You might remember a special photoshoot I did in January for Lauren and her family.  You can see the shoot here.

Three years ago Lauren’s family found that she had Neuroblastoma, a form of cancer. She was only 4 years old when it was diagnosed.

When I photographed Lauren with her family this year, at 7 years of age, she was full of spirit, joy and laughter.  Her smile and enthusiasm reached right inside me and squeezed my heart.  The absolute adoration Lauren had for her mum, dad, big brother and even the pet dog was just what any parent would hope for. She seemed to understand a lot more about life than I do at almost 30 years of age.

Late last Wednesday evening Lauren passed away.  When I heard the news I was struck with sadness and disbelief. It just seems so unfair that the little girl who asked me to bake a cake with her is no longer with us.

RIP Lauren.

May you swing through the heavens like the angel that you are.

My thoughts are with Dave, Vic and David and every fortunate person who knew this beautiful girl.

xx Merryn

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Blogging this session was so hard because my list of favourites was incredible! I can’t wait to share them all!

Bright and early on Sunday morning I headed to Murray Bridge to photograph Alex, Jason and Corey in celebration of their wedding later this year. Jason told me he was allergic to photos but I tend to disagree…..

Sometimes I meet a new family and I see them with their children and I can just see the love between them – the shared memories, the unspoken understanding, the bond that only they can share.  That is what it was like when I met 7 year old Corey. WOW is he cute. He has the curliest curly hair ever and is the sweetest little boy.  He ran off inside half way through the shoot and we all assumed he had gone to grab a toy or that he had had enough of having photos taken. A few minutes later he appeared with a pair of scissors and a flower he had cut from the bushes for his mum.  This little guy just oozes love for his mummy, it was just beautiful! Take this shot for example….. this was the photo I was going for…. and look what I also get without even asking! The pure, innocent love of a child. Perfect.

Alex is absolutely without a doubt drop dead gorgeous. I can not wait to see her on her wedding day. Im pretty sure Jason thinks so too…. (and this is all very EARLY on a Sunday morning!)

Thank you for such a fun shoot! I have no doubt your wedding will be just the same. We had such a blast, it was almost a race to get home and update Facebook with how much fun tis shoot was!

xx Merryn

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‘Family means putting your arms around eachother and being there’

- Barbara Bush

These two cute little munchkins travelled half way around the world to be photographed together!  And wasnt it worth it to get some shots of the two of them together… just adorable in every single way….

Thank you for a lovely afternoon – what a pair these two are!

xx Kate

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‘A baby has a special way of adding joy in every single day’

- unknown

Spending Monday morning on a gorgeous Adelaide Hills Property photographing an equally gorgeous Adelaide Hills family – what better start to the week than that?!

Meet the newest addition to the family (10 weeks old)…

Nanny and Pa taking them for a wander down the driveway…. looking for kangaroos…

How gorgeous is this family?! So sweet…

I can’t wait to show you your full gallery!

xxMerryn

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‘When you look at your life, the greatest of happinesses are family happinesses’

- Joyce Brothers

Sometimes when you photograph newborns, you spend a couple of hours settling them and getting them to sleep and only a short time of actually shooting.

Little Chloe, 7 weeks old but very close to her actual due date (she was born 7 weeks early) was not like this at all.  She was asleep when I arrived and asleep when I left and was happy for me to move her around, sneaking in a few cuddles in between of course.  Her calm persona was clearly a mirror of her super chilled out parents.  She made me want my own little girl.

Chloe’s home, in one of my favourite corners of Mount Barker, is filled with so much love. Her daddy looks at her and you can see the pride bursting out through his heart. And her Mummy looks at her like she is going to just eat her up she is so cute!  A giant cat and a very friendly pooch and now of course, the perfect addition – Chloe.

Thank you for the sweet reminder that perhaps i do need two children after all…..

xx Merryn

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‘to realise the value of one month, ask a mother who has a premmy baby…’

- Karen Moy

Finally! The day of John and Michelle’s wedding arrived… it felt like it took forever to get here – we were so excited to be able to give our competition winners their wedding photography package and they were the perfect couple to win such an amazing prize!

Saturday was very different to the ‘almost to bright to shoot’ day of their Engagement session at Henley Beach…. rainy and cloudy – the perfect backdrop we kept telling them…. John and Michelle did not let a silly thing like the weather spoil their day…

Sometimes people ask me if it is stressful being a Wedding Photographer…. Yes, it can be stressful… but it is also fun and rewarding and you get to meet so many wonderful people and see each couples individual touches to their wedding day.  But when you arrive to photograph the groom and you find this, you know that there will be no stress in the day at all……

The boys all looked gorgeous (can I call boys that?) in their shirts and a little fairy sent them some flowers to pin on as a surprise.. how nice…

Just as we were leaving the boys, the first drops of rain appeared on the windscreen…..  their last words to us were (regarding the location of the ceremony….) ‘You’ll find us’ LOVE how relaxed they all were.

And on to the girls…. where we found another house filled with beautiful, happy, relaxed people just getting the final touches ready…. and trying to be a little bit late to allow the boys to organise somewhere undercover for the wedding!

Kate and I headed to Henley Square, not entirely sure where the boys had relocated to…. and we found that they had cleared out the pub and had the verandah set up, guests and all, ready for an intimate wedding…. and intimate it was.  Having planned the ceremony to be outside, it was so lovely to see the owner of the local pub happy to empty out his venue so that John and Michelle had somewhere to have their wedding.

It was refreshing to be reminded that a wedding ceremony is not about the location or the weather but about the two people coming together in marriage and celebrating it with their family and friends… and from what I hear, getting married in a pub is perhaps more their style anyway…..

Seriously… how lucky were we that the rain held off for long enough for us to get outside for a few shots…. and then a mad dash inside as the rain came down again!

We headed to the Sandbar which was upstairs (closed – thank you!!!) and scouted out some great indoor locations…. it was a real challenge to not be able to go outside but we used every bit of light we could find!

How stunning are these two? They compliment each other in every way and are contagiously fun to be around. I could tell it was going to be a big night for the wedding guests!  The sun peeked through the clouds again for a very short time and we snuck out for a few more shots. So glad we did.

Thank you John and Michelle for a fabulous day – we loved every moment.

xx Merryn

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…and here is a special quote for a lovely lady I spoke to today – you know who you are….

‘To love means to never be afraid of the windstorms of life:

should you shield the canyons from the windstorms you would never see the true beauty of their carvings.’

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

ahhh … the East End of Rundle Street … I’ve always wanted to do a contemporary shoot here, using the wonderful laneways and old buildings, but more often than not people look at me as though I’m crazy … so when this wonderful client actually suggested it I was blown away! Yay!

And to top it all off, the Fringe is in town! …

It was an early 8 am start, on a cold and (almost) wet morning. But it was a great shoot and little Nikita was an absolute delight! When I first met her, she jumped out of dad’s arms and gave me a big hug! Talk about getting the photographer on side!

check them out!

We found the most fabulous doors! (anyone who knows me, understands my obsession with feet and doorways!)

and I also have an obsession (which I try very hard to control) with the colour Red … *ahh bliss*

talk about gorgeous!?

Thanks for a great morning! I hope Iggle Piggle still has batteries left after we nearly wore him out!

Kate x

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The fundamental job of a toddler is to rule the universe.

~ Lawrence Kutner

We are so excited about this Expo and all the new Adelaide families we are going to meet!

It is certainly the place to be if you are expecting a baby, already have one or are a family with small children.  Plus, we are giving away our biggest prize yet so do not miss it!!

Pregnancy, Baby and Children’s Expo

Date: March 19-21

Times: 10am-4pm

Location: Adelaide Showrounds, Wayville (fully air-conditioned Goyder pavillion)

Cost: $12 (Kids under 14 free)

Would you like a VIP ticket?

We have been given a bunch of VIP entry tickets – each ticket giving you free entry for two people!

Click here (download and print) …. and be sure to stop by our stall and enter our competition that is so BIG the prize wont fit into our stall!!

See you there!

Merryn & Kate

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Talk about chilled out! ….

This little guy did an awesome, awesome job of reminding me why it is so important to have your newborn photographs taken when they are super, super tiny – Oliver is just 2 1/2 weeks old, and that is considered ‘old’ in the newborn photography world … but he still did a fantastic job of sleeping the day away, with just a couple of quick feeds from his gorgeous glowing mum, and a few cuddles from doting dad … he was a delight to photograph …

Enjoy ..

What did I tell you!? divine or what!? …

Thanks so much for a great morning, I’ll have the rest of your gallery up shortly.

Kx

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“A newborn baby is like the beginning of all things – wonder, hope, a dream of possiblities.”

-Eda J Le Shan

I love Facebook. It is true. My name is Merryn and I am a Facebook junkie. What I love about it most is that it puts you in touch with people from your past whom you may otherwise not ever cross paths with again.

Rhiannon and I grew up in the same little town.  We went to the same school, played for the same netball club, drank at the same pub and knew all of the same people.  She was someone whom I was not very close to but always admired – intelligent, friendly, good at EVERYTHING and kind to absolutely everybody.  So I was so excited when I received a Facebook message from Rhiannon asking me to photograph her (absolutely stunning) new baby girl, Zahli.

Introducing 5 week old Zahli….

Thank you Rhiannon for choosing to share this time with me. Zahli is a true angel.

Merryn xx

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‘Some people move our souls to dance’

- Unknown