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.

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.

i adore

Pinterest.  I'm a regular blog reader...but found it hard to keep track of all that wonderful inspiration I came across.   Pinterest solves that problem.  It's one central place to keep all those visual ideas - and also links back to where the image was "pinned" from on the internet.  Such a genius idea.  Come check me out here.

my favourite subject

has to be my daughter.  She provides me with endless inspiration.

i've been trying

to approach photography a little differently lately.  Mainly to simplify but to also be purposeful.  So what does that mean?  For me that means using a handheld light meter...paying attention to the light...being aware of what images I want to capture...and keeping the post processing to a minimum.  I feel like I am a lot more conscious of the process by slowing it down...and present in a way I haven't ever really been before.  As photographer Rachel Devine blogged about - it's mindful shooting - and that's got to be a good thing.

never stop

twirling...laughing...finding joy in simple acts. My daughter reminds me of that daily.

it's farewell

to New Zealand for us as we embark on our new adventure in Australia soon...

(some favourite photos of my good friends daughter Cadence)