“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.”
We are in the midst of Winter. And for me… that means ME time! Me time consists of personal projects and road trips. Playing with new camera techniques and family photos. Running… jumping… skipping… singing and capturing the world as it presents itself.
…In other words. Enjoying the downtime in life and documenting it along the way!
‘Me’ time is GREAT!
Personal project number one was a big one. I mean what do you do with thousands of personal photos taken over a 2 year period, a 2 year period that was SO eventful and SO colourful. Photos that deserve to stretch their legs and not being cooped up on a hard drive fighting for elbow space. What do you do?
You make a book!
It took 8 solid days, 8-12 hours a day to make a 204 page photo book. I got my thousands of photos down to 840 that best tell the story of my last 2 years. And it’s the BEST way I could have spent my time! And as this blog post goes on, you’ll be able to see that I am getting ready for the next addition!
Dare I say ‘onto prettier things’?? …
Meet the girls of my family! My sister and my Mum. The 2 greatest women in the world!
…And did I mention they were pretty?!
(I can expect that I not receive a birthday or Christmas present this year for this! hehe)
In June I hired my great friend and amazing photographer, Kimberley Cheyne Photography to capture the chaos that is my family.
(Yes, you’ve heard about Kim many times, if you haven’t then this is the time to go check out her work!)
I had the increasing feeling that THIS winter was the time to capture my family and my nephews who are growing up waaaaay to fast! Capture us all before we blink and disperse or worse… grow grey hairs!!!
I have 5 nephews. FIVE! All to my gorgeous sister above! (Yes the one with the pig nose!)
Below is the oldest and the youngest of the team! One knows he’s the shiz, the other thinnnnnks he’s the shiz. I’ll let you figure out which is which! hehe
I love them with all my heart! And I think secretly when they aren’t beating me up… they might just love me too! :)
This is the whole crew!
I tried explaining to Kim how to remember all their names. In order, they make MASTA. Michael, Anthony, Samuel, Troy and Alex. Works well most of the time! …
…Until… as she rightly pointed out that when they are on a beach and running as far away from her as possible and in different directions. MASTA, isn’t going to cut it when trying to tell them apart! lol
Annnnnd because Aunty Heather is such a pain in their rear end by asking them to have a photo shoot (two no less) … I let them get their own back! I think the evil little monkeys enjoyed it WAY too much!!!
But loooook at these amazing smiles that I get to treasure forever! Totally worth the rotten cream smell that followed me around for the next couple of days!
A week or two prior to our shoot, accusations started flying that ALL photographers look and dress the same.
…
I. have. no. idea. what. that. person. was. talking. about! hehe
The projects continued. From Christchurch to Dunedin we went…
Lights OFF…
Lights ON.. with Kim and Liam and some off camera flash fun!
And after almost a year, Kim and I finished a project of the ‘Mad’ kind! Something exciting to share with you at a later date!
Whats this? The adventures of ALMIGHTY AMY?! I smell a road trip and good times a brewin!…
Winter = Adventures. Adventures = Road Trips. Road Trips = Running and jumping and skipping and spreading your wings! And best of all… they equal Photo adventures! :o)
First stop. Akaroa!
Have you ever met an Aussie who prefers the cold? … Well now you have!!
MEET AMY!!!
She’s Australian (but don’t hold that against her). She’s the best kind to road trip with. She sings, dances and twirls along side you and she seduces you with her fluency in French! She lives life richly. And I LOVE it!
Kaikoura… here we come! But it’s not the destination that counts… It’s the journey along the way!
And no matter where you are… you will ALWAYS find a bit of Love!
When snow is not upon them. I’ve never seen winter trees look so glamourous!
Now the seduction is on the other foot! Go on Amy… New Zealand is BEGGING you to move here! :)
Can you guess who has the monkey arms?
From one magnificent view to another. One was so windy you could fall against it and still be up right.
The other…
…you could do THIS!!!
(It’s only the best way to work up an appetite for the best pancakes in the world. ‘Allure Cafe, Kaikoura’… GO THERE!!!)
If you stick to the main road… you never know what you could be missing out on! …
… If you stick to the main road… you could be missing out on scenerys such as this!
And if you’re driving too fast, in hurry to get to your next destination… you could be missing out on such moments as this! Mmmmmmmm
The adventures of Almighty Amy are almost at an end … but only for the meantime. And not without being the BEST stag we could be! Clearly Amy is far more mature than I am! ;-)
This winter has been good. This winter has been great. But it’s not over yet… Tomorrow we head to Canada for just shy of a month. CANADA BABYYYY!!! And that excites Doug and I juuuuust a smidgeon! And that in turn, will have a blog post of it’s very own! :o)
We have an amazing, busy and fun filled wedding season approaching! With so many gorgeous and amazing couples.
But for now… I’ll leave you to your own adventures. No matter what they may be!
Enjoy each day, look up at the clear starry night skies daily and love like you’ve got nothing to lose.
See you in Spring! :o)