Melanie Joanne Photography

New Home

2009-01-26T21:59:00.002+11:00

I have been having some issues with blogger recently, so I took the plunge and set up a new blog.

I will now be posting here, please change any bookmarks or RSS feeds as this blog will no longer be updated.

Baby Preston

2009-01-16T17:47:00.000+11:00

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing gorgeous little Preston. Preston surprised his parents by arriving five weeks early and he actually was born on his mothers birthday. Preston's older sister was so cute, she kept tell me that he was a present!!

Preston was so easy to photograph, he slept for pretty much the whole session and was willing to do almost any pose.

Preston has the cutest little birthmark on his second toe, had to make sure we captured that!

Blog Issues

2009-01-12T12:59:00.001+11:00

I am having some issues with blogger, it will not let me upload any photos. I have a super cute newborn post coming, once I can get this problem fixed.

Mel

Gorgeous Kids

2009-01-05T12:10:00.001+11:00

I had the pleasure of photographing this family on the same as the family in the previous post (and at the same location). These guys were so awesome, they are such sweet kids, again so cooperative and LOTS of fun. We had to cut this session short due to rain, but we made good use of the time we did have.

Mum was looking for very natural photos, I hope that I have achieved this

{Dont forget to click on the image if you would like to see if bigger}

Stunning Family

2009-01-04T01:56:00.007+11:00

This stunning family was a breeze to shoot, everyone stood where I asked them too, no one complained and well lets face it when the whole family is this stunning it makes my job so easy. We had stunning weather, the sun was out but wasn't too hot and once we were on the beach we were sheltered from the wind.

Elf Overload

2008-12-24T00:13:00.009+11:00

Brace yourself for an overload of elf cuteness. Now judging by this little elfs antics she would not be Santa right hand girl, she is a little too cheeky for that.

Without further ado, here is little Elfie!!

Heavy Candy Canes!!

Sugar overload {No, we didnt let her eat them all}

Cheeky little Elf!

Sarah: Formal

2008-12-14T10:55:00.003+11:00

Sarah has graduated from Year Ten and look absolutely stunning on the night of her formal. Sarah and her date rode to the formal in a hummer, I am almost certain that this was her fav thing of the night....haha

Isn't she stunning!!

Guess who is Turning Three.....

2008-11-21T09:00:00.003+11:00

Miss Isabelle!!!!! She has been so looking forward to her birthday and has been counting down a while now.

I took Issy out last week to get these photos with her very special number three, I am thinking that 'special' props may be needed for all future photos shoots because she loved have something to 'pose' with.

Issy is such a quirky little kid, she is interested in so many things and is very inquisitive. She absolutely loves anything high school musical, especially Troy and Gabriela and she is sooo excited about the third movie being released. Tomorrow Issy will be having a high school musical birthday party, this girl is a little high school musical obsessed!!

I thought about editing out the band-aid marks on her little legs in the above photos, but decided to leave them because I think it is a pretty good representation who she is at three!

I take no responsibility for the poses in the following two photos, these are Isabelle's own styling.....

Isabelle, I hope that you have a great third birthday!

Lots of love

Amy: Formal

2008-11-16T22:02:00.008+11:00

Thirteen years of school and now it is out into the big wide world for my little sister Amy. Friday saw her celebrating her year 12 formal, all her HSC exams are over and done with, so this formal truly signifies the end of an era for Amy and well for all the year twelve students.

I am very proud of Amy for having completed this part of her life journey and I am sure that there are only good things coming to her in the near future. Amy looked absolutely stunning and oh so grown up!!! I have more images coming, so be sure to check back!!

Greg and Kylie: I Do

2008-11-10T23:22:00.018+11:00

Just over two weeks ago Greg and Kylie said I DO at the beautiful Bimbagden Estate in the Hunter Valley.

The days leading up to the wedding were wet and cold and I have to say I was more than slightly worried that we would need to break out the umbrellas, luckily the weather was kind to us and we had a warm beautiful sunny day. The whole wedding was very relaxed and intimate, had the feeling of a family get together, with a very extended family.

Thank you for inviting me to preserve the memories of your fabulous wedding day, I wish you nothing by joy and happiness in your lives together!

The celebrant was announcing Kylie and David, love the look on Greg's face when he realizes what has happened.

Husband and Wife!!

The gorgeous flower girls, they were so darn cute!

And the very handsome Best Man.

I love these reactions to the speeches......

Sneak Peek - Kylie and Greg

2008-10-07T23:29:00.000+11:00

The other week I meet up with Greg and Kylie for a little mini shoot in preparation for their wedding. The love that Kylie and Greg have for each other is obvious the minute you lay eyes on them, they balanced each other, making them such a good match.

We laughed pretty much the whole way though thid photoshoot, making it an absolute breeze!!

Thanks guys for making my job so easy, hope you love the photos!

Reptile Park

2008-09-27T23:04:00.005+10:00

Today I had the pleasure of babysitting my niece Issy, we decided that we would venture out to the reptile park.

Issy was pretty good with the animals and was keen to pat them when ever there was an opportunity, even asked if she could feed the crocodile during the croc show. But when it was time to go in and see all the snakes, lizards, etc she freaked out, she didn’t like being the darkish rooms where they are kept and she absolutely hated being in the spider display, kept asking if we could go now.

Emily and Issy got to have their photo with a koala, Issy was so excited to be having her photo with the koala but when it came time to stand next to the koala she had a change of heart and decided that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. After much coaxing she calmed down and got to have the photo, afterwards telling us that the koala was her favourite animal!! She is a crazy kid.

Here are a few snaps of our adventures.

Some newish photos

2008-09-25T20:41:00.005+10:00

A few recent(ish) photos of little Miss Issy. I was trying out a few new things in this shoot and I have also changed my post processing a little, I would love to hear your thoughts about these photos.

This is her "I have smiled, now can we stop" face.... :-)

Late Afternoon Sunshine

2008-09-22T22:15:00.003+10:00

Some new photos of Sarah, my model who is always willing to pose and will actually look at the camera for me :-)

These photos were taken on afternoon after Sarah finished school, we got some nice afternoon light and even tried out a few in full sun. I haven't posted any of them, still not sure I am loving them yet!

Sarah I hope you enjoy them, and there will be more of the session coming your way soon.

Be sure to click on the landscape photos so you can see the whole photo {I need to resize my blog so it doesn't chop off the photo}

Little Pink Riding Hood

2008-09-22T22:09:00.002+10:00

Can you tell how happy she was to be having her photo taken.

Today.....

2008-09-21T23:47:00.003+10:00

Today I spent a good chunk of the day getting caught up on my editing........ To be honest I didn't get it all done, but I am almost there.

I had grand plans of posting all of my hard work, but it got late quickly and I really should be sleeping instead of still editing. Here is one of Little Miss Issy from a few weeks ago, more updates will be posted over the coming day. Sarah, this will also include your photos that you have been waiting for.

More Sarah

2008-09-07T21:47:00.003+10:00

Just a few recent snaps of Sarah!

So Sweet

2008-08-27T00:08:00.005+10:00

A little while ago I had the pleasure of meeting little Isla who was a tiny 16 days old. Isla was not so keen on sleeping for her photos or being naked........this little girl like her clothes. We preserved and managed to get some sleeping shots and some nice awake shots as well. Isla proud big brother Ethan was there for the fun, the poor little guy wasn't well and he did so well with the photo shoot.

Love how she is fighting the sleep, got to keep one eye on the strange lady with big camera.

Once we got Isla into the cocoon, she was so snug and warm that she drifted off to sleep for us. My very kind sister Rachel knitted the cocoon for me, I love the colour of it and as you can see it is perfect for newborns.

Ethan was so cute when I asked if he wanted some photos of just him, he was such a natural and gave me his best poses.

I am still undecided on how I feel about these two photos, I like them but I don't know if it works only have one person as the focus point...let me know what you think!!

Emily - Working It!!

2008-08-11T01:45:00.005+10:00

Emily has been waiting very patiently for these photos, I promised her that they would be up by Sunday....I didnt quite make it, but we are only two hours into Monday so I am sure she will forgive me.

Emily always makes me laugh when we are out taking photos, she sometimes doesn't want to be the most cooperative model, but once we get some shots that she is happy with she gets into with a vengeance.

Here is Emily working it out in some of our random locations....

Maddi

2008-08-08T14:56:00.008+10:00

As promised here at the individual shots of Maddi from a few weeks ago. Maddi was such a ham in front of the camera, she had lots of idea on what we should be taking photos of :-)

{Be sure to click on the image to see it better, especially the storyboards}

The many expressions of Maddi...

I reliazed after I had finished the above storyboard that I left one out, it was too cute to not include.

I think someone has been watching Next Top Model and picking up a few tips and tricks!

Happy Birthday Jorjah

2008-08-04T22:33:00.003+10:00

Little Miss Jorjah celebrated her second birthday today, it once again is amazing how quickly times passes by.

Yesterday we all got together to help Jorjah celebrate her birthday, it was good fun and Jorjah had a blast opening her presents, playing on the swing set and playing with her brand new (noisy) piano.

Happy Belated Birthday Sarah!

2008-08-02T17:23:00.003+10:00

I am a day late posting this, yesterday my little sister Sarah turned 16. Maybe I was late in posting this because if my little sister is now 16, I am getting old....hahaha

Sarah you are an amazing, talented young lady and you should be proud of who you are and where you are headed. Sweet sixteen and the whole world is there for the taking, anything you set your mind to you can achieve and I believe that you are destined for big things. I love you and wish you all the best!

Tonight we are going to play Laser Tag, wish me luck.

Jorjah

2008-07-30T22:08:00.004+10:00

Little Miss Jorjah was so funny with having her photo taken, she was happy to stay in one spot for the first few minutes, but after that I swear she just wanted to see how many times I would run after her. There was some gorgeous light in the front doorway, so we took full advantage of it.

I took these cute gumboots along with me, even though they were way too big Jorjah loved wearing them. She was having issues walking when she first put them on, but once she got the hang of them she was off and running!

Bubbles are always a big hit with an almost two year old.

Jorjah was having a great time hanging out in the front door way, she has the cutest, most infectious laugh and she is cheeky to boot.

Ahhh, we started out so clean but by the end Jorjah's white leggings were covered in dirt. A sign that the photoshoot when well :-)

Family Fun

2008-07-27T23:40:00.004+10:00

Two weeks ago I had a shoot with two of my nieces, Jorjah and Maddison, we got lots of cute individual photos (these will be posted in the coming days) but getting a photo of the two of them together proved to very challenging. Jorjah was happy to sit with Maddi, but as soon as I lifted the camera she was up and away.

We did manage to catch this cute one, not perfect but it was the best from the day.

These two photos are some of the cuter out-takes....

I want candy...

2008-07-20T23:18:00.003+10:00

I realized that I hadn't posted the rest of Isabelle's "Candy" session. She had a blast with the giant lollypop, unfortunately it snapped in half not long after we opened it up.

Of course if she wasn't going home to mum straight after this shoot, she would have never been give this much sugar...hahaha

Issy had lots of fun, even with the fairy floss melting all over her and making her all sticky.

The many faces of Issy, we have her cranky face, surprised face, happy face and one that I am not sure what she is trying to express.

Licking herself clean....whatever works :-)

Something to brighten up my day

2008-07-08T22:13:00.003+10:00

I have been sick with the flu for the last two weeks or so and I am SOOOO looking forward to being better again soon.

My sister got these beautiful flowers from one of her students before they went on three week of holidays (Oh the perks of being a teacher...hehe), I of course had to take a few quick snaps. Enjoy!

Baby Brother

2008-07-02T23:09:00.002+10:00

My baby brother who is growing up way too quickly, he fast becoming an independent young man and making all who know him proud. Robbie doesn't often pose for photos, it is say to say that I don't have many photos him. I was so pleased when Robbie asked me to take a few photos of him while I was visiting recently, I plan on doing a proper shoot and gets lots of updated photos.

Red Shoes

2008-07-01T01:08:00.005+10:00

For a girl who doesn't like to stay fully clothed, she sure does love these shoes.

Issy only took these shoes off when absolutely necessary (like when she was pretending to be sleeping in my bed), but once she was done the shoes immediately went back on. These are the only shoes that I have know this quirky little girl to keep on her feet, I can see why, they are darn cute shoes. Now she just needs a blue and white check dress, yellow brick road and we can do some Dorothy photos.

A Girl and her Bunny

2008-06-29T22:40:00.006+10:00

We did these photos a while ago and I have only just gotten around to editing them. The bunny was a fairly new pet when we took these photos and it wasn't very keen on sitting in the one spot while I took the photos. Em had to keen a firm grip on the bunny or we would have lost it.

Crazy Toddler

2008-06-27T23:52:00.004+10:00

Issy hates wearing clothes, as soon as she arrives "home" she strips off as much as possible, normally this means down to maybe a singlet and undies or a princess outfit. Tonight when Issy was visiting she decided that she needed to take it one step further, now I should point out that when she arrived at my house she was wearing boots, jeans, t-shirt, jacket and a little tutu skirt.

In true Issy fashion she quickly ditched the jacket and pants, then a little later the skirt and not too long after her t-shirt. I look over to see the crazy kid sitting in the beanbag watching TV with a blanket, but no clothes.

Being the little poser that she is, Issy was keen on giving me her sad face for her photos. She did give me a happy face, but I was laughing too much to catch it.

After convincing Issy to at least put on her t-shirt (it is cold tonight), I got out an old stethoscope so she could listen to heartbeat. She was more interested in just playing doctor, aka, bossing people around. Once she was the doctor I couldn't get a smile of her, she would only the a cranky doctor and if you ask me she is a little scary as the cranky doctor.

A'Hoy

2008-06-23T22:23:00.004+10:00

I was in the process of sorting out my photos when I came across this little one. The day this photo was taken little miss was not a happy girl, she didn't want to stand on the rocks by herself, she only wanted to be held......may have been because it was darn cold!

I hadn't edited this photo before now because I didn't love it, the light wasn't right, etc, etc. But tonight when I saw it with her little smiling face it was just begging to be edited. I still don't LOVE this photo, but it does remind me of who she is right now and all her cuteness.

Getting All Caught Up

2008-06-23T00:06:00.003+10:00

I have been a bit of a slacker lately with getting my photos edited in a timely manner, I am working on getting a better process happening so that at least a few photos are edited and posted online for the world to enjoy (just kidding)

These are a few from about two weeks ago when my niece stayed the night and we dosed her up on sugar before returning her to her mum. We took LOTS and LOTS of cute photos, I will be sure to add a few more as I get them all processed. But for now, here are three that caught my eye. I thought about doing them as a storyboard, but it is late and I should be sleeping.

I love her cheeky smile in this one

Issy

2008-06-22T13:42:00.006+10:00

Here are a few photos from a little "mini shoot" the other weekend. Issy isn't always so keen to have her photo take, she is pretty good at staying on the spot but as soon as I try to get some eye contact she will look anywhere but AT me. We persevered and got some very cute photos.

This is her usual bossy self!

She loves her "princess" outfits, I am sure she would wear them constantly if she was allowed.

And her rendition of "I'm a little teapot"

Sarah

2008-06-15T18:40:00.002+10:00

Here are Sarah's photos from the other week. Sarah has a cast on her arm and wasn't very keen on having the cast in the photos, lucky I do mostly head shoots so she didn't have to work too hard trying to keep the cast out of the photos.

Issy's photos will be up in the next few days, hopefully sooner!

Emily

2008-06-09T13:57:00.003+10:00

The other week I took two of my sisters and my niece out late in the afternoon to take a few photos. I am always looking for places that will make good backgrounds so it is good when you find an unexpected placed just down the road.

Here are Miss Emily's photos, the others photos will be following in the next few days. Emily has a great natural smile but once the camera is pointed in her way she puts on her posed smile, not nearly as flattering. We are working on getting natural looking photos with Em.

This is one of the better "posed" smiles.

More Little Z

2008-05-12T16:02:00.003+10:00

I have been a bit of a slacker and haven't updated in a while.

Here are a few more from little Z's photoshoot.

Little Z

2008-04-27T21:10:00.004+10:00

I have been having a few issues with blogger letting post my photos. Here are a few from Z's newborn session I did a few weeks ago, more will be up shortly.

Isn't he so sweet!!!

Welcome

2008-04-20T23:27:00.003+10:00

Welcome to my brand new blog, I have been blogging over at good old myspace but decided that it was time to set up a "real" blog. This blog will give me a place to share my photos as well as general happenings in my life.

Be sure to check back soon, I have some newborn photos that I will be posting in the next day or so.

Mel