Anytime is a good time...
I'm often asked, when is a good time to have a portrait taken? My answer is simple... anytime.
As you know, I'm a firm believer in photographing, not just families, but photographing both women and men. People have come to the conclusion that if you were to have portraits taken of yourself that you are considered vain... hmmm not the case AT ALL. This actually infuriates me to no end. To have a portrait taken of yourself or child is an experience you and they will remember for many many years to come. We have portraits taken for many reasons... boost self esteem and gain confidence, to promote ourselves in our business, to give to our family members at Christmas on birthdays or the special days...like Mother's Day & Father's Day
OR we have our portrait taken just.because.we.want.to!
You don't need a reason, but if you need justification, there are some good enough ones. The photos that we take and have taken for us are our legacy. I have the most beautiful portrait of my grandmother when she was younger... I love it so much, and it hangs in pride of place in my home. The portrait that you have of yourself now is what your family will remember you by in many many years to come.
I had only just realised there are not many photographs of myself as I am always behind the camera. I started to question this... why not? I couldn't answer it. Well, I had plenty of excuses, but really, who was I kidding... they were not good enough! And because I couldn't come up with a good enough answer, I made myself shoot a portrait session... of myself! I did this for three reasons. Firstly, I did this for me...(did you know its actually O.K. to do things for yourself and put yourself first for once?!) I actually wanted to have a nice portrait of myself. I haven't had a nice portrait taken of myself and I wanted one. Secondly, I did this for my daughter, Tasma. One day she will grow up and she will want to have a beautiful photo of her mother... and her father for that matter (I will get onto this later!)... up until then, I had nothing to give her. But I do now. Thirdly, I needed to show who I was for my business. Whether we like it or not, people like to see who they will be dealing with. In my case, being a portrait and wedding photographer, people like to see a friendly face. I have been hiding behind my logo for years and it was time I put a face to Sally McCann - Photographer.
The photo session I have attached to this blog is of my cousin Cath and her daughter Claudia. Cath came to me for couple of reasons... She came to me because Claudia was going on exchange to Paris over November/December. Not only was this Claudia's first time overseas WITHOUT her parents, but her first time being away from her parents at Christmas. Secondly, Cath knew that being 16 was an extremely special time in any young ladies life. You're emotions fly at 17... you're almost an adult, but you're definitely not a child. Cath wanted me to capture the beauty in her daughter so that she could hold onto this time forever. I organised the delightful Megan from That Blonde Chick Makeup Artist to come and give them both beautiful hair and makeup for their session.
CLICK BELOW the image of Claudia to view a small slideshow of their Mother/Daughter Session.
Hope I can take your portrait soon!
Big Love
Sal xx
Cannot Wait to Meet You...
"Cannot wait to meet you" are the words that roll off every new parents lips waiting in anticipation to meet their first ever creation! To meet their very own little person! For some the anticipation is even greater if they have chosen not to find out the sex of the child... which is exactly what this 'mumma-to-be' and her hubby decided. Only a few weeks away from finding out that exciting news of the baby you have been carrying around for the past 40 weeks (give or take) is boy or a girl! Such an exciting feeling!
I'll never forget when my sister and her husband fell pregnant with their first child and we asked if they were going to find out if they were having a boy of a girl. My brother-in-law looked at me direct and said, "Sal, you don't get too many good surprises in life anymore, so I think we'll wait and see!" And I couldn't have agreed with him any more. That's not to say that I'm not ok with people that do find out - totally each to their own! It's your little journey and you choose whichever path you would like to! Either way, it's your little creation in there and sooner rather than later you are going to get to meet them!
Below you'll see how I carry out my pregnancy sessions. I pretty much start my sessions very casually and then see how my soon-to-be-new-mum is feeling and if she wants to get a little more creative or "risqué" as Julie and laughed about. Jules was an absolute delight to photograph. She was pretty much up for anything. She had done a bit of research prior to our session, so I knew exactly the style of photos she was hoping to create with me... and let me tell you this, we had so much fun creating this gorgeous portfolio of images!
I can't encourage women enough to seriously think about having a portrait session of themselves whilst they are pregnant. Becoming pregnant is really not as easy as what many people are led to believe. Nowadays there are so many obstacles that both women and men may need to jump through in order of becoming pregnant... fertility issues, constant miscarriages, endometriosis just to name a few - it's not only stressful but it is really heartbreaking. Pregnancy is something that should be embraced, there's a little baby in that belly of yours - love the way your body has changed throughout the past 40 weeks.
With all this being said, when it comes to sharing photos of these types of sessions on social media, I always seek permission from my clients. Some are ok with it, some are not and that I can completely understand. This style of photography is very personal for any woman, and if you want to keep these photos for your own personal collection, that is ok too. I'm truly blessed that Julie was happy for me to write this blog and share her experience through the images with my followers. Pregnancy sessions are up there with one of my favourite portrait sessions to photograph.
So please, if you are thinking about having some photos taken either drop me a line at through my contact page or give me a buzz on my mobile 0406 426 077. I would love to hear about your journey thus far and speak about a possible portrait session!
As always - Big love
Sal x
Gus Turns One! Cake Smash and all...
If you are a mum this little intro will be all too familiar... if becoming a mum or thinking about being a mum... wherever you are at in your life journey... if you think life is going fast now - let me tell you, life with a child goes by like you're running a 100 metre sprint 50 times a day! Life without is perhaps like running a marathon and stopping for a long as you like at each drink station for a chat!
When I was pregnant with my little Tasma (she's 18 months this week!) I would hear a lot from mums and dads alike that "time goes so fast when you have kids - make the most of it!" and every time I heard it I used to roll my eyes as if to say 'yeah yeah yeah, I've been told this 1000 times over!' Truth be told they were so right! Kills me to say that!
From the minute a baby is born, life changes from being all about us, to all about the baby. Time revolves around the Feed, Change Nappy, Feed, Sleep schedule. Sleeps go from something like four sleeps during the day, to three, then to two and then to before you know it you're down to just one sleep a day... suddenly time has completely gotten away from you and child has just turned ONE!!! Where did that time go?!
Karlie & Johnny know all too well what it's like to experience the above! Their little man Angus turned one last month and what better way from them to celebrate such a momentous occasion was to come and have Angus's portrait taken, along with some family portraits of all three and then finished off with a super fun 'Cake Smash'. This was the first time I'd been asked to photograph a Cake Smash, and so I thought - why not, this could be really fun - and it was! Little Gus was in heaven! At first he was a little unsure as to what was supposed to happen, but then once he got a taste of getting his hands in that cake, there was no stopping him!
If you little munchkin is about to turn One and you have been thinking about having some family portraits taken to record this big milestone, please get in touch with me! It is so much fun and I promise you, you will have a great selection of precious photos to choose from!
Big Love
Sal x
