Angela Higgins – Lifestyle Photographer » Lifestyle Photographer of kids, babies, families and weddings

Oh, Kieran and Allan – where do I start? This adorable couple were referred to me by a childhood friend who found me on Facebook. When it came time for him to find an engagement gift for them, he contacted me to give them a portrait session which I thought was a brilliant idea.

We ended up having their shoot in the city and up until this past weekend, I haven’t shot much in the city or in an urban landscape. I do think that this is because I have a such a connection with the earth and most of my couples have similar connections and choose a location such as the beach, a park or a field. I can see it in most of my images that there is usually an element of earth, wind, sun or water. However, as Kieran and I began to discuss their session, I was thrilled when they chose a location and environment that I haven’t shot at before and that they have a connection with. I was ready for a challenge and came away from the session feeling refreshed and alive.

Kieran and Allan, thank you so much for trusting me implicitly and I wish you all the best for your upcoming wedding and your future together. I know it holds wonderful things for you. You are beautiful

Back in December I mentioned that my “resolution” of sorts was to make each day a little more beautiful than the one before and take pleasure in the small moments. Its about taking the time to watch the glow of the sunset over our garden or taking a silent moment of reflection or perhaps taking the time to stop cleaning or cooking or working to snuggle on the couch with my love. These small things warm my heart immensly.

So as I am looking for things and moments that make my day better and in an effort to share a little bit more about me and who I am I thought I would start a regular post of The Bees Knees : all things fabulous that rock my world. Incidentally, while I was thinking up a title I came across the Dogs Bollocks and the Sardine’s Whiskers as a similar saying. While the Sardine’s Whiskers intrigued me, I like bees and I like their knees so here we are.

Gossip Girl : I so want to love Gossip Girl but geez, Blake Lively makes it hard with her whining. I love the fashions and forays of the Manhattan elite however if it weren’t for Chuck Bass, I might have tuned out long ago. Go Chuck Bass!

Hydration : My not-so-guilty pleasure recently has been the result of the purchase of a gorgeous glass pitcher for my client meetings. However, in an effort to try to get in more water (we all do right?) I have started filling up the pitcher daily and adding in some lemon or lime slices for a twist. It is sooooo much easier to get in my water and so much prettier than a plastic water bottle. Give it a try – you’ll be hydrated before you know it.

Kikki-K : Oh, heaven on earth! I have been ordering Kikki-K’s gorgeous stationery from their online store for ages and a few months ago I discovered their store in Karrinyup. My heart jumped out of my chest and I squealed just a little bit at my delight although I don’t think Grant quite understood my excitement. I feel instantly more organised and calm as soon as I enter the store and recently purchased their big family planner for the 2nd year to organise our increasingly busy family.

Marie Antoinette – The Soundtrack : I’ve mentioned before of my love of Sophia Coppola and her incredibly beautiful films. Marie Antoinette is my absolute favourite. There is something about how Sophia merges her gorgeous imagery with a rockin’ soundtrack that I connect with and the only thing better than this film is the soundtrack which I finally bought this week. Go check it out on iTunes now – I think I am in love with Hong Kong Garden by Siouxie and the Banshees. And after you’ve bought it, go buy the Virgin Suicides soundtrack too They both are the Bees Knees.

Puppy Time – I have started trying to schedule my day a little more and one thing I wanted to add in was regular time with our two puppies. The best time of my day is taking them for a walk with Grant as we discuss our plans and dreams while watching the girls foraging through the tall grass and leaves near the lake. They look so happy sniffing and running around it just melts my heart each time. Then for the rest of the day I am their BFF as they follow me everywhere and snooze the rest of the day away. Puppy time is the best.

I’ll leave you with one last moment that makes my heart sing. This gorgeous little vase I found in a York antique store for $8 and my home grown roses. I knew they would be a perfect fit. They definately are, the bees knees.

As if Von and Conrad hadn’t bought enough to the table for their wedding, but a couple of days after their nuptials we met at Kings Park for a Day After Session.

I highly recommend a Day After Session for those couples that might be time crunched on their wedding day for their on location portraits. This is especially a great idea when you are creating an album as I find most of my couples chose the images from their on location portraits for the majority of their album pages. So if on your particular day you have a short amount of time or perhaps can only squeeze in one location, a day after session might be just for you. You can change it up and perhaps have a more modern bouquet or add in props to the session. In Von’s case she wore a beautiful fascinator that she wore to their reception on their wedding day.

Von and Conrad took the opportunity of their day after session to add more images to their album and just spend some more time together – just the two of them – while I documented it all. I would photograph them every day of the week and twice on Sunday if I could.

The location. The light. Their clothes. Their love. It was bliss.

And so it begins.

We have set the wedding date, found the location and now comes the hard stuff. All those details and plans. I am beginning to have a new found respect for my brides (or any brides for that matter) who plan a wedding from top to bottom. It is a daunting task and perhaps the wisest piece of advise so far has come from Grant in saying that so long as we have planned as best we can, nothing can go wrong. Its always in the preparation that things can be overlooked or missed, but if we prepare as much as possible all that is left is for the day to unfold naturally and for us, and our guests, to enjoy the moments we have crafted.

And so while we begin the planning stages I thought it might be fun, and perhaps useful for other brides, to see how we are crafting our particular day of days. So here marks that first post of what I am sure to be many which are going to be categorised under PLANNING!

There is still much underwraps as we finalise some details but I can tell you this. It is a destination wedding and it is in 2011. We will not be getting married in Western Australia or anywhere else in Australia for that fact, so it is going to be a challenge putting it all together remotely. I am so looking forward to it though. Our ultimate aim is that it is a celebration over a few days, not just the one day when the actual nuptials take place. A time for us to spend time with those that we care about most.

And so as I put down the cheese and cracker and get my workout routine together, beauty routine, find the dress, the shoes, his suit, perhaps the attendants clothing, create the save the dates and invitations, find a florist and a photographer, plan events for our guests over the weekend – we have a lot to do and just over a year to do it. Totally doable. Right?

This is a inspiration board I created a month or two ago over at Style Me Pretty. It is an awesome application that I highly recommend any bride use in the initial planning stages as it makes it so much easier to see what could possibly eventuate out of those thoughts in your mind. This is how I envisage our wedding. It will be interesting to see how it actually turns out I keep hearing Darryl Kerrigan when I look at the Chanel shoes, “Tell her she’s dreamin’!”.

Wish us luck (and pray for good shoes)

xoxo

Von and Conrad are just perfect together. There is a synchronicity between them that speaks volumes about how much they care for one another. The light touch on the small of her back. The glance across the crowd to her groom with a knowing smile. They just get it and they get each other. Conrad looks at Von the way every woman wants to be adored. It is incredible to be witness to their relationship beginning the next chapter.

Von and Conrad are based in Melbourne and were initially supposed to be married at a private property on the outskirts of Perth. As fate would have it, circumstances left them finding a new venue and they came across Mosman’s Restaurant which was fortunately available for their date. Its funny that when I look at these images, each one is coherently Von and Conrad and I can’t imagine their day any other way or in any other location. It was a dream for me to be a part of and their collection is to die for.

I have to mention the time and effort they put into finding locations for their getting ready images that were beautiful as well as well lit was invaluable. As a natural light photographer, I will often forgo an attractive background for the best natural lighting. However, when I arrive to a beautiful home or wedding venue that has natural light pouring through the windows I often breathe a sigh of relief and have an internal “YES!” moment complete with fist pumping the air. It really does and makes my job much easier and creates those signature images that you see on the blog and in my portfolio – captured simply with the light that we are provided by the earth. Naturally.

Bride Getting Ready: Eight Nicholson
Brides Dress: Izaro
Brides Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Wedding/Reception: Mosman’s Restaurant
Flowers: Urban Flowers of Perth
Hair/Makeup Artist: Lisa Chester