and the Hanckel household is all still up at 9:30 pm! I think we’re all too excited I didn’t get to organise my Christmas cards this year, every year it gets harder and harder, so I’m adding a photo I took of Morgan and Toby in October. The days are fast approaching that they won’t sit still for me ever again, so I make the most of it when I can! This will have to do as a virtual Christmas card

As something extra, I wanted to add this gorgeous video that went viral a few weeks back. Anyone who’s seen how a portrait sitting goes with children will understand why my mouth was hanging open at the sheer cleverness of this! They’re all so gorgeous and co-operative. I’d love to see the out-takes!!

I want to wish everyone a beautiful and blessed Christmas, and a fantastic 2012. Much love to you all.

Simone xo

The Summer Holidays are coming! To celebrate my recent win of SA Family Photographer of the Year, I decided to dedicate the whole of January to some fantastic, conceptual Summer Sessions. the details are in the flyer below! Each sitting will be a fantastic experience for your kids, a gorgeous memory of what summer feels like, and the coooolest photo ever. There is nothing like a project and some silliness to get kids involved and having fun. I’m really looking forward to this!

So, pick which activity sounds like your family the most, and ring me to book in! Don’t forget, gift certificates for this make the perfect Christmas gift

Simone xo

How’s that for a mouthful? This last week has been spent helping organise, and participating in the AIPP Epson South Australian Professional Print Awards. In other words, this is our state’s big daddy photography awards, and as I’m on the State Council of the SA AIPP, it was a mammoth undertaking. We had a wonderful time, fantastic judges from both Adelaide and interstate, and some incredibly beautiful images up for judging.

So, the fantastic news is that I managed to not only score 6 merits out of the 8 images entered (one gold, one silver distinction and four silvers), but I also won the category of SA Family Photographer of the Year. This particular category is only two years old, but was created to recognise those of us who strive to create excellent work, every day for our clients. To be awarded for that is beyond my wildest dreams.

This is the winning portfolio, and I couldn’t be prouder. Each image has a gorgeous family, and even more, a gorgeous story behind it. It says it all about how I approach photographing your children, and the real winners are the children who have beautiful portraits of what their childhood looked like.

A huge thanks to the AIPP, especially my fellow members of the SA Council and the esteemed interstate judges. A huge hug and a kiss for every one of my beautiful clients who allow me into their lives to record their family history. It’s a privilege and a joy.

Simone xo

of the divine Charlotte Persia I photographed Miss Charlotte when she was born, and I got such a kick out of seeing her up and toddling. Over the course of the sitting I commented that I loved the way we were getting a real sense of what Charlotte’s day is like, so she deserves a special blog post to represent that. Life as one year old Charlotte is pretty lovely…

Simone xo

It’s been a long time since I photographed my own children with anything other than the phone or point and shoot. They’re 12 and 9 now, and having grown up acutely aware of the camera, have decided enough is enough! A new lens meant that I had the excuse to rope them in for a few test shots, but as you can probably tell, they weren’t super happy about it… The centre photo is real life around here…the unguarded moment.

As always, with any photographs taken around our house, the cat features heavily. From the swishy tail in Morgan’s pic, to happily taking centre stage (and all the cuddling he can get) in the middle photo. He’s a rubbish model though, being cross-eyed means he’s never looking at the camera properly!

A reminder for those who have received the newsletter, that files from all non-current orders are being archived on Sept 30 and will incur a retrieval fee for print orders. There is 30% off any reprints until then, so contact me if there are any images that you’ve been meaning to purchase!If you aren’t getting the newsletter, by the way, you can sign up here.  NEWSLETTER

Simone xo

It’s blog carnival time again, and the topic this month is Love and Passion. It seemed obvious..create a post showing how passionately my beautiful families love each other. Easy! However this month’s post coincided with something that was about me. A career milestone that I wanted to talk about anyway and one that is the reward of living a life with passion.

Last week, with a group of fantastic and talented South Australian photographers, I went to Perth to attend a national conference and the annual awards judging. This year was special, as I was finally able to submit a portfolio to be judged in order to attain my ‘Master of Photography’ status. It all seemed too daunting though. I had too much on my plate, a newsletter to compose, orders to organise, children to chase around with a camera… but I managed it, pulling together the portfolio of prints required in order to go for my Masters. This process has been a long one, with three years of consistent and nerve wracking print judging, countless prints submitted, a lot of lovely awards along the way and a very healthy understanding of my gifts and failings as a photographer. It wasn’t something I could miss to put the final stamp on it all, and of course I’m very glad I did. We had to submit 12 images, and at least 10 of them had to be awarded a silver merit or above. I’m beyond proud to say I did it and can now wear the mantle of Master Photographer with pride  Below is a selection of the prints entered, with some of them being amongst my favourites ever.

Making your living out of something you’re passionate about can be amazing and enviable (although not without it’s challenges!). I get told all the time how blessed I am, and it’s very very true. I love nothing more than recording an element of childhood that will forever remind that family of what life with young children was like. It’s the most amazing job I can think of, and perfectly tailored to my strengths. My love of interior design, child psychology, art, black and white photography and spending time with lovely people have all converged into this incredible career. I don’t take any of this for granted and can’t wait to see what the next major goal will bring. My thanks go out to the families that are my inspiration, and without this sounding too much like a cheesy acceptance speech, this is for Maria. One of our last conversations was about how thrilled she was for me about my career, and one of the photos of her and her daughters won an award that contributed to this journey. I know she’s cheering me on

For the next fantastic photographer in the blog carnival, head to Toronto newborn, baby, maternity and family photographer – Heather Rivlin’s blog. I’ve always loved her pure and beautiful work

Simone (Master Photographer!  ) xo

It’s blog carnival time and for this round the theme is ‘laughter’. An easy one, you’d think, but there is a phenomena we see as children’s photographers where kids are trained to give a hideous grimace for the camera from a VERY young age! I recently had a baby do it! That was disconcerting to say the least… I always tell the kids, ‘You’re not allowed to laugh until it’s funny’ and then we get on with getting to know each other. Parents know that the children will take a while to warm up, and often leap in to ‘help’ but I love it when the kids slowly reveal themselves to me and end up smiling and laughing purely because what we’re doing is fun. That’s when the magic happens.

This is Rose and her baby sister Eliza. We took the first photos at the pregnancy shoot and Rose stole the show! I love that we have a record of life before her sister arrived, it’s a whole new world afterwards

and for her baby sister. Less giggly of course, but completely ‘awwww’ worthy. Rose is besotted

Next on the blog carnival to visit is Los Angeles Baby and Children’s Photographer Je Neuhaus, done in her signature classic style Keep going from blog to blog to see what some of the best of the world’s children’s photographers are doing. It’s worth the trip.

Simone xo

Sigh…this is the best part of winter, the incredibly moody, stark, structural looking scenes I get to work in, and kids that are all bundled up with rosy faces. I LOVE shooting in winter, I say this every year. We are blessed with such a beautiful winter season, it’s a crime not to make the most of it.

This is little Caleb, who I had the enormous pleasure of photographing as a newborn as well. His folks are up for anything…so the forest was an easy sell! LOL Add the gorgeous dogs and this was a dream to photograph. The perfect winter’s day.

Simone xo

This month’s ‘blog carousel’ entry is about images that use framing. We’re not talking about the wood and glass combo around the photo, but the use of elements within the image to ‘frame’ your subject. This is something I do a lot, often instinctually rather than deliberately, as I use the environment in my photography more often than not. Clients will see me start to hyperventilate when I see an arbor or gorgeous window!

To illustrate how I use framing in my work, I couldn’t go past this one favourite image. I took this probably six or seven years ago now, with my beloved Mamiya C220 TLR (techy speak for camera as old as I am!) and *gasp* film…and it remains one of my most loved, and most commented on images. I’ve even had the funniest comment to date about this photograph. I was exhibiting at a parenting expo, had this proudly big on canvas on the wall behind me, and one lady stopped, pulled me aside and told me it was a shame I hadn’t waited until the kids stopped playing to take the picture. Hmmm….

So, without further ado, the photo. Affectionately known as The Twirly Girls.

Simone Hanckel Photography

The opportunity to see how this extremely talented group of photographers interprets one theme is fantastic! Please visit the next stop on this blog carousel, the gorgeous Tara McGlinchey NJ and NYC Baby, Child and Family Photographer

Simone xo

I’m celebrating a major milestone this week. Ten years ago I photographed the first baby that I hadn’t given birth to Little Harriette was only one day old and was the beginning of it all. I can’t imagine how many beautiful babies I’ve photographed since, and it’s daunting to look back on all the hard work the last ten years has been behind the scenes. A huge thank you to all the gorgeous families I’ve met, I love love love my job and can’t wait for what the next decade brings.

As if to celebrate my milestone with me, the universe delivered some fantastic news this month. Digital Photography Australia Magazine featured an article on my work (some pics below) and it looks amazing! I was asked to do it earlier this year, but had forgotten all about it until it hit the news stands It’s for their latest Black and White issue and I talk about…surprise surprise…specialising in black and white photography. Go get a copy!

It’s nearly Mothers Day and I can’t wait. A whole day to myself with my beautiful boys is just bliss. I hope everyone has a beautiful day!

Simone xoxo