I don’t know about any of you, but I’m so glad to see the back of 2011. It was another one of those rollercoaster rides of a year that I won’t forget in a hurry! The highlights were working with so many gorgeous families though, and in tribute I’ve put together a slideshow of my favourites. If you or your family were photographed in 2011 by me, you’re in there. Fingers crossed I haven’t missed anyone!!

Wishing you an amazing 2012. I can’t wait to see what this year brings.

Simone xo

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

This beautiful little man was so sweet and placid. I was shocked to learn that he’d had a tummy-ache that day and normally is even more chilled out! I’m sure he’s going to be as lovely as his parents, he’s very blessed.Especially given their exceptional taste in Burmese cats and Harry Potter! We have a lot in common

Simone xox

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

“Hope is the dream of a soul awake” ~ French proverb

This month’s blog carousel is a special one. This month we honour one of our own, a beautiful photographer who has just found out she has stage 3 ovarian cancer and has begun her battle to fight, and fight hard. Our brief this month was ‘hope’, and I knew I had the perfect family to highlight.

This gorgeous little girl has been much longed, wished and fought for. She defied the odds to be here and proves that life, although tenuous and fragile, gives us hope for the future. I was privileged to be part of her arrival, even if it’s in such a small way, and it made enormous sense that Sofia is the pin up girl for this post.

Introducing Sofia and her beautiful family (including one of the gorgeous, crazy dogs!) Warning…full frontal dog nudity…!

For more inspiring posts in the blog carousel, go to the blog of Anna Mayer, Milwaukee family photographer.

Simone xo

Nine months really is the coolest age for a baby. Squidgey, smiley, dribbly, happy gorgeousness. And how cool is the hair? Jarvis’ big sister Audrey features on my website’s pricing page, and she sported the same hairdo!

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