Sweetheart Session - Whint and Dallas

"We never expected to find love," Whint and Dallas explained to me as we sat under a the canopy of an old tree at Brisbane's New Farm Park. They were telling me their story of how they met.

"We were both looking for something fun and casual, but ..." Whint breaks off into a laugh. "Here we are!" said Dallas with a smile.



I photographed Whint and Dallas last week up in balmy Brisbane, in preparation for their wedding in September. It was a marvel to see their implicit tenderness towards each other.



In their ''spare'' time, these two like to dance. And can they dance! I promptly put my two left feet away.



Whint is also a photographer. It's such a huge honour when another photographer chooses you to photograph their wedding. It's something extra special.



Just adore this one of Dallas. Warm and beatuiful, just like him really.



See, there's that tenderness again.



Whint said she felt nervous about being on the other side of the camera. She was really wonderful though, relaxed and natural and really giving of herself.





Below would have to be one of my favourite shots from the session. I love their eyes, their intensity, the way they look through you. But at the same time the photo feels quite serene to me. Gentle even. I love it when a photo can be more than one thing at one time.



It makes me feel good knowing that even if you're not looking, love will find you. Just like it did for Whint and Dallas.

* Meaghan

Lucy

July 27th 1997 - July 4th 2009

* Meaghan

Oh me oh Miles

Oh Miles, what am I going to do with you?Perhaps more correctly, he should be asking what is he going to do with me?



Him and I are never on the same page. Never even reading the same book. In fact I'm reading the books and he's outside climbing trees. We clash. We bang heads. We scowl at each other. The other day I caught him looking at me as if I were from another planet.

It's never been easy with Miles. I still remember the very first day I spent on my own with him as a baby. I stared at him. A lot. And not in that 'oh goodness isn't he cute?' kind of way either. But in that 'I have no idea what's going on in your head' kind of way. And to this day I still have no idea what's going on in his head. I just don't 'get' him.



But I think that's because he's so much like me. He's emotional and erratic. Passionate and outgoing. Prone to breakdowns over small things. Prone to over-excitement over even smaller things. He and I are so similar, and because I don't 'get' me all that well, that means I'm struggling to work him out.



Because he's like me I feel for him so so much. So much it hurts my heart till it's all heavy and achy. I know what it's like to cry over not being able to find a possession. I get upset too when something I'm trying to do is just not working out. I struggle when someone I love is not happy. I see all these things happen to Miles and I wish I could shield him away, make him less like me, make him more like his strong dependable daddy. I want to tell him over and over until it sinks in that 'it's alright'.

While Miles will be a constant source of worry for me, he really is a true joy for me. Tonight he was sitting on my bed balancing bottle tops on his fingers. 'Look mum, I'm an octopus.' And when I'm feeling the worry, the stress, the upset, Miles is proving to be the only one who can soothe me. He knows the right way to look at me to make it all melt away.



Maybe it's because he gets me.

*Meaghan

(Photos taken by the deliriously wonderful Anna.)

Sweetheart Session - Stephanie and Kris

I've got to fess up.

I nearly got us all killed!

Taking Steph and Kris to the Drysdale train station seemed like a winner of an idea until a train came hurtling down the tracks towards us. (Okay, so it was more crawling than hurtling, being a steam train and all. And we had enough time to get up off the tracks AND set up another shot with the train in it. So we weren't really in any danger. But I still felt awful. Photographer care=fail!)

Steph and Kris did what they do best though. They laughed.





Moments before snail train appeared.





Heeelllllllooooooo my chalkboards!





Soft and sweet and sigh worthy.



Steph and Kris took me to Buckley's Falls in Geelong. To the exact spot where Kris got down on one knee and proposed to Steph in fact. They even did a mini-reinactment for me - minus the nerves, but still with a little blushing from Steph.



Stand there, shut your eyes and be in love. Mission accomplished!



* Meaghan

118 hours and 24 minutes

Last week I took a trip for 118 hours and 24 minutes. Yep, I counted. That's just the kinda gal I am, and also shows I don't take trips often.

I counted many many different allotments of time while I was away. I categorised things into time frames. I made note of the seconds hand on my watch often. I'm not sure why, but it did help me keep track of my head while the days whizzed past, and does mean that I can tell you:

I spent .125th of a second taking the obligatory shot of the harbour bridge. And a further 30 seconds waving to the crazies who were climbing it.



96 hours confirming a new friendship. Bianca Dopson and I have been friends for over a year, but had never met till we arrange to stay together for a few days in Sydney. I've always known she's a fabulous photographer, but now I also know that she can make me laugh until I'm crying, is extremely kind-hearted and has a beautiful way of looking at the world through her camera lens.



My trip would have been a bit ho-hum without Bianca to share it with.

I spent 8 hours at an Australian Community of Child Photographers workshop day where I listened to Mercury Megaloudis and Nicole Boenig-McCrade tell us why photography is their passion and their life.

45 minutes were having lunch at a choclatrie. It was only 45 minutes because Bianca and I were late for a photography shoot. We still managed to consume a praline and chocolate milkshate, a cheese platter and these chocolates. Maybe it was lucky it was only 45 minutes because I could have eaten everything they offered.



I spent 15 minutes trying to explain to Bianca that I had a crush on James Matthison (post Idol, of course) when we saw him in Darling Harbour. He spent an hour dancing with a yellow umbrella.



There was 3 hours dedicated to 5 models, 14 other photographers and 'The Rocks'. The model shoot was organised by Naomi, and gave me a chance to hang out with other like-minded people who think talking f-stops and ISO's is wonderful.



It took 7 minutes to convince Ashley to lie down in the middle of a busy road. 7 minutes well worth it!





There was a good 20 seconds before I recovered from the fright this guy gave me when he popped into my shot.



I spent 45 minutes locked in my hotel room when the door wouldn't open. I then spent 2 hours in the spa in the new (upgraded) room I as given due to unfortunate sticky door.

I spent 8 hours at PMA, wondering the stalls, fawning over the latest and greatest in the photography world and considering pimping myself to Nikon so I can get a new 24-70mm 2.8 lens.



4 hours was spent at the Heartfelt exhibition where I laughed, cried a little, and managed to spill my champagne on the floor not once, but twice.

Too much time was spent negotiating the best way to sit in a plane seat. I've worked it out too - there's just isn't a comfortable way so give up trying.

4 hours was spent at the Brisbane Powerhouse photographing Whint and Dallas for their sweetheart session.



2 minutes was spent posing for this shot with Whint while we tried to instruct Dallas who was taking the photo. Never put two photographers in front of the camera. They think they know everything.



And 118 hours and 24 minutes was spent thinking about Miles and Ryan. Yes, even when I was sleeping. And yes, they were still in one piece when I returned to them. Of course they were. But even though I knew they would be fine, it didn't stop 118 hours and 24 minutes of motherly worry. It was my first ever trip away from them.

So while 118 hours and 24 minutes were spent laughing, photographing, flying, relaxing and revelling, the same amount of time was spent with my heart tied to invisible strings reaching to my sons.

I loved every hour and every minute of my trip, but I also love my heart being home.

* Meaghan