Jacob Alexander
aka Jakey Potatey.
aka Jakey Potatey.
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One of my favourite things is photographing families who just want to be captured naturally - showing genuine connection and not forcing 'fun'... but just creating it by just doing the things they love to do together as a family! I was so excited about photographing the Te Kanawa family... right from the get-go, they knew they just wanted natural, unposed photos of them hanging out. I absolutely loved this shoot - this awesome family of six had a ball just mucking around in the water, exploring and chilling out together on a gorgeous Sunday evening. And check out how beautiful / handsome these kids are too! What a gorgeous whanau. Meet Tahnee, Leighton, Georgina, Maz, Indi and Roman....  Meet the super happy, stylish, relaxed and awesome Spencer team! I photographed these guys as part of our live shoot at our latest Through Your Eyes Photography Workshop! They were an absolute dream to photograph... so much fun, full of personality and laughter, and up for anything!  Ivy Roux, melting hearts from the moment she was born! This absolute little sweetheart came into the studio at 7 days old... after she arrived about 15 days after her due date! She was soooo amazingly placid and sleepy and just utterly delightful the entire time! She also brought in all of her important people... Mum and Dad (who were over in Dunedin from Singapore to give birth to her!), her special grandparents who live here, and her amazingly wonderful great-grandmother, whom she is named after. This was a divine shoot... there was so much love in the room for this darling little girl... And she smiled! So perfect...  I was fortunate enough to meet Elliot, Paige, Huxley and Toby in their home, to photograph a wee slice of daily life for a NZ Rugby edition of The Parenting Place magazine! I LOVED this shoot... natural, happy, family orientated lifestyle photos around home, with two seriously cute little kids. Huxley and Toby just melted my heart... and obviously melt their parents too! These guys are such an awesome family unit - check out the little video and magazine article on the All Blacks website here. And I also love The Parenting Place and what they stand for - Family is everything! If you want little snippets of encouragement and awesome advice and resources for all the challenges and joys of parenting, their website is well worth a look.  Say hello to the awesome Weatherall family! These guys are truly inspiring and amazing people, with hearts of gold and a huge community spirit! They are Brighton locals through and through - the Weatherall name is pretty ingrained in the community out there. Justine, Scott, Thomas and George are such a fun-loving family... always up for adventure and ALWAYS on the go! I think the boys got their energiser bunny energy levels from their parents who seem to be involved in everything possible too! Justine is the talent behind Justine Weatherall Photography and I was so stoked to finally get her in front of the camera, instead of just behind it! We've had the absoooolute pleasure of working together over the last couple of years to create and run weekend-long 'Through Your Eyes Photography Workshops', which have been soooo much fun! The boys have been SO awesome taking our wee Eli under their wing too... he just thinks they are the coolest kids out and constantly talks about Thomas and George! This was such a hilarious shoot... it was high-energy, full of rough and tumble (with occassional delightful snuggles!), and a lot of laughter!  You may recognise these gorgeous faces as Heidi and Matt from Heidi Horton Photography! They are doing awesome things in the photography industry down in Southland and it's been so amazing to watch their business develop and thrive as they work super hard to create awesome experiences for their clients. Heidi and Matt are both super down-to-earth, funny and so easy to get along with... it's always so nice to catch up with them! Photographing people who place a huge value on capturing and documenting different stages in life is always really rewarding. I've photographed Heidi and Matt a couple of times now, and even if they don't believe it, it's pretty easy to tell they are just as comfortable in front of the camera as they are behind it! They appreciate and understand the importance of updating portraits as their love and lives evolve, and I'm grateful they chose me to capture this time for them! And that Henry dog of theirs... well he is adored in crazy amounts and he's a little bit too cute for words!  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was writing a wee blog in the days leading up to Eli's birth?! 2.5 years later... we are perhaps just days away from meeting the second little Hutton button! We can't wait to find out who has been hiding and growing inside me! But there's also a million things to do beforehand, and no doubt this little bubs is probably easier on the inside than on the outside, so I'm content waiting if he or she decides they are not quite ready for the outside world by due date ;) I'm totally not any more prepared this time around than I was last time... it's sooo surreal still, and I think it will feel that way until I'm holding my precious new love in my arms! And then I'm sure it will feel like it's exactly as it was always meant to be... as if life beforehand was somewhat incomplete or something.  Holy moly this was a beautiful wedding! Clarke and Caroline literally danced their way through the day with massive smiles on their faces, knowing they were the luckiest people on earth that day. We just loved photographing these two... Clarke is my brother-in-laws brother, so it was really super lovely to be there with other family to see them pledge their lives to each other! It was a day full of colour, culture, singing, dancing, hugging, laughing and friendship. It was the beginning of a new life for Clarke and Caroline, and it was so obvious how grateful they were for each other, for their families, and for God who brought them together. Not only are they super wonderful people, they are also super gorgeous and a total dream to photograph. Plus there were some very cute kids around (including Caroline's little sister and my niece as flowergirls!). They got married at the gorgeous St. Thomas Church in Geraldine, and then held the reception at Stonebridge... two stunning venues. So this might be a long post... but I ain't apologising for that! Enjoy your peek into Caroline and Clarkes incredible wedding...  Let me introduce you to a super special little man! His name is Nathaniel Johan Dent and he is the handsome new son of our dear, dear friends, Matt and Helen! He knew the world needed more of his awesomeness, so he decided to surprise everyone by coming early! And no one was complaining at all about that... apart from the fact that he missed his maternity shoot ;) We made up for it by photographing him at just 2 days old... so, so tiny and precious. We absolutely love the Dents and it's so, so awesome to see them raising two such gorgeous little men. Two and a half year old Edwin is suuuuch a caring and doting big brother... seeing him gently patting and loving on Nathaniel just makes my heart melt! I can't even imagine how proud it makes Helen and Matt feel. They are amazingly attentive, patient, loving, adventurous parents... who are also willing to share the real side of parenting and the struggles and joys that it brings! We appreciate doing this parenting journey alongside these guys so much, and love seeing our kids playing and growing together.  |
