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I went to the best birthday party ever! Little Master D turned one & celebrated surrounded by friends and family on a beautiful sunny afternoon!
It was an afternoon filled with starfish sammies, sailors brew, a bouncy castle, nautical bunting, laughter, smiles and plenty of giggles.... such fun!
Here are a few shots of the big day! Happy birthday again D!
On Samoa's Upolu Island is a beach called Return to Paradise, originally made famous by Gary Cooper in the 1953 movie of the same name... now its famous for its idylic beauty, the white sand, palm tree lined coastline and turquoise waters.
The only resort on the beach aptly named Return to Paradise Resort & Spa is newly opened, and has everything you dream of. It has a beautiful lagoon, sparkling white sandy beaches, dazzling marine life, colourful coral, pools, a beachside bar where sandyfeet are welcome, delicious meals and luxurious accomodation.
I had the absolute pleasure of staying there and taking photos for them on my trip to Samoa - such a tough gig haha! The staff are all amazing, helpful & friendly without being 'in your face' and the beachfront rooms (my personal favourites) are just a short stroll across the sand to the beach & yet are still a private haven.
I think one of the most important things to note about the resort is that most of the staff are from the local village - they have created so many jobs that otherwise would not be found so close to home & it is Samoan owned and operated... unfortunately this is becoming something of a rarity on the island.
I swam in the pools, wallowed in the natural rock pools, wandered the grounds, was thoroughly entertained (& well fed) on the fia fia evening, ate too much and generally relaxed soaking in the atmosphere of this fantastic resort as I worked took photos in paradise - it was too good to be called work!
Here are a small selection of photos from Paradise. If you want to see more, I'm thrilled to be featuring throughout their website - If your heading to Samoa - I cannot recommend Return to Paradise enough! I'll be back for sure - the little beach fale has my name on it!
The only resort on the beach aptly named Return to Paradise Resort & Spa is newly opened, and has everything you dream of. It has a beautiful lagoon, sparkling white sandy beaches, dazzling marine life, colourful coral, pools, a beachside bar where sandyfeet are welcome, delicious meals and luxurious accomodation.
I had the absolute pleasure of staying there and taking photos for them on my trip to Samoa - such a tough gig haha! The staff are all amazing, helpful & friendly without being 'in your face' and the beachfront rooms (my personal favourites) are just a short stroll across the sand to the beach & yet are still a private haven.
I think one of the most important things to note about the resort is that most of the staff are from the local village - they have created so many jobs that otherwise would not be found so close to home & it is Samoan owned and operated... unfortunately this is becoming something of a rarity on the island.
I swam in the pools, wallowed in the natural rock pools, wandered the grounds, was thoroughly entertained (& well fed) on the fia fia evening, ate too much and generally relaxed soaking in the atmosphere of this fantastic resort as I worked took photos in paradise - it was too good to be called work!
Here are a small selection of photos from Paradise. If you want to see more, I'm thrilled to be featuring throughout their website - If your heading to Samoa - I cannot recommend Return to Paradise enough! I'll be back for sure - the little beach fale has my name on it!
This was such a lovely session with Jenna and Paul!
The best was that it meant I finally got to put together Jenna's maternity series photo - damn this wonderful woman has rocked her pregnancy! This has felt like the loooongest pregnancy ever - we took the first image in the series at 13 weeks and the last at 39 weeks - I've been so excited to put together & I'm so pleased with how it turned out!
We braved the icy wind the other evening (I did feel guilty as I smoothed away goosebumps) and got some wonderful shots that capture this special time not to mention the love that Jenna & Paul have already for wee "Frank".
It has been such a pleasure capturing Jenna's pregnancy & I can't wait to meet their little boy 'Frank' (or the bump formally known as Frank!) in the next week or so!
See you both soon!
I have eleventy million blog posts to write but since I'm new to this whole blogging lark I'm battling to get them all done, I thought I'd start playing catch up from my most recent adventure to get the ball rolling!
First of all a massive thank you to everyone that shared & commented on the 150gram images - we have all been humbled by the support given to us (especially the patients). I am pleased to be able to report that one month on both are doing really well! If the images and post start the conversation between just one family that wouldn't have entertained the idea of organ donation in the past, I feel its doing its job... Thank you all.
A couple of weeks ago I flew to Queenstown, in stunning Central Otago to participate in a Creative Portraiture Workshop hosted by the incredibly talented and award winning photographer, Bianca Duimel. What an adventure, an eye opening creative and inspiring weekend, surrounded by talented people in one of the most picturesque locations in New Zealand.
Bianca creates stunning portraits that are simply put, works of art, her vision and ideas come together in the most creative of ways and the resulting images are stunning! Over the course of the weekend we were encouraged to previsualise, to step out of the confines of taking a beautiful classic portrait in an awe inspiring location and get inventive.
Before this workshop artistic images were simply something I admired from 'other photographers' - I never entertained the possibility that I too, could make them. I'm practicing new skills, fine tuning others & thoroughly enjoying the process along the way.
Maya Angelou said "You can't use up creativity, the more you use the more you have" - already this is proving true as I become further inspired every day.
A massive thank you to Bianca - if I have an ounce of your talent I'll be happy! Our wonderful models - Shari who incidentally is an amazing photographer & entrepreneur herself), Tiffany - a dancer & firefighter among her other talents (front cover of this years NZ woman's firefighter calendar - buy one here - its a great cause!). Dan who ferried us around, shot some amazing images, entertained us and managed to photobomb approximately 4million photos! And Ant from Wanaka TV - a talented photographer and film maker who documented our weekend (I will link to the video when it goes live).
I must also thank everyone on the workshop - we started as strangers and left as friends - may our paths all cross again - it was awesome to be surrounded by such a talented group of photographers! The images you are all creating are incredible!
Thank you all!
Here are a few images I have worked up so far - I'm sure that there will be plenty more to come!
For most people 150 grams isn't very much - its a cup of blueberries, fifteen $2 coins or a large apple. Recently I discovered the true value of 150 grams - a future, quality of life and one of the greatest gifts one person can give to another.
150 grams was the weight of my Mother's kidney. It is now the weight of Dean's only functional kidney.
Dean was in end stage kidney failure, dialysing almost daily, struggling to get through every day battling constant pain, nausea & exhaustion and facing the fact that without a kidney transplant he would die.
My mother and I had no hesitation in being tested to see if we were a match - almost as soon as Dean told us what he was dealing with the conversation & testing process started. Unfortunately our reaction is uncommon - many people we told were flabbergasted, they couldn't believe that we would consider donating a kidney - especially "just to a friend". As we looked at it - we had two and only need one to live a full & healthy life - it was a no brainer.
We both went through the testing cycle, the blood & urine tests, the xrays, the lung function testing, the thorough questioning, history gathering, the pyschiatric screening & the cross matching (essentially we got a cost free full body health check). We passed - not only were we a match, we were both deemed healthy enough (& of sound mind) to be donors. We made the decision that Mum would donate.
Two weeks ago we got the call, unexpectedly early - we had a date and if Mum was happy, the transplant was going to go ahead the following week! We all got together, processing the enormity of what was about to happen, Mum & Dean both understandably nervous, a little tearful and above all relieved that the transplant would go ahead.
Less than two weeks on from the surgery at Auckland City Hospital both of them are home, largely pain free & healing well.
I decided to photograph this process to raise awareness for organ donation, to celebrate both the truely selfless gift that was given and the start of the rest of Dean's life!
To see the full set of images please click here.
Talk to your families, talk to your friends. Whether you simply tick donor on your licence & reiterate your wishes to your family or look further into the donation process for someone you know (or someone you don't - a truely altruistic gift) - you have the power to save lives.
For more information on donation in New Zealand two brilliant websites filled with information are Organ Donation NZ & Live Kidney Donation Aotearoa.
150 grams was the weight of my Mother's kidney. It is now the weight of Dean's only functional kidney.
Dean was in end stage kidney failure, dialysing almost daily, struggling to get through every day battling constant pain, nausea & exhaustion and facing the fact that without a kidney transplant he would die.
My mother and I had no hesitation in being tested to see if we were a match - almost as soon as Dean told us what he was dealing with the conversation & testing process started. Unfortunately our reaction is uncommon - many people we told were flabbergasted, they couldn't believe that we would consider donating a kidney - especially "just to a friend". As we looked at it - we had two and only need one to live a full & healthy life - it was a no brainer.
We both went through the testing cycle, the blood & urine tests, the xrays, the lung function testing, the thorough questioning, history gathering, the pyschiatric screening & the cross matching (essentially we got a cost free full body health check). We passed - not only were we a match, we were both deemed healthy enough (& of sound mind) to be donors. We made the decision that Mum would donate.
Two weeks ago we got the call, unexpectedly early - we had a date and if Mum was happy, the transplant was going to go ahead the following week! We all got together, processing the enormity of what was about to happen, Mum & Dean both understandably nervous, a little tearful and above all relieved that the transplant would go ahead.
Less than two weeks on from the surgery at Auckland City Hospital both of them are home, largely pain free & healing well.
I decided to photograph this process to raise awareness for organ donation, to celebrate both the truely selfless gift that was given and the start of the rest of Dean's life!
To see the full set of images please click here.
Talk to your families, talk to your friends. Whether you simply tick donor on your licence & reiterate your wishes to your family or look further into the donation process for someone you know (or someone you don't - a truely altruistic gift) - you have the power to save lives.
For more information on donation in New Zealand two brilliant websites filled with information are Organ Donation NZ & Live Kidney Donation Aotearoa.