some call it rarotonga. i call it a little piece of paradise.

it was so good to be home. even if only for two days.

The thing about living in the middle of nowhere...is it takes forever to get anywhere.  So a 2.5 hour drive, and two plane trips later we touched down in Auckland.  Tired, but excited about being back in our home town for a quick catch up before heading to our final destination...Rarotonga!

Before that though, we had two days to hang out at a bach in Kawakawa Bay...relaxing and meeting some recent additions to our friends families.  It was a perfect way to start our holiday.

this was my first wedding

that I ever photographed.  

a wedding

I photographed this very relaxed and intimate wedding about 18 months ago, and remember feeling disappointed in myself for not doing better.  It was only the second time I'd ever shot a wedding (and subsequently my last as I made the decision to not shoot for other people anymore).  

I've learned a lot about photography in the last year, and while I would definitely do things differently now, I'm glad to see that there are some images I'm still loving today.

sweet & simple

I remember the birthday parties I used to go to as a kid.  They were very simple affairs.  Mostly kids playing.  Sometimes there were even party games.  Birthday cake was always eaten (minus the icing for me as I always found it too sweet) .  And there was that big pile of presents waiting to be opened by the birthday boy or girl.

Nowadays things can be a lot more extravagant and costly.  

This year we decided to keep it very simple for our daughter...just like the parties I went to as a kid.  Balloons, party hats, chocolate cake, scavenger hunt and prizes.  Sweet and simple.

life over the last several weeks.

Discovered a disc of photos when Jaidah was a baby.  Sadly, I only got my first DSLR camera early 2009...so I don't have many of her those first four years of life.  I am kicking myself that I didn't make the leap sooner.  However, I'm thankful for the ones I do have.

I've been looking online for album companies.  So many to choose from.  So far I'm loving the look of Blurb, Pinhole Press, Photobook Australia, and Cypress Albums.

That I fear was the easy part.  Now to sort through thousands upon thousands of photos.  And put into some sort of order.  And layout.  I figure if I keep it simple - I can't get it too wrong.

The pools here have opened for the season.  And the water is freezing!  But that hasn't stopped us from going down and spending hours there.  It's also made me wish I knew someone with an underwater camera so I could try it out.

I love photographing in open shade.  Nice even lighting...lovely catchlights.  But not all open shade is created equal!  This is an interesting article about finding the light in open shade.