FAMILY PORTRAIT SESSION
Carlee is a mother of two older boys, Isaac & Micah. See link to view their beautiful gallery.
Baxter Family
I was approached by mum Carlee quite some time ago, she was looking to have some portraits taken of her and her two boys Isaac & Micah. It was so lovely to meet Carlee as I felt a connection with her from the very first enquiry and I was so happy to be able to produce some really beautiful portraits of her and both of her sons.
Carlee, was needing a new headshot for herself and also wanted some beautiful portraits of her sons. As children do, they grow super quick and in a blink of an eye they’ve gone from being little tackers to the youngest almost finishing primary school (at the time of the session).
Carlee’s had her hair & makeup was done by Megan - That Blonde Chick
FAMILY PORTRAIT SESSION
After many lockdowns, the Munyard family were finally able to come in for their session.
“In my culture (Maori) we call them pounamu (po-nar-mu) which is Maori for greenstone. In modern day tradition the pounamu is a taonga pronounced tow nga (treasure).
The significance can vary based on the design or even on family history in the event it’s passed through generations. Most provide strength, luck, protection or a mixture of meanings…”
Read more about how their session went and a beautiful story about the significance on Nova’s necklace.
Munyard Family
Take a look through some of the beautiful images captured of the Munyard family.
It had been a long time coming to do this session, with lockdown after lockdown after lockdown and constant rescheduling… I was finally able to photograph their session. It really was worth the wait.
When people book for a session with me and it’s all locked in, I will send them through a ‘styling guide’ to help my clients decide on a colour palate for their session and what to wear. There are many things to consider when preparing for your session which I outline in my styling guide. some of those things are;
What colour backdrop are your drawn to and is this how you would like to see the final result of your images? I have a few different coloured backdrops and sometimes the colour of the backdrop and really determine the feel of the photograph.
Another important question is if they prefer that backdrop to be “light and airy” or “dark and moody”. A backdrop can have so many different looks depending on how the lighting is falling off of it. Generally speaking and to make it easy on my clients, I simply ask them to go through my website and instagram page and select images that appeal to them so that I can se exactly what they are after.
One really important bit of information which I talk about in my styling guide, is that if you have young children, maybe you might want to consider bringing their favourite toy along, or perhaps something that, and this could be for older children/teens as well, if they have something that means something to them that they would like to be photographed with, I always ask that they bring this along. This could be, a toy, a piece of jewellery, an item of clothing, perhaps a unique hat that has been handed down through the families… bringing along items that have meaning to the sitter helps me to create images that are even more meaningful to you.
Nova, wearing her dolphin pounamu
In Chanel’s session, her daughter Nova wore a necklace. There is one photo in particular (pictured above) where the necklace makes the photograph so more captivating. I asked Chanel if she could share with me, and all of those reading along, the significance of Nova’s necklace she was wearing throughout her session.
“In my culture (Maori) we call them pounamu (po-nar-mu) which is Maori for greenstone. In modern day tradition the pounamu is a taonga pronounced tow nga (treasure).
The significance can vary based on the design or even on family history in the event it’s passed through generations. Most provide strength, luck, protection or a mixture of meanings.
For us, My dad always wanted a grand daughter and Nova just so happened to be his first. When he found out I was expecting he knew well before we found out that I was having a girl. News of Nova actually came exactly a week after we buried my grandmother (my dads mother). Which made it just that bit more special for my dad as he was grieving at the time.
He asked me and Brian if I would mind if he could name Novas middle name and we agreed. Her middle name is Pania which means beautiful sea maiden in Maori mythology which is fitting considering she is a water sign.
Shortly after this my dad flew back to NZ and purchased 4 seperate pounamus. 1 baby dolphin tale, 1 baby dolphin and two dolphins (as you’ve seen on Nova). The second of those two is mine so we have matching ones.
Since birth nova has worn all three at different stages of her life starting firstly with the tale and the only time her pounamu ever comes off is when her koko (my dad) re threads it for her. She even sleeps with it. She has always used it for comfort, when she is upset, scared etc she will either bite on it or hold it.
My dad, Nova and I are all very spiritual so we all share a close bond in that way. So much so my dad believes Nova was sent by my grandmother and although Nova has never actually met her, she can describe her to a tee and she used to call for nana when she was a baby. It was only when she got older that she told me she talks to her and others that have passed, especially when she is staying over with my parents. So I guess for us the pounamu is our way of connection between generations living and passed.” Chanel.
I very much encourage clients to bring in to their session, any items which carry much significance and sentimental value to them as Nova’s pounamu does for her. Your photographs will not only be extremely unique to you, but will inevitably become family heirloom and be of great sentimental value to generations thereafter.
Thank you so much Chanel for choosing me to photograph your family, I cannot wait to see when you have your photographs gracing the walls in your home for everyone to see.
Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Big love
Sal
Some lovely words from Chanel on her session
“Scrolling through my Facebook feed a little over a year ago I came across the most beautiful family portraits and I was wrapped to find the photographer was a Geelong local so I had to enquire. Fast forward a year and 5 or so lockdowns, Nova, Brian and I met the very talented Sally McCann. After meeting Sal in person and the actual photo shoot experience I knew we were in good hands. Yesterday we were lucky enough to view our photos and to say we were wrapped with the outcome is an understatement! Thank you so much Sal for welcoming us into your home and capturing our family in the most beautiful yet simple way. Your talent is truely second to none and we cannot wait to fill our home with these amazing pics 💕” Chanel.
SEVEN MONTH SITTER SESSION
The simplicity in a “Sitter Session”
Little Jack
7 month sitter session for this little guy was taken some 3 months back now. A session I was particularly eager to do as this little tike is my adorable nephew Jack and darling son to Kell & Scotty.
The thing I love most about sitter sessions is their simplicity. The baby is the main focus and you’re not distracted by anything else in the photograph. You’re able to take in all that is this beautiful baby. Every change in smile, hand gesture, the little details such as the lush baby rolls and to be purely captivated by their beautiful eyes.
These sitter sessions really don’t take very long - perhaps an hour tops. There is so much that can be captured in that time. Here are just some of the photographs that made up the gallery of little Jack’s session.
PORTRAIT SESSION
I’m often asked by parents - when is the best time to take their baby’s portrait?
Ada
Boy oh boy has this year been a funny ol’ year! In between Regional Victoria’s two lockdowns I was blessed to be able to capture little Ada’s portrait. This gorgeous wee 10 month old girl really had my work cut out for me. Ada was just transitioning from crawling to walking so she was well and truly on the move. It was all hands on deck from both mum, Amy & dad, Daniel trying to keep this little poppet reasonably still and in the one place long enough for me to get the shots. I’m so pleased with the end result, but most importantly, so were mum and dad :)
I’m often asked by parents - when is the best time to take their baby’s portrait? It’s very hard to pin point when the “perfect time” is to photograph little tackers in their first year… but I guess I tend to find photographing babies when they are comfortably sitting but not yet crawling would be the most ideal time as they generally can’t get very far, if any, quickly. But this doesn’t mean to say children can’t be photographed at any time because they can… it just be that little bit more challenging, and that’s ok! Some parents like to book in as close to age “one” as possible so they have a record of that mighty milestone. So really, the best time is when you want to have your child photographed - so there really is not right or wrong. As long as they have slept, fed well and you have plenty of snacks on hand.
Here are some of the gorgeous shots taken of little Ada during her session.
FAMILY PORTRAIT SESSION
For The Diamonds, being together made them realise it’s impossible to go back in time and reproduce photos of your children that you so wish you had.
The Diamond Family
This photo session had been over 18 months in the making - from initial thought and enquiry to now. Jamie, wife to Jeremy, and mother to Harper (10), Paetyn (8), and Xander (5), originally booked 12 months ago but unfortunately the sessions had to be cancelled due to eldest son Harper having broken his arm. As we all know too well ourselves, life got far too busy for The Diamonds and so another 12 months went by… and then… isolation hit all of Australia. All families were asked to stay safe at home… and by doing so, it got a lot of people thinking. Thinking about life, and how fast paced we have all been going at it, and not giving ourselves any moment to catch a breath and to slow down… well here it was - like a big slap in the face… here was our chance to slow down, catch that breath, be with our families and bond like we’ve never bonded before.
Isolation gave a lot of people time to reflect. Reflect on what matters to them most…. family. It gave families time to get to know their children again - some probably a little too much time as they were given the hardest task of ‘homeschooling’ their children as well as trying to do their own job from home as well. C-19 gave families a chance to put the brakes on and just concentrate on them. Not seeing friends and having social gatherings every weekend like they normally would, not going out for those after work drinks, and not going off to play sport that two or three times a week after work… but just to be in the presence of each other. Don’t get me wrong, all those things I’ve mentioned are ridiculously healthy for any family. You must have time away for yourself for ‘self care’ as they say… playing sport, going to the gym or yoga/pilates class etc - these are hugely important as an outlet for anyone and for your mental health in general. But sometimes it’s good to have a break… to break up that routine… and come back to what matters the most and spend that quality time with your family again. I truly believe there were more good things that came out of Covid19 in Australia than bad - if you were to compare our statistics to those of many many other countries. We are the lucky ones.
For the Diamonds, being together made them realise that it had been a particularly long time since they’d had a family portrait taken together... and like many others families, that last time was probably when they were married or immediately after their first or last child was born. For Jeremy and Jamie, their children had grown right before their very eyes… like many families I know - it was like they’d blinked and time had simply gone by… their youngest was not far off five years of age… so for them, now was the perfect time to capture their children - have time stand still forever. From the words of Andy Warhol “The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in them do.” So now, as isolation restrictions started to lift, this was now the perfect time to get those much wanted photos taken.
It’s impossible to go back in time and reproduce photos of your children that you so wish you had. Make your family a priority this year. Cement this age of your own beautiful creations in photographs and display them proudly on your walls! Family photographs hung proudly on the wall are undoubtedly what makes a house a home.
Family Portrait Session
A couple months back, I had the great pleasure of having Leanne (Lanny) and Johnny Visser book in to have a family portrait session with their 3 young boys.
Visser Family
A couple months back, I had the great pleasure of having Leanne (Lanny) and Johnny Visser book in to have a family portrait session with their 3 young boys. As part of this session, Lanny had her hair & makeup included. I’d organised for Lanny to go to Megan from That Blonde Chick ‘s home salon, and what a fabulous job Megan did. Although hair & makeup is not essential, I highly recommend it as most women feel more comfortable in front of the camera when they know they are looking their absolute best. It just so happens that Lanny is an actor as well, and during our initial consultation I did mention to her that this was the perfect opportunity for her to get headshots for her social media and any acting jobs that will come up in the future.
We had a really great session. Knowing that I was going to be photographing 3 boys under 5, I did do a little bit of background research on each of them before their session. The information I wanted to know, particularly from the older two, was what their interests were, what they like to watch on telly and how old they were. Why? Because it helps me connect with them. The more I can engage with children during any portrait session, the more I am able to connect with them through my camera… ohhh I just gave away a little tip there :o)
The likelihood of being able to continue to create portraits for families over the next 12 months is very slim for me and many of the talented photographers we have in our region. So please, if you follow any local photographers, please given them a ‘like’ or even a ‘share’ of their work to your friends on social media, we need all the help we can get to stay alive in the social media world.
Stay safe everyone, stay at home where possible, wash your hands and most of all, be kind to one another.
Big love
Sal xx
