I never imagined I would get to type those words, 'New York City', or post photos from the city this soon. Visiting New York has been one of my biggest lifelong dreams and last October, the opportunity popped up and I said a very quick Yes. I only got to spend 24 hours there but it was magic. She swept me off my feet, as I know she has done many. She is quite the looker and quite the charmer. I'll be back, New York, don't worry about it.
IRELAND (PREVIEW) | TRAVEL
Hey, world! It's been a while, huh. I am fully aware. Life has been a whirlwind of everything wonderful and this space took a backseat in the meantime. With a little more time on my hands now, the plan is to swing some attention and love back this way. So to begin with, here is a sneak peek of my trip to Northern Ireland in February this year.
SHARA AND DANNY | ENGAGEMENT
I am a city girl at heart. I've grown up in them all my life. But I won't lie, as little of an outdoors enthusiast I am, there is something incredibly refreshing and restful about the peaceful quiet of a mountain top (that you climbed in a car, not on foot) in the evening. Lucky for me, Shara and Danny chose this exact special spot for their engagement shoot.
It was a special celebration of their upcoming nuptials made even more memorable by the appearance of two deer who snuck out from the bordering wooded areas (is that even the right terminology?) for a moment in the spotlight.
Shara and Danny are both passionate individuals with great flair for creativity. They are visionaries with far-reaching dreams who no doubt will see them ticked off one by one as their many years together unfold. Congratulations on your beautiful engagement, Shara and Danny! What a celebration your wedding will be.
ONE TREE HILL | TRAVEL
The funny thing about living away from Auckland for the better part of two years is that I've lost count of the number of times my introducing myself as a Kiwi has lead to a conversation about the breathtaking beauty of this land, The Lord of the Rings, coffee and the hugely disproportionate human to sheep ratio.
This trip back I've found myself with fresh, wide-eyed wonder for the places I've seen a thousand times over. Having sheep at the park five minutes up the road from home is now all at once ridiculous, funny and so quintessentially Kiwi all over again. I'm a tourist back in my own city, armed with my camera and trigger-happy finger.
ROBBIE AND EMMA | PORTRAITS
I first met Robbie and Emma at a missions team meeting early in the planning stages of our trip to Scotland. I don't remember much about that first meeting apart from being completely enamoured with their Scottish accents and by the fact that Emma is an actress who has appeared on Call The Midwife, which I had started watching not long before.
Their love story is one of the most hilarious, fantastic, non-conventional I've heard - thank goodness for technology for making long-distance relationships possible. These two were with us the entirety of our two weeks in Scotland and are two of the most visionary, powerful and genuine - the only way I could think of thanking them was to do a shoot with them.
Our schedule was pretty hectic which meant the shoot kept getting postponed and as it turns out, what a good thing that was.
While on the Isle of Lewis, we scheduled in a quick interview slot with Robbie and Emma for the documentary. They were staying in a host home further out in the countryside of the tiny island and the plan was to film in their room. But when we got there, we discovered it was going to be a tight squeeze and our producer had to make a quick call to explore other options.
Let's just say that back door opened and we fell in love. A cold Scottish morning and a greenhouse in the country? Documentary and photography heaven.
Love you, Robbie and Emma! xx
ONE TREE HILL | TRAVEL (SNEAK PEEK)
Having my lips chapped, fingers frozen and hair blown in a thousand directions up on the summit of One Tree Hill was worth it for this view. More to come.
MELODY | PORTRAITS
The first time I met Melody, she was arriving at our home for youth group, dutifully-clad in our school's prescribed summer attire, fondly known as the 'sailor uniform', backpack full of her brilliance, sweet, slightly apprehensive smile on her face. That was a number of years ago now and over the years, 'one of my youth group girls' has become one of my favourite Auckland buddies.
This fine Saturday afternoon, we decided to resist the lure of our new mutual friend, Netflix, and headed to our nearby park, a short five-minute drive away, for a photo adventure. We froze our faces and fingers off - thank you, Auckland winter wind, chased sheep through a field of poo land mines, and drove to the summit of One Tree Hill. A Saturday well-spent, in my book!
RACHEL MARIE | PORTRAITS
Rachel in chambray and floral print rompers must mean spring time. Although Redding's interpretation of spring time does look more like a particularly hot Kiwi summer day. We hit high 20s (Celsius) at the most counterintuitive time of day here - 4-5pm. That being said, welcome to California, right? We complain about the heat but I'm pretty sure we all secretly love being able to walk around with almost-tanned legs in shorts while our East Coast friends are still bundled up and flooding social media with photos of blizzards. Us international students do end up missing the worst of it in July when it hits upwards of 40 degrees celsius here and iPhones turn themselves off because they've over-heated. I can't even.