available light ltd - photography BLOG: lifestyle portrait & wedding photography » families

two brothers… 11 jul ‘10

availablelight — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:49:15 +0000

how does the old saying go: “boys will be boys”… never more true than when you have plans for them! we had gorgeous light and sunny winter weather down at the beach for nate & cole’s photo session… but one boy decided the camera was not for him that day, and rather than upset him and end up with grumpy pictures we decided to work with the younger brother first, and get to the elder boy afterwards, on his own terms. i employed some wildlife field tactics – was so funny seeing him pop his head out from behind the trees to check where i was, curious in spite of himself!

here’s some of their pics…

1-year-old melodie’s family… 28 may ‘10

availablelight — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:01:21 +0000

and here are the promised favourites from melodie’s family session last friday! we were battling rain showers and approaching dark as well as the typical 1-year-old stuff like “no, i’m going that way” and “i want those chickens” and “deep water? lemme see!” but we got through it and had a great time too

there are quite a few pics (including the sneak peek a couple of posts ago) so let’s get started…

hug for daddy (just home from work)

ducks in three… two…

…one!

look, hairy chicken!

hairy chicken

following hairy chicken

hug for daddy?

no, hug for mummy!

compromise: family hug!

wheeeeeeee!

alone time for mum & dad

playful

serious moment

final shot, almost totally dark

thanks guys, it was lots of fun!

sneak peek: 1-year-old melodie’s family… 28 may ‘10

availablelight — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:53:11 +0000

last friday afternoon, we braved the weather and all met up at western springs for jules & larissa’s long-awaited family photo session, and then stood under very-much-appreciated umbrellas for the first 10 minutes! but when the sun peeked back through we grabbed the chance to make some beautiful photos – and here’s one of them! gorgeous little melodie, just turned one year old last week…

more photos coming soon

introducing baby isobel… 8 feb ‘10

availablelight — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:05:35 +0000

isobel’s mum and dad are old friends of mine, and back in 2006 i was privileged to photograph their wedding (some photos in gallery #2 on this page) and baby shower last year too. they no longer live in auckland so this week i met their gorgeous baby daughter for the first time! isobel was so cooperative and really seemed to enjoy all the attention.

when we arrived at the park, i was disappointed to see the cloud cover obscured the sun, but i turned around and noticed some really pretty light under an avenue of pohutukawa trees and so we ended up with LOTS of great shots! here’s a selection…

her favourite bear

she loved having her nappy off

love this one, a little thai princess

look at those eyes!

mummy make it better

time with daddy

too curious about the camera!

and this, folks, is how you know the shoot is over!

sleepy time.

good night isobel, thanks for being such a great model!

sneak peek: baby isobel… 8 feb ‘10

availablelight — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:55:05 +0000

you know your shoot is going to go well when you take the first photo and it comes out like this!

more to follow – stay tuned

norm’s birthday bash… 7 feb ‘10

availablelight — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:33:48 +0000

as promised here is a selection from the party yesterday! the day was well attended by family and close friends; and beautifully decorated by norm’s lovely wife daisy, joy and jane of course, and many other talented and willing helpers. daisy created special signature cakes cleverly illustrating norman castle’s own name, and still found time to prepare a wonderfully tasty banquet which we all enjoyed.

during the party guests and family were entertained by norm’s photo presentation summarising his life so far; and we were fortunate to have two wonderfully talented musicians with us: norm’s own singer/guitarist nephew – and the Queen’s own piper (norm’s friend from his own piping days) who played for HRH when she visited new zealand – and piped again for norm as a special surprise yesterday!

here’s the birthday boy himself

some of the wonderful decorations, and two of the THREE cakes

norm reunites with some of the family

beginning the presentation

family members

the wonderful food!

renee decided to sing – she was surprised when mum intervened

isobel: before and after

photos with family

guests enjoying the music

cake time!

the Queen’s piper

pressie time!

norm and daisy – thank you for asking us to be part of your special day!

sneak-peek: norm’s 80th bash… 7 feb ‘10

availablelight — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:26:21 +0000

it’s late but i just wanted to share a quick preview from a wonderful gentleman’s birthday celebrations today – check back soon for more!

making memories to-go… 24 jan ‘10

availablelight — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:42:25 +0000

imagine you’re moving your family overseas… your house is sold; your furniture has left the country; your good-byes have been said – and your plane leaves in 7 hours! now, what tasks would make your “essential” list for the last morning in new zealand? i’m guessing: have a good breakfast, check passports & tickets, make sure your luggage is ready, get comfortable clothes & something to keep the kids busy on the plane, sort out some foreign currency…

well, if your last name is willcocks: chances are the first thing you will do is get dressed up and drive across town to get some pictures taken with your best friends! yes, really! so, that’s what they did – and here’s some of the result…

baby james… 6 dec ‘09

availablelight — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:05:55 +0000

yesterday was fun! i was able to meet a gorgeous and very patient wee baby and photograph him, his princess of a big sister, and mum & dad too. baby james was supposed to be a newborn shoot but what with one thing and another we didn’t get to it until he was 5 weeks old and had basically doubled in size!

there were so many favourites it was hard to choose just a few, so i cheated and combined some pics together…

this was baby james when i arrived:

james’ blue newborn suit next to the one he was wearing when i arrived – hard to imagine him so tiny!

i took this one while holding the baby in one arm and camera + long lens in the other! multitasking WIN

holding daddy’s finger

james went back to his long-interrupted nap when i left!

summer is here… 26 nov ‘09

availablelight — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:16:21 +0000

usually it starts december 1 around these parts but summer came early for me this year in the form of a gorgeous wee girl who is about to turn one – and whose name is summer! last thursday i met her family at the park and we had loads of fun, as you can see by the top picks below…