I’ll book the photos soon!

I’ve been planning to do a blog for so, so long, but it’s not just about sitting down, writing it, and adding it to my website. I manage my website myself and I needed to set aside time to learn how to add blogs etc, so sometimes I would put it on the backburner, put it in the too-hard-basket. But now, here it is! Welcome to my first blog!

Do you put things in that too-hard-basket too? I find people will often do this with family photos. They think ‘no, we can’t afford it right now’, ‘we’re too busy’, ‘we’ll wait ‘til’…. But sometimes waiting is too late. I’m a practical person (with a super-soft heart) and sometimes people just need to be reminded that you shouldn’t wait until ‘later’. Sometimes later takes that chance away from you. Loved ones die unexpectedly, and there’s no way to sugar-coat this. They do, and they can be children, or friends, a young parent, or a sibling, but when they aren’t in their 90’s, we assume they will be here forever. In the last year or so, I have been reminded that this just isn’t the case. It sucks. It’s heart-breaking, it’s not fair, and it’s hard to explain or understand the ‘why’s’.

How gloomy is this for a first post?! It wasn’t meant to be, but I wanted to write about why we should take photos and not put it off. We can afford the latest phone, the annual family holiday, the new shoes, so why not invest in a few photos where you aren’t behind the camera, and you end up with precious memories to pass on. I’m not into rigid, awkwardly posed photos, I’m a candid photographer who will lightly direct people so we get the best ‘natural looking’ photos for you. I also love to capture those fly-on-the-wall moments that no one else notices.

I’m not going to add photos to this blog from a general family photo shoot. Heck, there’s no way I want to jinx anything! Instead I am adding photos from one of my most special photo sessions. This one is all about Toby, the most handsome, most loyal Border Collie, the head of his household, so well-trained he would high-five, he would dance, he’d stop when you said ‘too far’, but he grew old and unwell.

When the hardest decision was made, we planned a legacy, or end of life photoshoot and we spent a couple of hours at his favourite local dog park with his family, including his two younger fur brothers. Incredibly, he led by example and would show these puppies how to do things. They looked up to this wise old man and sometimes he’d almost roll his eyes at their childish behaviour, other times he’d gently guide them. Ironically on this day at the park, we were sitting under a tree and as other families and their dogs would come into sight, Toby would go and sit several metres away, between them and us, as if he was making sure the other dogs didn’t come near his family. Once they had gone, he’d come back and join us. On this sunny Sunday afternoon, he got endless belly rubs, a swim, loads of cuddles, and an afternoon in the park. Loyal and protective to the end, you were the best, Toby x

And this is why family photos are so special…