snapped that up. I had a chance to go out and shoot my girls yesterday with it and it's beautiful and significantly different from the 1.4 version... I sense this is going to be my new favourite lens... :)

7. It's hard to believe I only launched my business 3 weeks ago 'cos I've had such an amazing reception that it feels like so much longer! I'm almost booked out for the first 6 months on my return to Adelaide so it's going to be a busy start to 2012.

8. My girls are growing up so fast... they make me laugh so much... Some photos that I need to share...

Catherine my bogan baby... She's wearing a one piece hand-me-down singlet suit that has seen better days and is all stretchy and saggy in the nappy area... She's also pottering around in the grass barefoot... I find that there's something beautifully organic about this photo... No pretty clothes, no props... just realness...





She spotted a plane in the sky that same day... was totally fascinated by it.











These photos taken yesterday afternoon when I went out to try out the new 50mm 1.2... It's been a while since I took the girls out for a shoot (just haven't had the time lately), so it was nice to spend an afternoon pottering around at the park... Catherine has also gotten infinitely more mischievous since the last time we went out on a shoot as she now runs away and tries to climb onto playground equipment! I now need eyes in the back of my head!

Things To Smile About...

In what is a seriously depressing real estate market, we are pretty happy that our house sold in just over 2 weeks! (Excuse the photo, it was just snapped with the iphone).


I'm still on the photo-a-day band wagon... just seriously lacking in time to edit them and post them on the blog... but I'll quickly share this snap, which makes me laugh... And yes, I'm fully aware, she's going to hate me for taking this photo when she's older... LOL...



And lastly... It also seems that I won that fun contest for the favourite photo for September over at Click It Up A Notch... Thanks to everyone to voted for me! :) Here's the photo again... :)

Happy days... and now I have to go do some more packing!

Click It Up A Notch - September Favourite Photo

Click It Up A Notch is running their monthly post up your favourite photo contest and I just can't resist entering this photo...

This photo rates up there in my top 10 photos of all time at the moment... The pier is one of the prettiest ones I've ever seen... and while usually I shy away from harsh shadows, I love the shadows cast from the railing and I think it actually makes the photo.

Do you have a favourite photo for September? Why not share it as well in the Click It Up A Notch Contest?

Time To Finally Reveal ...

I have just been itching to share this news with everyone, but I've been waiting for the right time to come and finally, the right time is now!

Regular readers of my blog may have noticed, while I've still been doing updates on the blog, the blog posts have not been anywhere near as frequent as earlier in the year. Well, that's mostly been due to a project I've been working on behind the scenes and I'm excited to announce that I'm officially launching my business - Heart Inspired Photography.

To coincide with the start of October, I launched last night on Facebook (feel free to head over to the Heart Inspired Photography Fan Page and "like" it) and thsi afternoon I launched over on my business blog-site... you can read all about how the journey over here -

http://www.heartinspiredphotography.com/blog/2011/10/01/the-official-launch-and-how-this-all-came-to-be/

I will still be continuing this blog, at least until the end of this year while Photo-A-Day 2011 is still continuing... but if you would like to follow me on my business blog, there will be lots of interesting things popping up on there too.

Thank you to all my readers for dropping in and following my stories and photography... xo

Photo A Day - September - Week 3

Yes, I'm just trying to get caught up with the photo a day -

September 15 - The Boxes Are Here
The boxes arrived today and we're beginning the process of packing... It's already been interesting with Catherine deciding she likes to sit on flat boxes which makes it impossible to extract them from under her and tape them up so we can use them! This is why we're starting early!

September 16 - Up Close With A Dirt Bike
I got the opportunity to get up close with a dirt bike today... :)




September 17 - The Wind In Her Face
Catherine loves having wind blown in her face... sometimes Elizabeth will just blow in her face to make her laugh... Here Daddy is fanning a book in her face and she loves the feeling of the wind....




September 18 - Snuggles In Bed
Early morning snuggles in our bed for everyone...




September 19 - Decluttered
Our house is decluttered... anyone who knows what our house normally looks like with kiddie toys everywhere would be impressed... :p




September 20 - Admiring Her Sister's Artwork
Catherine is obsessed with Elizabeth's artwork... she loves looking at it... pointing at it... She even walks around holding it as if she's trying to pass it off as her own...




September 21 - Little Miss 16 Months
She was just like a doll when she was born and 16 month later, she's still a doll... a cheeky one... but she still so perfectly adorable.

Photo A Day - September - Week 2

I am sooo behind with the blogging... still managing to keep up the photo-a-day, but it's seriously hitting crazy stations around here getting ready for our move back to Adelaide and I've fallen a bit behind with the processing... Decided to take some time out tonight and try and catchup on some photos...

September 8 - Morning Ritual
A completely technically terrible photo (out of focus and all), but this photo speaks volumes of our mornings... both girls brush their teeth every morning now and Catherine is actually obsessed with her toothbrush (she likes to wander in and point at it 'cos she wants it)... and Elizabeth likes to brush her teeth with Catherine... she gets upset if Catherine brushes her teeth without her... It's drama city here some mornings!

September 9 - Checking the Mailbox
She thinks she's so clever... (oh and yes, this was from one of my first plays with the fish-eye)




September 10 - Press The Button
Auntie Thao came to visit us this weekend and came bearing the most wonderful gifts for all of us (thank you again Thao!). She got Elizabeth this book called "Press The Button", which is now a bedtime favourite... She just loves this book and makes Phan read it to her every night.




September 11 - Hanging With The Girls
One of only a handful of photos I got of Thao this weekend... The girls loved hanging out with her... (Elizabeth really did too, she just doesn't look impressed in this photo!)




September 12 - Kiddie Gamer
Elizabeth is getting good at playing games on her vtech console...




September 13 - Down By The Pier
I went to check out a lovely little spot today... it has the prettiest jetty I've ever seen (and the most awesome kids playground too!)... This has got to be another one of my favourite photos from this year.




September 14 - Custom Made Dresses
Our custom made dresses from Lillipops Designs arrived today... We designed them ourselves during a Back To School custom dress event that was run a couple of months ago. (And by "we", I mean Elizabeth and I... she picked the fabric and the style of dress and the belt to go with it... and we picked out a design for Catherine). They are awesome... I love, love, love how they turned out... and so do the girls... The dress is now Elizabeth's new favourite. They were so gorgeous, I was inspired to take the girls out for a minishoot them...