The world has changed. And with it, the ability and way we are able to connect with our loved ones.
We now have to adjust to not even being able to see our family within a 2 hour drive if your area is in a different lockdown level to theirs let alone jet across the ocean for a yearly Christmas and 'meet the newest crew member' baby visits.
In lockdown 2020 I did a virtual maternity shoot for Samantha and Craig. They were in their home in Melbourne where I have photographed them before when they first became parents with Wyatt, and planned to once again photograph their family as it extended to include little Harry. But instead I found myself face timing from New Zealand and snapping away at a screen near his due date. It was a unique way to capture a session but like all documentary shoots, it accurately represented the times we were in and the world as it was.
Then I had to help them choose another photographer to capture Harry's newborn session. That was hard for me, I have photographed this family since day one and Sam is the person who pushed me through my nerves and fears to actually offer my photography services professionally. I go into their house and see photo books of all the year's I have captured and I was more than a little salty to have to choose someone else to photograph them!
When the Trans-Tasman travel bubble opened up Sam and Craig brought their family back to New Zealand. By this stage Harry was nearly one, meeting most of his family for the first time and Wyatt was a little Chatty Cathy with a world of views and opinions which I LOVE. My eldest child was due for her first baby so it was extra special to get the crew back together.
Sam had always said she wanted one of my summer sessions out at Port Waikato, and we finally did it.
And just bloody LOOK AT IT!!!.......
