Scott and Donique's sunset engagement session right here in Riversdale at the golf course was such a fun evening last week! After watching the skies all day I did worry it might end up being rather gloomy weather but I am so glad I stuck to our sunset schedule because just as we walked across town with these two the glow started breaking through the clouds!!!

Scott and I both went to Riversdale school, Matt's known Scott for years too and just recently I've done his and Donique's first family portraits with their beautiful baby girl Grace. We make it a priority to get to know our wedding couples before their weddings, but it's always a treat when our wedding couples are already friends! We're super excited for Scott and Donique's wedding day coming up in December, we know it's going to be a fun filled day and we're thrilled to be a part of it!

It was about this point in the session where Scott and Donique got to see just how excited I get about sunset glow!!! Meanwhile Matt was having running races with Tig (I've left a photo of that in your gallery guys! ​😆).

Scott and Donique started off their engagement session a little nervous about being in front of the camera and by the end of the night they were practicing a few dance moves in preparation for their big day! 😉

Scott and Donique, thanks for being so awesome. This was a really fun engagement session and how good being able to just walk to it haha! We can't wait to celebrate with you both in December! x

Andrew and Mellisa are two of the most down to earth, friendly people you'll ever meet. We had their engagement session on Friday last week and we instantly felt like we'd known these two for years, in fact I had to keep interrupting Matt and Andrew's bike chat so I could take more photos!

We started off in town, making use of an easy meeting spot that had some beautiful spring blooms out and from there we headed out to the river as the sun set. These two kept it casual which suited them perfectly. They even donned gumboots & grabbed a couple of beers as we headed down to the riverbed! This just highlights the fact you really can make your engagement session whatever you want it to be.

Bring on April team! We can't wait for your wedding day to arrive! x

Five years ago I sat in the back of a photography conference event listening to a speaker talk about a photo project they'd just completed and how important personal projects were for photographers to do. I've never been great at these sorts of things and I don't remember a 30 day photo challenge that I've ever managed to complete! But I remember how instantly the idea of this book came to me as I sat there listening to this speaker. "I could turn Dad's biography of his life into a photobook with his photographs and some of my own".

That was in 2017. So over the next five years I began taking Dad's handwritten memoirs and putting them into digital form. Going on numerous road trips visiting places around New Zealand where Dad grew up, lived and worked. I procrastinated about how I would bring it all together, the format of the final book and what words of my own I should add. Finally this year I finished it with the help of friends, peers and my family along the way.

Today the published book arrived in the mail from the wonderful Jackie at MomentoPro who was behind me all the way since the inception of the very idea for this book. I cried tears of joy as I held this beautiful book in my hands for the first time. I don't think it's possible to describe how precious this book is to me. My Dad wrote his memoirs for me before he passed away and this book is a culmination of those special words, his life in photographs and the love I had for my Dad all poured into it's pages. 

The title is gold foil embossed on to distressed leather to give it an old book feel. And that is actually Dad's handwriting (yes he had the most elegant writing!). My beautiful, talented friend Courtney took his handwriting and converted it in to a digital font for the cover of the book for me.

It's impossible to ever show how gorgeous anything in print is online but I hope from these photos you can get a sense of the book's quality, the crisp pages, the rich colours of the photos and the detail.

I printed two copies of this book (that was all I could afford haha!); one to sit pride of place on the bookshelf in our lounge and the other a 'library' copy to lend to family, friends and those who knew Dad that might like to read his biography. I've made an old fashioned library card for the front of it for readers to sign and date which I think will be a fun record.

I was a little sad when I sent this book to the printers because it was the end of a five year project with my Dad. I almost didn't want it to end. But today was a very happy day to receive the finished book and hold it in my hands. I don't think I've been more proud of any project ever. I had no real reason to do this project, I did it just because and I did it purely for myself. In the process I have gained so much and I feel like I finally know what that photographer at conference meant when he spoke of the importance of personal projects.

This is a video of me unboxing the books today if you want to see me get all emotional! 😭
Warning; I might have sworn once...🤭