Oh my gosh, HELLO autumn…you beautiful, delicious, honey-coloured, heart-warming season. It is the time of year when Mother Nature produces her best show and the sun is seduced into playing along. Warm winter coats come out of the cupboard and kids can play in the golden hour and not be cranky because it is past bed-time when the photographer wants to shoot.

“Our eldest is in her final year of primary school. At 8 and 10 yrs old, the kids are growing so fast, we wanted to capture those childish faces, favourite toys and hobbies before we move into the next phase.”

Spending time with Mel and her family made me want to rush home and create more babies (briefly!). As a mum-of-two, normally even the thought of more would seem beyond exhausting but an hour spent with the four Macredie kids and their folks made me appreciate what an amazing unit they’d created, and I absolutely wanted to capture this while we were shooting.

After a year of posting images of other people’s happy-ever-afters, I thought I’d sign-off for 2019 with some images of my own family

When you reach a certain age, it is experiences that matter most, and few of them so precious as those involving family. For Sue's special milestone she and husband, Ed, gathered their children and grandchildren and took them away from the bustle of life in Auckland for a long weekend in beautiful Hawke's Bay.