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

As I gently return back to earth after a weekend of tradeshow-ing, award-winning, and socialising with some of my favourite people, it’s high time I do some blogging about what last weekend was about (and why I’ve been a bit scarce!). I’m part of an industry organisation, the AIPP that runs it’s major national awards every June, and it’s always such brilliant fun. Photographers, as a rule, are incredibly social…you can imagine what the awards dinner is like!

We enter four prints, fingers crossed, nails bitten and don’t dare hope that someone will love them as much as we (and our clients!) do. I was particularly proud of my entries though, it felt like a real expression of my ‘voice’. The shot of the kids under the sprinkler was especially important to me, as it’s of the family of close friends. It made my whole weekend that the proud dad of those girls was sitting next to me as that print was judged and won a silver award. Such a gorgeous full circle moment Three of my prints merited, with two silvers and a silver distinction. Woohoo!

So, the prints! I couldn’t be more thrilled. We go to these things hoping…but never suspect what we can achieve. It’s very gratifying after a year’s worth of incredibly hard work. A big thankyou to my gorgeous subjects, Jo, Elizabeth, Max, Bec, Stella, Lulu and Jemima xo

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

I had the most gorgeous response to my post a few months ago about Anna and Dino’s pregnancy photos…so I HAD to post the photos of their beautiful baby girl, Aria. We went back to the same location to do them, and Aria was just perfect. The right mix of bright-eyed and completely conked out…

How cool is the photo with the award? Anna is an Aria award-winning singer, it was begging to be taken!

Again, Anna, Dino & Aria…it’s been such a pleasure. Wishing you a lifetime of love with your beautiful baby girl. xoxoxo

The question I get asked most on first enquiry is ‘Do you sell your digital files?’. I understand the question, sometimes it’s the only thing a potential client knows to ask, or they’re told by magazines, friends, even by looking at other photographers’ sites that this is the normal thing to possess at the end of a photo sitting. It would seem the easiest (and let’s face it, cheapest) way to own those images. Everyone has a computer, right? Harvey Norman prints photos for 9c each…right??!!

As you might imagine, as someone running a business selling custom photographic prints, the idea that someone wants my digital files to make endless copies isn’t something that’s conducive to feeding my children and paying my mortgage. That’s the economic reality of it, but it goes far deeper than that. When a good photographer takes an image, they know how that photograph will look in print before they hit the shutter on the camera. My years of expertise, rapport with children, eye for black and white, knowledge of how my camera works, and how an image will print all come into play long before I’ve put that camera to my eye. Then, when the image has been taken, it’s my knowledge in post-processing, printing and the display of that image that makes it custom art. This is where, I believe, the ‘professional’ part of being a Professional Photographer comes in. That expertise is what I’m paid for. I’ve spent a long time studying, practicing my craft, attending seminars/tradeshows and sheer hard work to get the knowledge to make sure that the photograph I create for you is done correctly. I shoot for that photograph to adorn your wall for the rest of your lives. It will be an heirloom. The value will be enormous now as your children enjoy the images of their childhood on display in their every day life, but will increase exponentially over the years until it’s beyond priceless. I say this to my clients a lot…I want your children to fight you for these photographs when they leave home! So, when it comes to the printing of that photograph, the integrity I want it to contain, the fact that my name is associated with it, you’ll have to forgive me for pulling the ‘artiste’ card and insisting that I be the one that brings it into being. I alone own that right and privilege. That’s without going into the nightmares I have of my images being on mouse pads and coffee mugs…which I’m sure are just adorable, but not exactly the impression of my studio I’m hoping to have bounced around out there! I literally shudder at the thought. LOL

This is where I scare you all silly. Digital media is incredibly fragile. In fact, there is no guaranteed way to archive a digital file at present. Issues of compatibility aside (floppy discs!) it’s not well known that CDs and DVDs have a very short shelf life, around 2-5 years for a CD burnt from a computer. That should scare half of you who have all of your images on CD…but for the smug ones who have them all on backed up hard drives…start praying. I was once told, there are only two types of hard drive. Ones that have failed, and ones that are going to. I’ve lost hard drives myself. The technology is so utterly fragile that it can take one power surge, knock to the drive, tipped glass of water or just that it’s the third Tuesday in September…and they’ll fail. I have clients who have lost every single image of their children’s lives because they relied on digital media. Years worth of digital photos, all gone because they weren’t printed. I’m (obviously) a big advocate for printing your favourite photos and putting them in flip albums at the least. Make hard copies of anything important like that, whether it’s photos or documents, they are far too easily lost to the ether. I really don’t want a product on my price list like that. I’m selling something that will last a lifetime, not five minutes.

We use professionals for many different aspects of our lives across many different trades. The reason for hiring a professional over ‘someone who does it for the love of it’ is that we know that we can trust their process and their final product. There is a relief in knowing that everything will be handled well for us, that the expert will do their thing without needing too much input, and that the end product will not only serve its purpose but be a source of pride because it was done so beautifully. I’d like to start a movement back to focusing on why you, as a client, want photographs of your family. I’m betting it’s not so that in 50 years time your great grandchild can find the CD of your photos and wonder what on earth that round thing is Imagine that same great-grandchild looking through an album that shows grandma as a baby. Or a stunning framed print of the day your family spent in the forest back in 2011. Priceless

With this post comes an announcement. I obviously take the archiving of your images very seriously, and I’ve had the odd hard drive failure to deal with myself. As of July 1st, 2011, all images taken prior to January 2011 will be archived off-site in an attempt to keep the files safe should anything happen to a client’s prints. Of course, this isn’t fool-proof but is safer than having everything saved in one place. Our archiving policies on unordered images are about to change as well, and will be outlined in the session information sent on booking.

If you have any questions about this issue, please don’t hesitate to email or call.

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

This week I’m part of a fantastic, creative idea that showcases some of the amazing children’s photographers around the world. Every week has a creative challenge, with this week’s being ‘monochrome’. How could I resist being part of that? A group of us post on the blog with our version of the challenge and then link to the next photographer for you to visit. It’s such a fantastic concept, and shows how diverse we all really are You’ll find the previous post in the carnival here by the lovely Lisa Maksoudian.

I’m often asked why I photograph solely in black and white. This was a choice I made very early on in my career as I explored monochrome and what it meant to shoot without colour being dominant in the image. I found that I was drawn expression, symmetry, texture and lines far more than I was interested in the brilliance of colour. For me, deconstructing a scene to its barest elements, with an emphasis on the beautiful subjects, is the perfect medium. I can’t imagine shooting any other way. Black and white, to me, is like singing a cappella. The clear, simple tune shines and moves you, without the need for other instruments.

So the images I’ve chosen for this blog carnival are incredibly special. This is my dear client, and friend, Maria and today we say goodbye and pay tribute to her beautiful life. I hesitate to post about her on my blog, as it’s usually for promoting what I do, but this post, about the beauty of black and white photography, is the perfect way to say publicly that I love and miss her. We have a very privileged position, being photographers, to engage with families that otherwise may not have crossed our paths. I count myself very blessed to have known and loved Maria and to document so many of her important milestones. All my love to her family and loved ones. xoxoxo

For a different and gorgeous spin on monochrome, it’s over to the fabulous Rebecca Muldrick of Darling Art Photography of Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill Child Portrait Photographer. Her blog post is fantastic!!

Simone xoxo

Sometimes the beach turns it on for us. Beautiful balmy night, mirror like water and the most beautiful silvery light. Add to that a gorgeous, relaxed and lovely family and we have the perfect shoot.

xoxo Simone

The thing I love about pregnancy photographs is how we get to explore history, romance, hopes for the future and just the sheer beauty of how a woman looks when she’s carrying a child. It’s a true celebration of life and can be the one time in this busy, exhilarating journey that a couple takes in having a baby to pause and concentrate on each other and the life they’ve created. I’m just so blessed to be part of this.

Anna and Dino, you are going to be the best parents. If our shoot was anything to go by, your child will have an incredibly loving and joyful life. I’m so looking forward to meeting your little one.

Simone xo