Sarah Black Photoblog

This blog has been moved.

2008-12-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

Please visit my new blog at www.sarahblackphotography.com.au/blog

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Baby W

2008-12-21T04:16:00.000-08:00

Not talking about the new blog ever again. It will be up when it is up, and that is last word I will say on it, promise. The lovely Tracy, who is making it for me, will put a re-direct on here, so hopefully you will be magically transported there when you come here for a visit.
So, moving along, here is the gorgeous, not very premmie-looking Baby W, whose delightful parents (I photographed their wedding last October....speaking of moving right along!!) assured me he was a very sleepy baby. Ahem, 3 and a half hours we waited for him to sleep, and he nodded off for about 20 seconds during that time. I actually have heaps of photos of him with one eye closed, and the other open keeping an eye on the lady with the noisy camera. Anyway, here are a few I have processed tonight, and more to come tomorrow. Isn't he divine (cluck, cluck, as usual).

Ta Da....

2008-12-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

My new website is (finally) live (although some fine tuning is still required) if you haven't seen please use the link at the lower right hand side of the page and have a look!!
And the new blog is still a day or two away (which I know I said about 1 month ago, but I think it is really really true this time). I have been very busy with newborns lately, and am now taking on newborn clients. Check out the gallery on the new website!

Bookings are now available from March onwards, so please contact me to organise your sitting. I generally book out about 6 weeks ahead, so keep this in mind and don't wait until the last minute!

Finally, two images from a recent newborn shoot....ahem....my new niece Mietta Neva (I am desperate to post more images, but will control myself)

Sneak Peak - Family M

2008-11-28T05:25:00.000-08:00

What a shame to have to show this gorgeous sneak peek on the old blog....sigh....well the new blog is now, for technical reasons which are all a bit beyond me quite frankly (as are many things to do with modern day life), awaiting the release of the new website. Which is being designed by, wait for it, myself. Soooo, while the first two pages are done, I am as usual moving with the speed of several startled turtles. Clear as mud? Good, suffice to say, it's all still probably a week away, during which time I am actually going to have a day off (GASP) and re-introduce myself to my family. And then....segue back to the M family, I will re-post these guys on the new blog, because these mean little pictures just does not do this family justice. Little Master A really warmed up towards the end of the shoot, and pulled some really spectacular faces, and Big Brother L kept me and his parents busy running around for a really fun hour at the park. I love the photo of the boys together here, makes me think 'group hug' and SQUEEZE. Ah, siblings. And, how gorgeous are their mum and dad...hello? I couldn't resist a couple of shots on them on their own (why is it that mums and dads often don't want themselves photographed - are they so worn out by the wedding day photography that they are turned off the experience for life?), and I think they look like a couple still truly in love.
Thanks guys, and hope you enjoy the sneak preview....

Plan B Section 2

2008-11-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I have narrowed this shoot down to a tidy 96 images. Hmmmm. This beautiful family, who are also good friends; are not only photogenic, warm and happy, they are also lots of fun. We spent a wonderful morning together at Montsalvat, in Eltham. The star of this show is Miss L (sorry guys, but am sure this will not be news to you); I am sure you can see why...
P.S. Some of this images are not final edits, might be some fine tuning in the detail :-)

Plan B.....

2008-11-18T00:16:00.001-08:00

....however, is to change my mind (it is a woman's prerogative, after all) and post two more sneak previews here. Due to technical 'issues', in my best Kath voice. First is a set of newborn twins Miss S and Mstr S, totally divine, I can still smell them (cluck cluck). Enjoy; and thanks so much Ames for letting me practice on them, especially when you were tired (as would any one be with a set of twins and two other kids under 4!!!!!) AND the bubs weren't well. I hope it was worth it :-)

Moving on from blogspot to.....

2008-11-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

Sometime in the next week (all things going well) I will be launching a new nicer blog, with lovely big photographs that you don't need a magnifying glass to see, at www.sarahblackphotography.com.au/blog
I am now going to hold over all current sneak peeks until this is ready(including a maternity, a beautiful family shoot at Montsalvat, an extremely hip and cool park shoot with a small cowboy and his even smaller indian friend, and the newborn twins I am off to photography today (my first twins...yay!). And if I am doing really well I will also manage the Black Family Christmas Card shoot sometime this weekend and post that too. Just to give everyone a nice hearty laugh. So please come check me out over at the new address soon!

I am officially a twit...

2008-11-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

I am always whingeing about people not commenting on my blog. Well, turns out I wasn't letting anyone but registered google users do this. Thanks to Susan Darcy, a totally inspirational black and white specialist photographer from Melbourne, whose work I have been avidly following for at least a year now, for pointing this out!!! And now anyone can comment, call yourself ANON if you like. Now all your lurkers, comment away! Or I will whack you over the head with a glass of champers if you come up to me at a social function and tell me how you love my blog {actually, anyone who knows me knows this is not true, I would never waste bubbles like that}.

Round and Round the Garden....

2008-11-10T03:05:00.000-08:00

And what a lovely garden it was. When clients say they have nice big garden for me to work in, sometimes what they mean is that they have three square feet of grass and couple of pansy seedlings along the paling fence....which really keeps me on my toes creatively (hey, I love a challenge!). BUT, this adorable family really did have a lovely 16ooo square metres for me to chase them around. Not to mention an enormous decorative verandah, and all three beautiful children with eyes like saucers...how lucky am I? Thanks for a fun morning with three truly delighful children, I hope you enjoy your preview....(and mum, in case you're wondering about the colour images here; most of your images are indeed black and white, I just couldn't help myself with a few of them :-))

Collingwood Children's Farm

2008-11-01T04:39:00.000-07:00

Today's visit to Collingwood children's farm...

In this next one, was fully intending to also capture the shot of her hand carefully cradling the goose eggs (of which there were two) which would have been terribly nice in the upper right hand corner, however one of the mummy geese was not so interested in my photographic story and scared Holly Hobbie right on out of the pen. And again, if you want to see the details, click on the image below....

While I am cheating...

2008-10-30T21:36:00.001-07:00

I was just making a CD up for a friend, from images taken in June (moving with the speed of several startled turtles, I know) and couldn't resist posting this... a picture of the extremely talented Miss C, (among other things - Cello player extraordinaire), who shortly after this cut all her hair off an inch from her skull, as you do one quiet evening with nothing better to do....I do hope her parents enjoy this little reminder of her hair :-)

Another cheaty little mini-post

2008-10-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

Real posts coming soon, as soon as I have mastered the art of Quicken (I would not have made a very good accountant, so is lucky I married one)....(or maybe unlucky, come to think of it....). Anyway, here is the Arch-meister cuddling on the beach with the aformentioned accountant.

P.S I have given up the struggle with customising blogspot templates ....BUT the good news is (as my little Miss M is fond of saying) a new blog/website AND logo (I lurrvvv it) are all coming soon. And by soon, I mean, when they are done :-)

I must not get distracted, I must not get....

2008-10-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

But just playing with one image from Prue's Maternity shoot wouldn't hurt, would it? Hardly any editing at all required? Really only wasting 5 mins.....Anyway, it's not my fault I have no self control; with light like this, how could a girl with a camera resist....

Spinning around...

2008-10-26T03:51:00.001-07:00

There has been no time at lately over here for anything, certainly not the luxury of blog updates. So, for the benefit of all you lurkers out there who are fond of telling me at functions that you love my blog but you NEVER leave me a comment :-), here are a couple of storyboard samples that were done up for a client, so you know I am still actually working over here. See if you can guess which one they chose.
And anyone thinking about a session before Christmas, I have just decided that before my young children forget what I look like, and only recognise me by the 'shhhh, mummy's busy' noises emanating from the study, I have decided to only take on one more booking before that magical date (this, of course, does not include existing bookings for that period). And please note that there are only limited weekend dates/times available (weekdays ar emuch more flexible).
HOWEVER, I am still booking all sorts of Portfolio building exercises in the coming months, so be sure to check the blog for those images, including the second instalment featuring my gorgeous sister Prue, which was shot on Friday evening and is, might I say, pretty darn marvellous. If you are curious, go here for a sneak peek from my good friend Jessie Broome, of J-Studios who came out with us and shared the afternoon light....Keep well.

One Big Family

2008-10-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

Presenting an absolutely delightful extended family (the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents of the adorable Baby A featured last week) who spent rather a long time with me in a local park the weekend before last. I am so sorry you've had to wait this long for your preview, but as you can see, we have rather a lot of images on our hands. Despite tricky lighting situations, and some rather self-conscious 'young adults', I think we still managed some great images. Here are some of my favourites, and I have made sure to include everyone at least once (I have kept these images small because there are so many of them)!! And thanks again for a lovely day with a truly lovely bunch of people.

Urban Maternity Session - my lil sis

2008-10-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well I am so excited about these images that they are going up literally 3 hours after we had the shoot. This was a portfoliobuilding shoot of my youngest sister, who is 33 weeks pregnant with her 2nd child - yes, we should all look so good (really, it would be totally impossible to take a bad photo of her)! Because she has kindly agreed to a couple of different maternity shoots, each with a different flavour; the aim here was for an urban, grungy look. Something a bit different, and lots of fun.
Coming soon will be a more traditional indoor soft-light shoot, and a stark naked shoot at the beach. Ok, only joking. Maybe half-naked.

Baby A - Sneak Peek

2008-10-06T04:12:00.000-07:00

Now, according to those in the child portrait photography business, 8 weeks is a tough age to do so-called 'newborn' photographs. Babes can be colicky, are a bit more tied to their routine, can fuss a little more about all the manoevring. AND most crucially, will not just nod off any old place as long as the heating is cranked up to 28degrees, and let you squish them up into a ball. So, Baby A's shoot should have been terrible!! But looking at her, you'd have to agree she is totally divine, none of the above was at all true! And she did fall asleep just before the end of the shoot, but unfortunately we all had somewhere else to be and so there was no time to whip her clothes back off and start squishing. Thanks so much mum and dad, I do hope you like your sneak peek, and the rest of the extended family images are coming soon....

Boys at the beach

2008-09-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Just in case it seems that all I ever photograph are girls doing girly business (look out for the tea party on the fairy mushroom table coming soon)....here are two totally gorgeous boys (okay, in the last one my girls snuck in there somehow)...

My mermaid

2008-09-23T04:56:00.000-07:00

Well, at what point does it seem that my daughter has become my muse...this delicate creature whom I am only just getting to know? She is nearly 6, is so incredibly wise, and serious, and precious and intense. I adore her, and am more besotted by her daily, and take back all the things I said about her when she was 3.
Gosh we had some fun on this holiday, and I am certainly having some fun with the post processing of these images. I have so many I could post, but I will try to restrain myself where I can :-)

Summer Holiday

2008-09-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

So, of course I have lots of the usual 'Hey, honey, lets put on this frou-frou-skirt and go play on the rocks at sunset" type nonsense photography. And then, I have these... A torturously extracted (don't know if that makes sense in English, but anyway) group portrait of my three delicious little peanuts, and three fun candids. Hope you've had as good a 10 days as I have :-)

Sneak Peek - Baby G

2008-09-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much Baby G for spending last Saturday morning with me, and thank you also to your lovely parents and divine big sisters. I hope you like your photos, and please tell your sisters that I look forward to photographing them in those pettiskirts when the weather is a bit warmer! Lots of Love....

I just had to...

2008-09-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

include these images from Baby R's session! P and J I promise the proofs are coming soon :-), but in the meantime, enjoy these!

Sneak Peek - Baby R

2008-08-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, todays divine little client, baby R, has the honour of being the best behaved baby I have ever photographed (that being a fairly small number at this stage, while I am building this part of my portfolio). Thankyou, also, baby R, for being the first model for one of my new baby cocoons, compliments of www.babywraps.blogspot.com. Apparently they are very comfortable, just take a look at this little relaxasaurus...
Thankyou so much mum, dad, big brother, aunty and cousin, I hope you enjoy your preview. I have lots of favourites already from this shoot, this is just the ones which were easiest (quickest) to process!

Catching flies

2008-08-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Archie and his enormous smile again, which we haven't seen since I took this photo several days ago, due to a virus, teething, and some plumbing problems which may or may not have been caused by his mother feeding him too much rice cereal (in a vain effort to get him to sleep longer than 4 hours overnight).

Head above water

2008-08-19T05:03:00.000-07:00

A is nearly 6 months old and all of a sudden, as total exhaustion gives way to a bit more routine and rest, I can feel creativity flooding back. I have just bought some really fun lightroom presets from Dale Taylor, and they seem to have given me just the kickoff I needed. Here is my favourite image from two days play....

Beach Boxes at Blairgowrie

2008-08-16T04:41:00.001-07:00

Sitting here doing my usual two hours of editing (sometimes real, sometimes practice) before Archie's rollover feed. This is the only time of the day I am likely to be undisturbed, so tonight I have made the most of this precious time by re-editing some family shots I took in june. These were some of the first images I shot in RAW, and initially I decided they were crap, for various reasons, but as my lightroom skills are improving (slowly LOL) I thought I'd have a go at improving them. They're still not great, but a nice palette for colour play. Of course, as always, there is 'real work' I could be doing, but this is so satisfying and doesn't require as much concentration - Arch has had a temp of 39 degrees since Thursday night, and so every 15 mins I have to get up and wedge a dummy into his hot and clammy little face.
This was my first ever visit to beach boxes for a photo shoot, which is ridiculous, I know. My kids were SO not in the mood this day, and so flatly refused to move around to accommodate light conditions and background colour, but anyway, I have a head full of ideas for future shoots, and am very keen to have another go soon.

And a couple more of Baby H

2008-08-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

I am trying to increase my maternity and newborn portfolio at the moment, and so have been working particularly hard on this and other recent sessions. I've also been focussing on my colour work, which continues to be a work in progress for me :-)
Here are a couple more images of baby Harrison.

The Divine Miss A AGAIN

2008-08-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

At the risk of seeming obsessed with my niece Arabella...... (the reason for so many shots of her lately is something to do with a surprise birthday present for her upcoming second birthday...although I'm guessing she'd be just as happy with another lifesize Dorothy Dinosaur, so maybe this present is really for her parents :-) )

Sneak Peak - Master H

2008-08-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Bec, Simon, Charlie, and new little brother Harrison, who is just beautiful, and a what a wonderful head of hair!!. Thanks for letting me come and play. Here are a couple of images from today's shoot...

2008-08-04T04:15:00.000-07:00

My firstborn, who keeps herself to herself.

Procrastination...

2008-07-28T04:42:00.001-07:00

Could you blame me?
I could work on the hundreds of images requiring my immediate attention, or I could write a to- do list to outline all the household stuff I am behind in, or I could get on with the half-finished library bag I insisted on sewing (for Mattea) before yet another library day rolls around, or I could even go to bed (gasp!) for some very well earned rest.
OR I could play with images (taken today in a separate instance of boy-related procrastination) of Archie, who looks exactly like this for 9 minutes out of every ten. He is my sweet angel.

This cheers me up...

2008-07-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

;my divine niece Arabella, who always puts a smile on my face. So I have just taken a 5 minute break from some very sad work to have a quick play with these images, taken on the weekend at gorgeous Wattle Park in Melbourne. This little girl is sunshine in a bottle, with some occasional surprise sun showers...

The troll under the tree

2008-07-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

And from the same park visit, my darling troll Mattea, who doesn't know which way is up at the moment.

Winter weekend

2008-07-15T04:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had the pleasure of adding another two girls (temporarily) to our family. Steve is Sienna's godfather, and we absolutely adore her and her 3 older sisters, as do our girls.

On Saturday night we had a wonderful time taking them all (4 girls in total between ages of 8 and 3, and 4 and a half month old Archer) out to the local pub, and enjoyed all the comments from other diners about how we could stop now we had the boy. We corrected people the first few times, then just decided to laugh it off. Anyway, apparently this is the closest I am getting to any more children so I rather enjoyed the pretence.

Anyway, on a cold Melbourne Sunday we spent an hour at the Sorrento park, and in between Archie's 2 hourly feeds I snuck in a few piccies of the girls with the beautiful eyes. We also were paid a visit the night before by the girls' two sisters and dog (a boy!), and I managed to get a few poorly focussed and grainy shots before we all froze to death...every time I stopped to change the ISO the light halved and I was back where I started. Anyway, I swear that this is the real colour of Mietta and Sienna's eyes, I have not gone crazy with the saturation sponge (having only just discovered it's existence thanks to Jessie Broome ).

So, thanks for your visit girls, you are always welcome in our home.

Celebrating My Mothers Group

2008-06-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

The 5 on a log are the original kids from my Mothers Group, with whom I'm proud to say I still catch up on a regular basis. When I was pregnant for the first time, I used to say that I wasn't a Mother's Group sort of person. Ha, that was before I realised that for about a year or so all I would be able to talk about was pureed food, choking and poop, and that the only people who would want to discuss such things were other mothers navigating motherhood for the first time. Well, our babies are now in prep and talk currently centres on their progress in reading, friendships and footy skills, as well as our subsequent children, careers, study, husbands, movies; the list goes on. Thankfully we are no longer so tired and one dimensional (well, actually I am, but that's bc I'm the only one silly enough to have had a third child).

Anyway the Sunday before last we spent a wonderful day at the Box Hill Miniature railway, and after resorting to toilet talk (and the removal of enthusiastic siblings) we finally got them all looking and laughing in (sort of) one direction.

And speaking of siblings, I couldn't help but include a couple of images of one of the 'little brothers'. Little Bennie has the most beautiful eyes, which I have been trying to capture. I am still working on some colour images of him, my colour work being a bit more of a struggle, and will post them when I'm happy with them.

S-

2008-06-17T05:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a preview of the images from Coco and her family. Her mum Lucy and big sister Pippa provided the images for the opening blog entry a few weeks ago, when Lucy was heavily pregnant. I have to say, now I have edited the sitting, it turns out it's all about Pippa. Poor Coco, it's tough being the little sister... PS. I actually haven't finished editing the photo on the bed with Pippa in the foreground...but I just had to put it up, I really love it.

OK, Obviously the images are not up. Technologically speaking, I am not having a great day. I will try to upload these images again in the am!

Completing the Trilogy

2008-06-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Just so it is not always the girls getting all the attention, here is a photo of Archer. Only his second proper photo shoot which lasted approximately 3 minutes. I really must find more time for this before he loses all that delicious baby squidginess..

2008-06-02T03:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my dear friend Edwina and her lovely husband Steve on the birth of their third child Sascha. It was a privilege to photograph her at 6 days old. Only a true friend would allow you to put their newborn on the front doorstep in a Melbourne winter bc you thought it might make for a photograph...

Miss Mattea

2008-06-01T03:38:00.000-07:00

And here she is...

2008-05-31T04:20:00.000-07:00

Actually I can't sign off without posting this; my eldest daughter Estella at a local park last weekend with my new paper umbrellas (it has only just occurred to me to start up a prop box...) Took about 6 shots before the light disappeared, and these were two of them. I have used a Vintage action on these from Amanda Keeys...have only just bought these and really enjoying them. I admire her work very much...

Went back to the park today with Mattea, as she was too busy to participate last week bc of having a ginormous tanty, but was just got too dark too quickly for me to get enough clarity. Mattea moves fast. And then, someone STOLE the beautiful sunset orange umbrella before I have taken a single photo with it....!! How rude. So now I have to find some time to get back to Richmond to buy another, coz I have SO much spare time.

Next I will have the blog linked to my website, and maybe jazzy up the page to match the website a bit. You know, if there is nothing more pressing to do, like cook dinner or edit a bazillion photos.

And then I will try to remember to post about once a week, or as the mood takes me. Wish me luck!

Ta-da!

2008-05-31T03:38:00.000-07:00

...And welcome to my first posting.

I've decided to create this blog for the following reasons:

a) I can give clients a few sneak previews of their photos in post production (this is a fancy term which describes me sitting in trackies in my loungeroom with a cup of tea, one eye on the Mac screen and one on Good News Week.

b) I have somewhere to post the bazillions of photos I take of my own children and then never get around to printing, let alone putting up on the wall.

c) One of my lecturers once said..."Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should", in reference to Photoshop. And so, ignoring these wise words; I am forcing myself to start a blog because I can, and lots of others do :-)

So without further ado I will introduce Lucy and gorgeous little Pippa, my first shoot since having Archer 3 months ago. I asked Lucy to do me a favour and practice maternity shoots on her and her belly, and she very kindly agreed. On the day of the photos, Lucy was over 40 weeks and counting. And not even complaining!! What a woman. Can't wait to see this family again to photograph the new addition, and looking forward to hearing the good news.