Coral and Coast

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-24T09:11:00.004+13:00

Merry Christmas!! I just wanted to stop by and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. I unfortunately don't have much time for blogging nowadays with work and my own business but just wanted to acknowledge everyone who has supported me during this exciting year!

This festive season has been so different from last year's I barely had time to get the Christmas tree up let alone decorate and bake! But I have managed to get the Christmas shopping done and wrapped and deliver all my pre-Christmas photography clients their finished photo's - phew, I was cutting it fine but I'm glad they are all on their way and will arrive before the 25th! I hope my lovely families have a magical Christmas, I have just adored meeting them all!

A favourite recent session :)

These past three months in business have taught me a lot...how much I value my own family time and therefore how many clients I want to take on each month, what kinds of sessions I like best, what has worked and what hasn't...I will be preparing for my 2013 year in business over the break and look forward to another great year. Happy families, glowing expectant mother's, tiny newborn babes...just precious!

I have been living and breathing my business but outside of that we do have a cute new addition to the family! My parent's have a sweet little Sheltie puppy they named Cooper, he is much bigger than this now but is such a nice addition to the family. We are looking forward to spending Christmas Day with him and my family, I'm sure he'll be ripping madly into all the wrapping paper, he is a wild child! ;)

So that's just a little update from me, I hope you are all well and enjoying the festive season, sending lots of love and warm wishes to all corners of the globe for a happy and peaceful Christmas and I'll make sure I pop in again in the New Year!

xo K

Just Dropping In...

2012-10-23T14:08:00.003+13:00

...to say hello!

Things are mad and crazy at the moment, all due to the new business going so well, I even have a little ad up with the lovely Kiwi blog 'Made From Scratch' and have been attracting a lot of word of mouth business from my clients too which is really the best compliment I could get!

The weather here at the moment is pretty wet and windy with a few nice sunny days thrown in the mix, not the best for arranging outdoor photo sessions but I squeezed one in last Sunday evening with one of my lovely maternity clients. We had such a lovely session at the beach.

I posted a sneak peek on my Facebook page the other day but here are a few from the shoot in case you haven't seen them...

Such a beautiful Mum-to-be and I loved the sun-hat!

This weekend I had a Family session and a Newborn session, they both went really well, more from those over on the Facebook page and hopefully up on my website blog and portfolio when I have a bit more time!

The photography business is really taking up most of my spare moments, even when I have just one shoot a week I have to edit the images most nights after work. So it's lots of late nights and trying not to wake my husband up who leaves for work before 7am - luckily he hasn't complained...yet! ;)

But it's all good, November is looking busy and I even have my first bookings for December and January. It's definitely going to be a juggling act so hopefully next year I am busy enough to cut back on my office hours, we'll see...

Anyway, I hope you are all well, I will try and check in with your blogs and say hello soon!

xo K

Back from Holiday and my Business Launch!

2012-09-27T10:02:00.000+12:00

Hi girls, it's so nice to be back here and feeling refreshed from our holiday!

We really enjoyed our little break and are ready to power on for the rest of the year. Our week off was relaxing but also very productive, it's amazing what you can do when you don't have to be at the office all day!

First and foremost I officially launched my business - Kirsty Mckay Photography now has a fully functional Facebook page and website, it's so exciting! I have had lots of great feedback and interest in sessions so I couldn't be happier!!

I also have a banner ad and directory listing up with the beautiful blog Made From Scratch and I'm so honoured to be working with Rachael and supporting her lovely small business. This is the ad you might see on her latest blog posts, eek!

You might also notice the new images in my banner ad, I made the time for two gorgeous photo shoots on my week off as well as finalising my website and I will be posting these sessions on the new blog section of my photography website soon. I can't wait to show you, so make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed through the Subscribe option on my website or add my site to your favourites if you'd like to keep up to date with my sessions!

There are some beautiful shoots coming up in October and I feel so blessed for all the support I've been given from friends, family and clients.

Last week my husband and I also invested in a few business expenses, I bought myself an amazing Canon L-series zoom lens that I had been desperately wanting for family sessions and saving up for and my hubby went and got himself a new camera. It's great since I really needed a back up camera body to take to photoshoots in the event that mine malfunctions (which is rare but can happen!) so we now have two similar camera's for business use and also it gives him something to play with when I drag him along to weekend location scouting sessions or when I need his help at a shoot as an assistant - win, win!

Speaking of which here is a little peek at what location scouting looks like, we both took our camera's and got some snaps of us both in action which was a lot of fun! :)

My commercial shoot had a cherry blossom grove for a backdrop, so pretty, we made sure we scoped it out he day before...

Love the colours and textures...

Practicing daytime silhouettes in doorways...

Love this, go hubby!

We visited the Auckland Domain and Museum too, how gorgeous is the light reflecting on these pillars?!

Perfect portrait lighting, with the white walls acting as reflectors from all sides...

Love this shot of my hubby...

So we really did have a wonderful week off, I also got to photograph my favourite little girl, our gorgeous niece! We headed out in the late afternoon to catch the beautiful golden light at the end of the day, I love this one...

I'll be posting this cute session to the website blog when I

have the time too :)

I hope you have all been happy and well and are enjoying Spring or Fall. It's getting much warmer here and we have daylight savings on Sunday which will mean lighter evenings and for me that always makes it feel like Summer!

Chat to you all soon and let me know what you think of the website, it was quite a labour of love and I'm glad it's completed and looks just how I envisioned it.

If you are on Facebook I'd love you to become a Facebook fan too so we can keep in touch that way, I am on my photography page quite regularly and would love to hear from you whether you're interested in working together or just want to say hi! :)

Have a great week!

xo K

Spring Holiday

2012-09-14T10:21:00.000+12:00

TGIF! So happy it's Friday and it's a gorgeous Spring day here in NZ!

Sorry for the lack of posting, this week has been crazy busy, my husband and I are taking a much needed week-long break from our office jobs next week and so of course we had a lot of work to do to tie up all our lose ends before we could go (isn't it funny how everyone around you panics when you want some time off!) but now I'm counting down the hours till 5 o'clock and the start of our mini-holiday!

Although it's Spring and the world is coming beautifully alive again after the winter we are both feeling pretty tired. It's been a big year so far, work is busy, my husband has been working late into the night quite often, I'm working hard on my photography and business skills and we need a little break before the final run up to Christmas, which is always crazy and hectic at my office!

During our week off we are hoping for a little head space, a few sleeps ins, long lunches, and walks with the dogs at the beach. I also have three lovely photoshoots in the pipeline that I will try and fit in if the weather cooperates...one is for a children's special occasion clothing company and I have dreamed up such a great shoot, we are just waiting for the outfits to be completed and to finalise the location but if it comes together as I am imagining it's going to be just beautiful!

It's interesting that I am definitely finding it hard to be creative when my head is full of everyday 'stuff' (outstanding projects at the office etc) but knowing I had this week off has enabled me to let ideas flow much more easily and I'm excited to do these shoots and create something special and actually be able to give them the time they deserve.

How are you all feeling about Spring?? I'm hoping to come back from this week off feeling much more energised and excited about everything I want to accomplish before the end of the year!

Have a wonderful Friday, enjoy your weekend and I will be back with some pretty Spring photoshoots as soon as I can!

xo K

Images via Pinterest

The Inspirational Benjamin Dhong

2012-09-03T11:18:00.001+12:00

Happy Monday I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! The rain has set in here again but I'm sure it won't be long before the blue skies are back.

Today I have a beautiful home to share with you all and it was introduced to me by none other than the fabulous designer himself, Mr Benjamin Dhong!

It was a complete honour to have him e-mail me the other week with some great images from his latest project, which currently features in the latest American Home Beautiful magazine. He is my favourite designer and I know his work has really resonated with a lot of my readers too so I'm so pleased to share his work with you again.

This latest project in his own words is "his best work ever" and he is rightly proud of what he and his team have achieved. This project is fresh, dramatic and unexpected while maintaining such elegance and Benjamin's trademark incredible use of colour and texture.

Ben told me that his client thought he wanted an ultra modern home but after consulting with Ben (who took note of his classic style, bespoke suits and Aston Martin in the garage) he decided this dramatic and elegant home would be much more suited to his style!

The end result certainly has that Benjamin Wow factor, take a look...

Such a stunning home, I can't wait to see what Ben's next project will be!

For more of Ben's work check out his gorgeous website here and if you go to the blogs page on his site you will even see a link to Coral and Coast and my last post on Ben's work, such an honour.

Have a wonderful week!

xo K

Welcoming Spring and a Beachy Pet Shoot

2012-08-29T09:57:00.001+12:00

It seems that Spring has sprung in our little corner of the world! The temperatures have been creeping up ever so slowly and plants are beginning to unfurl and blossom. Having the doors flung open at the weekend after months of being tightly closed against the cold was so lovely, so I went and sat out on the front deck with my camera and watched the dogs play and snapped a few things that caught my eye...

Firstly our magnificent Magnolia tree, the colours are just breathtaking but the flowers are already falling off to make way for the new season leaves...

So pretty...

Hmm, Nala is usually so photogenic hehe but not when she pulls her snarly face! What you can't see is that Harley was nibbling on her tail trying to get her to play. They mock-growl and snap at each other when they play, it's quite hilarious, especially when you can't see them and all you can hear is the 'snap, snap, snap' of their teeth...

Now this is the Nala I know...

I had a motive for taking lots of puppy photos because I had one of my pet mini-sessions happening on Sunday and I wanted the practice. Animals move much faster than children do and nailing focus on a moving subject is not easy!!

But we had a gorgeous afternoon at the beach for this shoot after rescheduling twice due to the Auckland rain! I'm still working my way through these photos but here are a few favourites of beautiful 'S' and sweet little Coby her two year old, miniature Fox Terrier...

My goodness, I have so much editing to do at the moment I am getting a little behind with blogging! But I have some really fun news to share later this week about an e-mail from one of my favourite international interior designers (I still can't believe he contacted me!!) and lots more photos to share, so I'll be back just as soon as I can!

I hope you're all happy and well and enjoying the warm weather as much as I am. Summer is just around the corner for us down-under and I can't wait, beach days and lazy hours whiled away on the front deck enjoying the sunshine, bliss!

Chat soon...

xo K

Linking up to:
Project Alicia
Happy Jax

Maternity Shoot & My New Facebook Page

2012-08-20T14:43:00.000+12:00

Happy Monday girls, I have exciting news today! My official Photography Facebook page is now live with my website being about 6 weeks away - I'm happy dancing over here!!

Since I have some work being featured on another site very soon (which is so exciting!) I needed to get a landing page up quickly where visitors could come and see my work so I will be adding more albums to the page over the next few weeks. I had to giggle when my sister asked me where her albums were, hehe they're coming! ;)

There is now also a link to my new photography FB page on my sidebar or you can just check it out here Kirsty Mckay Photography. I'd love you to 'Like' it if you would like to keep up to date on what I'm up to photo-wise! I will be posting sessions, along with casting calls for models and other fun news on the page.

Along with all that I had another wonderful Maternity/Family session on Saturday with the most beautiful family and there is a little sneak peek up on my Facebook page now, I can't even tell you how much fun this shoot was, I could of happily kept snapping away all day!

Here a few favourite images that I can't resist sharing on this old blog, it was so hard to narrow down faves for their sneak peek...and how stinkin' ADORABLE is their little girl?!

Wow, I just can't wait to meet their new baby boy in October and take his newborn pictures! Love this family and can't wait to show them all their images...

Stunning Mama to be!

Such a cute little Princess, I brought her a pink helium balloon which meant we
were instant BFFs! :)

This little angel was super expressive and I loved capturing all her cute faces!

Too sweet with her little watering can...

Mum, Dad and wee bump...

Favourite!!

Another absolutely stunning Mama-to-be! I am so lucky to have such gorgeous clients they make my job easy and they are all so very lovely too.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, we even saw the sun for a while here on Saturday and when it shines it's beginning to feel like a lot like Spring! I'm just buzzing with energy for the beginning of the new season and can't wait to really get into my Photography and business!

Have yourselves a fabulous week and I hope to see you on my FB page for more of this gorgeous session - don't forget to say Hi and you're welcome to leave some love for my clients too, I know they'd love it! :)

Chat soon...

xo K

Man's Best Friend...

2012-08-16T14:49:00.000+12:00

Just a quick post dedicated to my two crazy fur-kids...

Since last weekend's pet shoot was rained out I amused myself by taking pics of my own doggies indoors with my favourite lens and I thought the dogs deserved their own post, since I haven't written about them in awhile!

I have another Pet mini-shoot scheduled this weekend (if it stays fine!) as well as my second Maternity shoot which will go ahead no matter what the weather as it's mostly an indoor shoot, which will be tough but I think I'm up for the challenge!

I'm also getting my Photography Facebook page ready to go live this weekend, my work is going to be a part of an NZ Women's Lifestyle website so I needed somewhere to direct any traffic from that. My official site is still coming along...working out pricing and packages is tough and just when I think I'm happy I change my mind, so the Facebook page will be it for the next 6 weeks or so until my gorgeous website goes live, I can't wait for you to see it!

So I'll be sure to let you know where you can check out my work as soon as it's featured but for now here are my fur-kids, doing what dogs do best...relaxing, sleeping and being cute! ;)

My husband took this one of Nala, I like it <3 i="i">

Such a little Princess, laying on Dad's pillow!

Pondering the meaning of life perhaps? Or more likely
wondering if it's time for dinner...

Harley is the ultimate couch hog! If you are in 'his' spot he will push you away with his paws until you move...if that fails he will then very kindly lay on you ;)

Cutie...

I have to say that having two big dogs, one of whom LOVES the rain and mud, is not such fun during a very wet Winter! Nala has been absolutely covered in mud up to her belly when we get home from work at night (she has spent a few hours splashing in puddles I presume!) We've had to put her in the bathtub every night this week to get the mud off her! The upside is she smells good and feels all fluffy like she did as a puppy, but the amount of work trying to keep the house remotely clean with them both around is almost impossible this time of year!

Roll on those warmer and hopefully drier Spring days, our house will be in need of a real Spring cleaning come September!

How is everyone else holding up? Is your place ready for the Mother of all Spring cleans? It might make me feel better a bit better about mine! ;)

Chat soon...

xo K

Just Beachy...

2012-08-10T13:16:00.000+12:00

As promised I have a bit of an antidote to Winter post for my lovely girls Down-Under! After the cold, wet couple of weeks we've had it's hard to believe we had such a glorious weekend two weeks back but here's the proof!

We headed down the road to one of our local beaches during the wonderful golden hour before sunset to capture a few snaps and make the most of this break in the weather. The air was calm, still and surprisingly warm, I can still feel the rays on my face and I just can't wait for Spring to get here now!

Hello sunshine, it's been awhile...

*Sigh* okay, I really can't wait for Spring!!

Friday today and I'm meant to have a pet photo session this weekend at one of the rugged West Coast beaches with two gorgeous doggies but I'm not sure if the weather will cooperate...we'll see...but I'll post photos of those cuties if it goes ahead and if not I think we'll be having another cosy weekend indoors! We're trying to make the most of it since Spring will be here soon, yay!!

Have a great weekend, rain, hail or shine and talk soon...

xo K

Linking up to:
2805
Project Alicia

A Winter Maternity Session

2012-08-07T11:22:00.000+12:00

Hello and happy Tuesday!! It feels like I haven't been here in forever but I'm back to share a few favourites from last week's Maternity Session!

I have to say that I just loved this couple, having never met them before I didn't know what to expect but they were so sweet and lovely and kind and we had lots of fun, which is all I can ask for, I keep pinching myself thinking that this is the best job ever! The very best part for me was getting an e-mail from my gorgeous Mum-to-be not long after the shoot saying how they'd both been quite nervous about having their pictures taken but that both she and her partner really enjoyed their shoot with me and that they were so glad I was recommended to them by a mutual friend (my friend was the make-up artist/hair stylist for this shoot and did such a lovely natural-looking job; soft, feminine and perfect for a Maternity session - thank you A, you talented thing!)...

Hair and Make Up by the lovely Alex at Creative Beauty

It's wonderful to know a great make up artist that I can trust and recommend to future clients and I'm looking forward to working on more shoots with her! Alex is also in the early stages of her make up business so swapping stories and ideas has been invaluable, yay for girl power! It makes me so proud to see other young women going after their dreams, so inspiring and motivating.

Anyway, on with the shoot...so this shoot took place in the morning on a drizzly but mild Winter's day. Lovely Mum-to-be 'K' assured me she wasn't too chilly in her vintage 50's maternity dress so I got as many shots as I could in their backyard during the 30 mins we had before the heavens opened and it poured down with rain! Here are some of the garden shots, the light was soft and overcast which I was thankful for, full sun at 11.30am is not flattering so I was lucky with the light and the garden even provided a range of settings for us. We started on the elevated deck with funky purple privacy fence, kind of going for a 50's/60's vibe here since this couple love that era...

Then we moved down to the stairs and over to a pretty garden pergola, I'm sure it's just divine in the spring time laden with pretty jasmine but I did what I could to make it look pretty in it's wintry state...

So cute!

Partner's are allowed to be part of the shoot too!

Just as the rain started a grabbed a few shots of gorgeous K down at the base of the deck...

Work it girl!! :)

The weather forced us indoors and my client wanted some bare belly shots so she went and got changed into her second outfit. I decided to try a few silhouette shots, these look pretty effective but are relatively easy to achieve. I place K near an open sliding door then set my camera to 'Manual' on the mode dial. Here I played with my settings till my exposure meter read '0' when pointed only at the window light. I then pointed my camera at my client with these settings and she was effectively underexposed as a silhouette as I had metered for the much brighter window behind her...

For the next few shots I did the opposite. I metered for my client which 'blew out' the light coming through the door rendering it white and detailess. This was further enhanced in Photoshop...

Lastly I spied this old couch in their basement with some decent light coming through a side window. K got changed back into her vintage dress to keep the look soft and romantic but since the colour of her dress and the couch clashed I immediately imagined this as a finished product in black and white and here it is...

I had so much fun at this shoot, we definitely got a lot out of the 40 mins which I'm proud of! I am able to think fast under pressure so that was nice to discover! ;)

I have a bunch of photos to edit from last week's beach afternoon too so I'll share those as soon as I'm done. I hope you're having a great week, Spring is on it's way here, I can't wait to shoot some bright and happy Spring sessions and my next Maternity in two weeks time. The Pet mini-sessions are also coming up with my first taking place this weekend if the rain holds off!

Things are going full steam ahead here so I will keep you updated as and when I can. Thanks again for your lovely support, it means a lot to me to have you all here following my dreams!

xo K

Linking up to:
Project Alicia

A Beautiful Weekend

2012-07-30T10:18:00.000+12:00

What a lovely weekend I just had! There was a girls night out on Friday, a sun-kissed winter afternoon at the beach playing with the camera on Saturday and meeting a wonderful couple for a Maternity shoot on Sunday!

I haven't had time yet to organise all the photos yet so I'll share the beach pictures later in the week and more from the Maternity shoot too, which I loved by the way! Despite having to cut things short due to rain it was a lot of fun, I had never met the couple before but I just adored them! They were relaxed, friendly and lovely to be around, I left that session feeling like I'd made some great new friends and I'm so excited for their new arrival! So here's a tiny peek into the weekend...

Saturday Afternoon - it was gorgeous all day, still and clear so late in the afternoon we headed down to the beach so I could play with the new lens ahead of Sunday's shoot. The light was low and dripping with golden tones so I took lots of snaps and my husband even had a go too! Here's my quick portrait of him and his of me, it's funny to be on the other side of the camera for once!

Sunday - It was cold and rainy on Sunday which was a shame considering Saturday's sunshine, but I managed shoot this session in 40 minutes between a few showers! I have one shot to share from this session as I'm working my way through them all, but there will be lots more to come! Isn't she a beautiful Mama to be?!

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend too and got to see a bit of sunshine! We have another wet week ahead here so I'm glad we enjoyed it while we could!

Chat soon...

xo K

Photography Friday: Lens Love

2012-07-27T10:35:00.001+12:00

Happy Friday! It's been a while since I've done a Photography Friday post, although I do talk about photography a lot anyway! ;)

Today I just wanting to share my excitement over a new item in my photography kit that I am over the moon in love with! Meet Canon's 85mm f 1.8 portrait lens, my new favourite:

via

If you have a DSLR you will know that the lens maketh the camera - big time!

My 60D came with the 18-55mm kit lens which I soon got rid of (kit lenses tend to be made from poorer quality glass and give quite a 'soft' effect) and the first lens I purchased after that was the under $200 50mm 1.8 and while I loved the sharpness and colour I got from this lens I found that the focal length wasn't quite giving me the out of focus effect I wanted in the background for mid to full length portraits.

Enter the 85mm 1.8! This is one of Canon's best non L-series portrait lenses, the build quality is good, it's a reasonable price for what you get but the real selling point of this lens is the depth of field! Especially on a crop sensor DSLR like my 60D (which turns the 85mm focal length into a 136mm) it is crazy shallow and so, so smooth to look at. I keep excitedly telling my hubby that the bokeh (background blur) looks like butter it is just so dreamy and beautiful!

I will be playing with this lens at the weekend for sure, I am desperate to have a go in natural light as we have nothing but indoor artificial light by the time we get home at night. But even so I tried the lens out on my cutie pie Nala at 8.30pm at night indoors at Aperture 1.8 ISO 1600 Shutter speed 1/100 and it's just so pretty...

The depth of field at 1.8 is so incredibly shallow you almost can't even see her legs, the effect is very painterly...

I added a little bit of texture to this one in Photoshop to add to the effect!

So while lighting for these photos was far from ideal and having my ISO at 1600 on my 60D produces a lot of yucky graininess (a reason to buy full frame next time if ever there was one!) I can tell this lens is going to be incredible! Roll on the weekend, I'm so excited!

So, what are your favourite lenses to shoot with these days??

xo K

Busy Days

2012-07-25T07:18:00.000+12:00

Another Wednesday is here already! The weeks are really just flying by at the moment, I have so much to do and so much to plan for and there are some super exciting developments in the pipe-line for me which I can't wait to reveal as soon as I can!

I am trying to take all of your sage advice on my last post (thank you!) and embrace Winter a little more, I really am! I've taken advantage of the wet weekends by doing a lot of learning...and I do mean a lot!

Not just photography stuff either. There is so much to running a business and I don't want to go in blind in any way, it's just not me to do things that way! I have to feel like I understand and have things under control at every step of the process or I just don't feel comfortable (control freak much?) hehe but all that aside I have been soaking up business books and workshops online, checked out photography forums and downloaded hours of video tutorials (that I need to get around to watching!), then there's mastering Photoshop - I am really clicking with it now! And I just got Lightroom too since I need to start shooting in RAW all the time and I have to know how to process images the way too.

It's a lot but I know I can handle it and I'm enjoying it! I've missed learning since University and it's a nice feeling to master something new!

And after a few weeks off getting out and actually shooting I have a Maternity session scheduled this Sunday which I'm excited about and then another in a few weeks time! Yay, for my gorgeous Mums to be! It's so lovely to be a part of this time in their lives and hopefully get to meet and photograph the new babies once they arrive too! It's ridiculously lovely and exciting to be honest!

So before I get completely sidetracked what I also wanted to say is that I'm going to be doing some free portfolio building sessions in August which I thought some of my Kiwi (Auckland) readers might be interested in.

The back story to these sessions is that as part of my business plan I decided to add Pets to my photography business as they are a huge part of many families too and really I couldn't imagine life without our two fur-kids! So to get some experience with a range of lovely pets I am having a few free portfolio building sessions in August.

The info is below (as is my sweet thing, Nala) and there are just two spaces left if anyone in Auckland would like to apply! I'm so excited to do these sessions and it's shaping up to be a very busy August which should transition me into September nicely which is when I'd like to be taking on more client work!

Since this image was actually posted to my personal Facebook page I know it's a little small and hard to read here but if you want to apply for a free session I just need a short description of your pet and a photo. It can be sent to info@kirstymckayphotography.com

My business cards arrived last week too which was fantastic! I've managed to give about half of them away already and everyone has been so complimentary about them. I chose eight different photos for the front of the cards, (some of you may have seen them on Twitter or Instagram) and everyone's enjoyed choosing their favorites!

Anyway, I have a bunch of work to do so I'm dragging myself away but I'll be back soon hopefully with some lovely maternity shots to share! Keep warm or stay cool if you're lucky enough to be enjoying Summer.

Oh and a big congratulations to my gorgeous friend Mel at Happy Jax for launching her own photography business this week! Proud of you and looking forward to watching your business grow, you are going to be such a success Mel!

Chat soon...

xo K

Mid-Winter

2012-07-18T09:08:00.001+12:00

Happy Wednesday, it's officially mid-winter here in NZ! I'm so glad we're on the downward slope toward Spring, I am over the dark evenings and frosty mornings - a warm, tropical holiday is sounding really good right now!! But since that's not looking like a possibility with all the new business expenses I'm running into, I am trying (and failing) to embrace the cold...there has to be something good about it right?!

Hmm, how about beach walks with the pups who don't mind a little frost underfoot...

Layering up makes for more interesting outfits than in Summer I suppose...

Hot chocolates with marshmallows are definitely a big Winter highlight at our place...

What better excuse than freezing weather to snuggle up with your guy?!

A definite plus :)

Mmm and warming fire...it's so lovely to go to my parents home and snuggle up round their fireplace on a lazy Sunday night...

Foggy mornings...I kind of like them, it makes a world look a little more magical doesn't it?!

So I came up with a few things to like about Winter but what are your favourite things about the chilly season? I'm really in need some ideas! And does anyone truly enjoy it? Rain, cold and all?

I'm such a Summer girl so it's always a struggle for me. I can't wait for the balmy mornings, late sunsets and beach days to be here again...and Spring photography too!

My bright spot right now is that I'm hoping to have the business up and running during the Spring at least in some capacity and with the constant rain and darkness photography is a bit hopeless this time of year without a studio, so oh my goodness I just can't wait for the sun to appear again, I am getting seriously antsy!

How are all my Southern hemisphere girls coping with the cold? It's not been a bad Winter so far in Auckland but still, it's just so flippin' dreary, day after day of blah weather. Ugh, okay, grumble over! ;)

Have a wonderful week, keep warm and I'll be back when I have something a bit more exciting and fun to share!!

xo K

Images via Pinterest

On The Market

2012-07-10T21:51:00.001+12:00

Not my home but this cute little renovated three bedroom, two bathroom art deco style home I photographed for a colleague the other week!

So can I add Real Estate photographer to my list now? Hmm, maybe not, I imagine it's a real art in itself, however I gave it my best shot with my wide-angle lens and the clients were pleased with the images and it seems that they definitely got the job done!

The property had 1,000 views online on it's first day and was privately sold for the asking price within four days to a young family who saw it within hours of it being listed! So of course I am incredibly happy for the sellers and I had to cheekily say that now they know who to call when they want to sell their next renovation! ;)

Here's a little peek into their stylish home on Auckland's city fringe. I wish I had the 'before' photos because this place was an absolute tear down, flea ridden carpet and all! The owners got it for a song and stripped it right back to it's bare bones so they could start all over again from walls and insulation to an additional bathroom and walk in wardrobe off the master bedroom, they did such a lovely job and I hope you enjoy it...

I LOVED the fireplace, I'd have stacks of candles in there if
it were mine, so cosy...of course they have the obligatory
energy-efficient heat pump up in the left hand corner,
we're just loving ours for cheap Winter heating! :)

The kitchen is compact, functional and modern, love the
granite bench tops...

Such a cute little dining space, the Kauri floors are original
and had been freshly sanded and polished, they looked
so warm and welcoming...

The floor to ceiling tiles in the bathrooms had me drooling and excited for our bathroom reno this Summer!

Such a cool little home!

Well, this week is flying by like they all seem to be lately so I hope you have a lovely next few days. Things are progressing business-wise little by little here, I finally ordered business cards last week (yay!) and I just wanted to say thanks so much for the office love last week, I'm so glad you all love it as much as I do!

Chat soon lovelies...

xo K

Home Office Reveal At Last!

2012-07-03T08:11:00.000+12:00

I am so excited to show you my new home office!! I was lucky that I really didn't need to do a whole lot to this room since it got a simple paint job makeover about a year ago that I still really love, so this room has now evolved into my blogging/photo editing/business space and I really love it!

I'm lucky that while it is on the south side of the house, the little window off to the side faces east and really catches the morning sun, which is so nice when I'm in here early on weekends enjoying a cup of coffee and catching up on blogs...amazingly our new heat pump (which is so so good!) blows the warm air from our living room right down the hallway into this room, so it's even pretty toasty in here during Winter...bliss!

Since it's a pretty small space I wanted to keep things clean and simple but I also wanted some color to really get the creative juices flowing. I just had to have white furniture and I thought pink accents might be fun since I've been loving it lately...

I think the pink really brings it all to life! The white and navy striped rug I actually picked up months ago thinking I'd be sure to find a home for it in my coastal loving home and it's so perfect in here and great with the fuchsia pink...

Spot the furry paw!! I didn't have the heart to move her. Nala is my constant shadow and her new favorite spot to nap is underneath my desk, bless her little heart! :)

So here is the little bookcase that we already had in here, it's going to end up being too small once I start needing more filing space so I'll probably get the people who built our living room bookcase to make a narrower one to fit this space. But for now it works...

I have a magazine holder with my dog-eared copy of 'Exposed' magazine by amazing International wedding photographer Jasmine Star, a little desk tidy with my notecards and envelopes that I send thank you's to clients (just until I get my branded stuff sorted) and that big black glossy guy is my new printer! He's all kinds of fancy and prints directly onto CD's through a special feeder...

So now every client will get a personalized CD/DVD of their session with a custom case to match, this was just a quick test print I whipped up but I love it, the print quality is great! Yay, Canon printers! :)

There's my old pin-board being used to pin up shots of some of my favorite people and whatever other inspiration I might come across...

Props and pretty things...

Over in the far corner I wanted something pretty and colorful to fill the awkward corner, we already had this side table so I picked up a tall turquoise vase at Freedom and some decent looking silk orchids (since I'd spend a small fortune on the real ones with my black thumbs!) and these ones aren't bad at all...

Hmm, my husband looks pretty good here so I think he can stay in
this spot! ;)

Phew, this is a pic-heavy post! So moving back over to my desk...

You can see the iMac monitor is pretty big so I can't put a huge amount on my desk, I just have a CD/DVD box, pen and paper holders and a yummy diffuser so the office smells divine...

And yep, the OCD in me loves not having a big computer box on the desk and messy wires! Lovely to have a wireless keyboard and mouse :)

So yeah, I love it! It's very 'me' and such a great space to get creative in! I love that I have some of my favorite images up on canvas and in frames too. I'll definitely be encouraging my clients to get their images off the CD's and onto the walls! I made sure to leave space for future favorites too...

Oh and lastly this is what you see when you walk in...wall art from Bed Bath n Table - the colors were perfect - and I have a few props and things in the basket...

Oh and a last sneaky pic of the iMac fired up and ready to go...

Wow, if you've made it to the end of this post you really deserve a medal! That's a lot of office stuff to look at but I do love it and I'm excited to share my little haven with you all! I hope you have a wonderful week and keep warm if you're in my part of the world, it's pretty cold out there!!

Chat soon...

xo K

Linking up to:

Boogieboard Cottage

Between Naps on the Porch

Faded Charm

Savvy Southern Style

Shabby Creek Cottage

Brambleberry Cottage

2805

The Charm of Home

At the Picket Fence

Business Progress Update

2012-07-02T12:03:00.002+12:00

Happy Monday! I hope the weekend treated you well. Mine flew by in a bit of a blur and I was going to post my big office reveal for you today but I completely ran out of time to put that post together, but the photos have been taken and are ready to go! So hopefully I'll post that tomorrow, here's a little peek though, I couldn't resist...

I am in love with this little space of mine and I can't wait to show you the whole thing! :)

I thought I'd explain my semi-absence the past few weeks by letting you know where I'm at with setting up my photography business. I've been optimistically hoping to launch my fully registered company in the Spring (September 1st here in NZ). So I've been working furiously on pulling together a list of what I need before the launch!

I've checked off a few things in the past two weeks:

Buy Domain Name and Web Hosting Space - I now officially own www.kirstymckayphotography.com - whee!!
Decide on branding and online image - I have chosen colours and a logo to represent my brand and the website is taking shape beautifully as we speak!
Choose marketing material (letterhead, business cards etc) - done, but I need to get everything printed, that'll be happening very soon
Purchase a Canon photo-quality printer for printing out letter head, printing cover images directly onto CD's and for small photo prints - done and it's amazing! Can't wait to show you a sample CD! Such a fun toy to have :)
Set up home office - done and this was the most fun part of all!
Choose portfolio images for website and my business Facebook page - in progress it's so hard choosing...
Write up site content - About, Session Details, FAQs, Blog etc - a huge in progress that is daunting me right now!

Still to do:

Register the business - really have to get this done!
Open a business account with the bank
Speak with an accountant (or quite likely my little brother) re: tax requirements, write offs etc (he was a finance and accounting major so I really need to pick his brain!)
Purchase MYOB or other small business accounting software - any recommendations for ease of use?
Draft up client portrait agreement contract and have approved by our Solicitor
Decide on an online proofing gallery site where clients can log in and view/choose the images they want to purchase from their session
Print business cards
Draft up a client welcome pack
Decide on pricing and packages - a huge task! Working out COGS (cost of goods sold, plus estimating my time spent per session (shooting/editing) at a suitable rate minus taxes - if I get this wrong I don't make money so it's hugely important!)
Am I forgetting anything??

So right now, along with working full time I have a lot on my plate! I don't have any photo sessions planned until later in the month and I'm thankful for that or I'd never get anything done! Winter has come at the right time, so I have no excuse not to sit down in my office and bang out some more items from my list each week.

In my everyday life I'm often getting asked how everything's coming along and it's kind of a long answer so this summarizes for me, where I'm at and how much further I have to go!

Oh yeah and I currently also have my eye on another lens for my camera! it's a beauty and I'd love to have it before I launch my business, I suppose I can get the GST written off once it's a business expense too, so I will have to wait till I do that!

So, how are you all doing? I'm hoping to catch up on your blogs sometime this week too, I just need a day or two to catch my breath! My head is just filled with 'business and work stuff' so I'm not the most fun person right now, I think I'll be spending the next few weekends locked in my office! Atleast it's pretty... ;)

Have a great start to your week and I'll be back tomorrow with the big office reveal!! Can't wait...

xo K

A Few Indoor Photography Tips

2012-06-25T10:02:00.002+12:00

Good Monday morning, I'm back!! Work + life + editing an indoor party shoot = not much time to blog!

I wanted to post a few more of the party photos (not too many new ones since my clients don't have them all yet and I think they should be the first to see them!) and I also thought I'd share a few things I've learnt that might help you out next time you want to photograph your own family indoors or get asked to photograph an indoor event!

For starters, indoor photography is pretty tough, because unless you have a lovely, bright and light filled home or venue you are going to need to be very careful with your camera settings. In my own home the only room I'd ever photograph people in is my living room, it's bright and north facing, although there is a lot of background 'noise' or clutter to deal with which isn't so lovely! So that brings me to lesson number one from this session:

1. Choose your indoor shooting space carefully (where possible!) - with the party I had no choice in the matter, I just turned up and everything was in place already, but luckily for me, if I had chosen the space, it would have been the one the clients picked...

..the children's table was set up in the living room and there was some natural light coming through a north facing window (though not a lot as it was a long, narrow room) so luckily I also came to the shoot prepared with my external flash gun (the 430 EXII Speedlight) to add some additional light.

Do any of my photog girl's have one of these flash guns too? What do you think of them?? Already mine is proving invaluable for indoor shoots and doesn't give the obvious 'flash' look that your on-camera 'pop up' flash does, which was my main concern buying one! For me it's quickly becoming a camera bag essential :)

2. Don't be afraid to 'clean up' your shooting space - when I arrived at the party I had a quick look around to see where I'd be shooting and decided on a few key spots for the family portraits the clients had asked for before the party guests arrived. I noticed that behind part of their sofa was a clear wall with a large window slightly off to the side allowing natural light in and a tidy backdrop, so I moved a nearby chair and a few sofa cushions and these are some of the shots I was able to get on the sofa...

3. Set a custom white balance - unless you're shooting in RAW not jpeg set the white balance on your camera depending on the light source you're working with. There are settings in the 'Menu' area of your camera, especially for artificial indoor light from tungsten to fluorescent that help balance out the colour cast these lights give off.

At the party I had mixed light sources to deal with - the clients had a single tungsten light on overhead as well as the natural light coming through the window so I used my Expodisk (you could also use an 18% grey card) to set a custom white balance. Custom white balance (CWB) is a so important for natural looking indoor photography with mixed light sources so I'd say save time in editing by doing your best to get it right in camera!

4. Active children + Low Light = blurry photos! - when you have reasonably dark indoor shooting conditions and fast moving little children you have a bit of a problem. You need a fast shutter speed (a minimum of 1/250 of a second) to prevent motion blur but then of course you are sacrificing getting as much light into your camera's sensor as you can. That means you will need to bump up your ISO to get proper exposure.

My husband reminded me before this shoot that it's better to have 'noise' caused by high ISO's in your image (which can be greatly reduced in editing) than to have motion blur due to slow shutter speed, because there's nothing you can do to fix that! So crank up that ISO, open up your aperture and keep your shutter speed high to capture those priceless moments!

Here the Birthday boy's Aunt pulled him in for a quick kiss and as you can see he wasn't impressed! LOL I wouldn't have been able to capture this moment clearly without a reasonable shutter speed...

5. If all else fails don't be afraid to use your flash - if you have a powerful external flash gun like a Canon Speedlight (I have the 430EXII) you have so much less to worry about when it comes to indoor photography! Basically your external flash is powerful enough to illuminate your entire foreground while indoors meaning the exposure meter readings on your camera don't really matter because your flash is going to light your subjects for you, which is pretty awesome :)

I like to set my Speedlight to 'ETTL' mode so my flash is able to 'see' through my camera's lens and compensate (without me having to do anything manually) to correctly light the image - I believe this feature is only available on Canon flashes currently but it's crazy-amazing so if you have a Canon camera and flash definitely give it a try!

6. Bounce that flash sister! (external flash guns only) - from what I've discovered you don't really want to be pointing your flash at your subjects and firing it straight at their faces when indoors, because you seem to get that obvious 'flashy' look where everyone looks a bit shiny! So instead point your adjustable flash head up at the ceiling - yep, the ceiling! The powerful light from the flash will hit the white ceiling surface and 'bounce' pretty diffused light all around the room for a more flattering and natural look.

I used this method in the two very different images below, so it works for most indoor lighting conditions from very dark to very bright...

Phew, I'm sure there's a lot more that I got from this shoot and there's definitely a bunch of editing stuff I had to look out for as I went through all the images but that's all my brain can conjure up for now! It was definitely a challenging shoot with such low light for most of the day but I'm glad I did it because I learnt so much that I can use next time similar conditions present themselves.

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend, I was actually out shooting again on Saturday (as if I needed more editing hours this week!) but a work colleague kindly asked if I would take the listing photo's of his recently renovated house that he's putting on the market so I went and did that and will share a little peek of that soon too!

I've had so many hours of editing lately I'm really finding my way around the new Mac, it's pretty neat...and oh my gosh, I am so behind on blogging, I have so much to share including my big office reveal which is almost done! I'm completely smitten with it and can't wait to show you!

I hope you have a wonderful start to your week, be back soon...

xo K

Birthday Party Sneak Peek

2012-06-18T22:34:00.001+12:00

Hi girls, happy Monday! It's after 10pm here so I'm just popping in quickly to say hello and thanks so much for the support last week for my birthday party photo shoot!

The shoot went well, it was all shot indoors so it was a real learning curve which I'll tell you more about very soon, but for now I just wanted to share a quick peek at some favourite images from the party!

It was all incredibly cute and there was a Spiderman theme since the little birthday boy is obsessed with him...there was a great surprise for him on the day too, have a look... ;)

Getting a three year old to sit still and look at the camera
is no mean feat!

How cute is he?!

All the children I photograph have such amazing eyelashes!!

Waiting for his party to begin...

How many boys can say that Spiderman came to their
third birthday!! Adorable :)

So I promise I will tell you all about it soon and show more of the images, it's been such a busy day at work and a long night of editing and I'm only about half way through all the photos!

Luckily it's already proven more than worth it, with the little sneak peek I posted for the clients on my own Facebook page being so well received!

Honestly the sweet words I get from clients bring tears to my eyes, it just makes my heart happy that I can give something so personal to lovely families like this and that they really appreciate all the time that's gone into their images. It's beautiful! Okay now I'm going to cry again, ahh..I better stop there!!

It's another busy day tomorrow so sleep time for me, I'll be back with more sweet party stuff soon...

xo K

Linking up to:
And then she snapped

Project Alicia
Happy Jax

Birthdays and Butterflies

2012-06-15T20:17:00.001+12:00

Happy Friday girls! It's going to be a bit of an interesting one for me this weekend, I have booked a job photographing a really cute third birthday party on Saturday, eek!! I'm really excited and a little bit nervous, although the nerves always seem to wear off once I start getting into the shoot and feel like I'm getting some good shots! It's always those first 10-15 mins that are the worst and then you're right into the swing of things and it's all happening and it's crazy and silly and the most fun thing ever!

Ever since I was little I remember getting those pesky butterflies in my stomach before doing anything I thought was important - I really liked to do well at whatever I set my mind to and generally speaking I did, so I tended to put a lot of pressure on myself to perform every.single.time. To me those little butterflies signify that little adrenaline rush that ensures you're on top of your game and they tell me that whatever is making me feel this way is important to me and that I want to do a good job at it - the very best job that I possibly can!

Shooting this fun event tomorrow also means that I will have some new images to edit on the iMac in my new office, which is so exciting!! I've been waiting for something to test it out on so we'll see how I go!

I'll leave you with some images I haven't shown you yet from my niece's first birthday session last month. The invitations for her birthday party have gone out and look super cute so I'm allowed to show these other images, yippee...

I adore that dress, so sweet!

Sweet little birthday girl...

She was very interested in opening her 'present's...

...and she loves bubbles, so we had to have some of those! :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, I'm bound to be back with an update on the party and how I went wrangling a room full of little tykes! Wish me luck, I may need it, I have no clue what to expect from three year olds, I may come home in need of a lie down and a glass or two of wine! Ahh, it's all such a learning experience!! ;)

Chat soon lovelies...

xo K

Mid Week Inspiration

2012-06-12T21:43:00.000+12:00

Happy Wednesday, this week is just flying by so I thought I should stop in for a quick update!

The weekend here was great, I had so much fun shopping for the office and it's looking pretty cute!! My new iMac even arrived earlier than expected and now has pride of place on my desk and the canvases I ordered last week have been shipped, woohoo! I'm hoping they arrive before Friday so I can do some office reveal shots soon, I'm dying to show you!

This week I have also been obsessed with the latest issue of gorgeous online mag Magnolia Rouge, it's a great wedding and event styling resource put together right here in New Zealand by a team of amazing designers, stylists and photographers with incredibly talented contributors from all over the globe!

Here are some favourite images from the latest issue, isn't it dreamy? You can check it out here, you will fall in love, I know it...

There's even a Tuscan wedding - divine!!

Yes!!

This dessert table is out of this world!

I adore the hues in this bouquet!

So many cute styling ideas you could use for
any occasion!

Oh my, I think I need to go and stare at it some more, every page is just beautiful and so incredibly inspiring!

Have a wonderful week and chat soon...

xo K

Images via Magnolia Rouge

I Have An Office!!

2012-06-06T21:10:00.001+12:00

I'm blogging from it right now and I couldn't be more thrilled! And no, I didn't go crazy and rent an office space somewhere for my fledgling photography business but I am making use of the spare room we have in our house and turning into my little photography HQ!

Up until now my husband was the only one that made use of the small 'office'/single bedroom we have right at the end of the hallway but he was quite happy (and by happy I mean it was his idea!) to move his own desk and PC into our larger guest bedroom (which is rarely used) so I could have the end office to do with as I please!

Here are some photos of the old office layout with hubby's PC and workstation...

It's been all mine since Saturday and it's looking a little different already! I have big plans for this space! This is the room in the house that really needs to inspire me - it's where I will plan shoots, edit images, chat with clients and where I'll run my blog and future website from. It's not just an office, it's the start of having my own business and the beginning of a dream!

My first priority last weekend was to get some cute office furniture, so we made good use of the holiday sales and I picked up an industrial style white desk and stylish chrome and white leather office chair, so along with the little bookcase, pinboard and chrome desk lamp we already had in there it's slowly taking shape as a girl's office...but I think what it really needs is a pop of colour!

The walls are painted Resene Sea Glass which I really love but I'm thinking of adding a touch of pink or another bright colour with my stationary and accessories to add some fun, here are a few office spaces that I'm loving now...

White, blue and raspberry pink?

Similar wall colours to my office and cute little iMac's...

Cute pinboard inspiration and that lamp is a little like mine...

White, blue and bold pops of colour? Oh and I need cute lighting!

Pink and iMac love!

So many decisions to be made and I've just ordered a few prints and canvases from my recent photo sessions to put up on the walls so they're not so bare! Hubby has also given me his blessing to get myself an amazing desktop computer for business use. Most pro photographers seem to swear by the colour and clarity of Apple computers so I'm going to get a gorgeous 27" iMac and I'm so excited!

I've been editing photo's on the little 17" Sony Vaio laptop that my husband got me for Christmas (which I still love!) and it was fantastic for blogging but now it's getting pretty full and slow with all the photo files I keep and it's not ideal for photo editing as the colour balance on laptops is not great so I'm going to have to sell it to make way for my new desktop, but I'm not complaining! An iMac is definitely my dream computer for editing, it's going to speed up the whole process and the end result will be that much more professional.

As excited as I am about seeing the canvases and the new computer, they won't arrive for another two or three weeks (boo!) so I'll be putting together the rest of the office in the meantime. I'm planning a visit to Kikki.K and a few other cute office supply stores at the weekend to kit out my new space! Yay!

Do any of you ladies have your own home office or study? Or even a little nook where you can escape from the rest of the household and get your inspiration on?? Are there any handy office must haves I should know about? I'm all ears, this office business is so exciting!!

Chat soon...

xo K

Adore Does Beach Chic

2012-06-04T21:58:00.000+12:00

What a lovely long weekend we've had! The weather wasn't too bad at all and we even saw some sunshine! It was so nice to have a few sleep ins and spend a bit of time catching up on some reading, I'm feeling so relaxed and ready to start the new week!

I was so happy to discover over the weekend, one of my favourite online magazines Adore Home had just brought out their June/July issue and it's gorgeous as always. Here's a little peek at my favourite home from the latest edition. Fresh and fun beach chic!

To get your hands on your own free copy, check out their website...

You really couldn't be in a bad mood living in a home this gorgeous, the fun pops of colour and that white on white bedroom are just dreamy!!

Enjoy your Tuesday lovelies and I hope you have a great start to your week. Chat soon...

xo K

Mediterranean Style

2012-06-01T07:19:00.000+12:00

Oh Friday, how I love you! It's a long weekend for us here in NZ and I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and keeping warm inside! Some home baking and warming Winter cooking is on the agenda along with lots of reading, snuggling and movie watching with the hubby and pups, my favourite kind of weekend!

I came across this cosy and romantic Mediterranean home the other day and it really appealed to me this chilly Autumn week! I could definitely settle in and get comfy in this lovely home...

Isn't it romantic? I can just picture snuggling up under a blanket at that outdoor table with a glass of wine. Lovely!

Enjoy your Friday and have a wonderful weekend whatever you have planned!

xo K

Images via Martha Stewart

Decisions and Photoshoot Part 2

2012-05-30T07:18:00.001+12:00

Hi girls, happy Wednesday and thanks so much for the love on my latest photo session, I really appreciate it!

I have a few more images to share today but first I wanted to say woohoo, this little blog hit 200 Google followers the other day, what a great milestone! I appreciate every last one of you and love the community we have in the blogosphere, so thank you so much for being a part of my journey, wherever it might take me in the future.

I was thinking things through the other day and I'm just so glad I started this blog and so glad I wanted to take better photos to share with you all here, because without those decisions I wouldn't be where I am right now, with a possible career change sometime in the future! Amazing, exciting and unreal!

So without further ado here are more favourite images from my latest Autumn session, we even got to make use of the tunnel hubby and I checked out last week and it was as cool as I thought it would be! I'll be using this location again and again...

Love these ones in the tunnel, great light!!

Ah, those cuties with their supermodel poses hehe.

Such a great session, these two were just so much fun! It was definitely a session where I could of just kept shooting! With Winter almost here I'm not planning on many sessions now till the Spring, I have booked in a couple of jobs in the next couple of months, a maternity shoot and a Birthday session and will play the rest by ear.

I'm working on a few things behind the scenes in the meantime...I'm thinking (and thinking...) about a website design and blog for my photography business (which will be part time for the foreseeable future), business cards, a business plan, pricing, any equipment I'll need (a proper computer for editing is pretty much essential so it looks like I'll be ditching the laptop and saving up for an iMac!) and all the other things I need to do to be a legitimate tax paying business, eek!

On top of all that I'm still making mistakes and learning a lot every single time I do a shoot and I'm reading my way through photography forums, websites and books - so there is a ton to be done this Winter in my down time but I'm really thrilled to be able to do this, I really want to make it work, it's not going to be easy but I think it will be worth it.

Have any of you ever suddenly changed the course of your life or career? Taken a leap of faith? I'd love to hear it if you have! I get so daunted sometimes and then other times like right after an awesome photo session I think this is it - just do it!

Thanks so much for all your support, talk soon...

xo K