Callander Girl Photography

Sweet Courtnee Ann

Rachel — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:51:20 +0000

Courtnee is my second cousin- I like to think of her as my niece. Second cousin sounds far too removed! Pappa bear Richard is my youngest cousin and as I grew up with my cousins, I consider them all brothers and sisters. So I am very proud to introduce to you the newest addition to my family.

Courtnee is almost 3 weeks old and was a dream to photograph. Big sister Makayla is very encouraging and supportive of Courtnee and takes big sisterhood all in her small but sturdy stride.

Serious cuteness below…….. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I can almost hear your oooh’s, aaah’s and aaawww’s

Love the squishy face

Leanne you are so beautiful with her. You are a spectacular Mum.

Rich- I love how you are with your girls. ox

Makayla checks out Courtnee’s pockets

And like any good sister, tries to make the tears go away

I love this! The blanket is so retro and fun- love Courtnee’s wee face

Precious bundle.
It is such a privilege to capture these first weeks as you will change so much. These are for you Courtnee, and for your parents- and also for your Grandparents overseas who love you so much and cannot wait to meet you, hold you and get to know you.

oxox Love you guys heaps

Emma-Kate, Adam and a bit of “notebook” inspiration. A gorgeous Gore wedding

Rachel — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:41:50 +0000

I met Emma-Kate and Adam at their wedding practice on Friday and was greeted by a super chilled couple despite there being 6 bridesmaids, 6 groomsmen, 2 flower girls and various extras helping to get ready for the big day.
Emma-Kate’s sister Missy (you have met her before here) was sister/bridesmaid extraordinaire and helped immensely in holding things together.
Early on the morning of the wedding I went to visit one of our location options and found myself in the middle of a real life “Notebook” story.
John has been doing up this fabulous colonial house for the last 18 years all by himself. It is a labour of love and heartache and is absolutely exquisite. (You will see soon)
Emma-Kate and Adam’s day was full of laughs (helped by having 6 top rate boys around) and stolen glances (in fact the minister talked about this in his speech) The way these two looked at each other all day was quite magical.
I had a LOT of fun photographing this beautiful day- it also helped a lot that these two totally knew how to rock the camera.
See for yourselves.

Gorgeous girls

Stunning Bride!!

I love this moment where beautiful Lesley (mother of the bride) sheds a small tear during a surprise song at the ceremony

Married!! Love these eyes

Beautiful flower girl cleaning up the petals

See- total Notebook moment right here

LOVE this sooo much!

too much cuteness

so dreamy

rocking the camera. Emma you are so gorgeous

ditto again- love this dreamy magic moment

we found this great location where we could bring the whole tribe into the action

Everybody was unfazed as we waded through mud, braved the cold and the fading light. I love this simple story here.

Emma and Adam- it was my absolute pleasure to share your glorious day with you. I had so much fun and hope you had such a wonderful day.
All the very best in your future together!

oxoxoxoxxo

Double Talk

Rachel — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:49:58 +0000

These two are hot!!!!

Husband and wife team Sheryl and Ali work predominantly as a band for weddings, corporate events, family events, special occasions and anything that requires an extra bit of flair.
We had a lot of fun putting these images together- they have a natural and easy going energy that is driven by Sheryl’s gorgeous inner Diva. This is well balanced by Ali’s cruisy mojo and all topped off by the fact that they are incredible musicians.
These images will be used in their marketing and promotion and will be seen on their new website which is currently under construction by the very talented Tony of Yellow Design.
While we wait for the website I thought it would be fun to show a few sneak peeks of the shoot and give a big shout out to Double Talk.

Introducing Double Talk

Sheryl you are a total Diva!! You are so gorgeous!

They use some ultra spectacular and very photogenic gear!!

Double Talk are available for bookings- contact them on 03 686 2671 or email them at bookings@doubletalk.co.nz website www.doubletalk.co.nz
Sheryl’s fabulous hair and make-up by Brian and Barbara at Shine

not even the weather could dampen this day

Rachel — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:46:38 +0000

The wedding of Angela and Mike was long awaited- you may remember this time last year when we had their engagement session. 18months in the planning, these two know how to prepare.
I eagerly drove down to Dunedin, mentally visualizing possible ideas floating about in my head. I picked up the gorgeous Hasselblad from my great friend and legend Alan Dove and looked adoringly at my silver tin box full of film. Yes FILM!!! 120 film even- my absolute fave. Angela and Mike know their stuff and wanted something a bit different.
It was going to be a spectacular day.
In the morning we were greeted with possibly the worst day of the winter. Downpours, freezing temperatures and wind. I can handle delicate fairy rain, but this was extreme.
When I arrived at Angela’s house, I was greeted by a calm and stunning bride. Angela was not fazed at all. Nothing could dampen her spirits no matter how hard the weather tried.
I got a bit philosophical thinking about weddings as I often do after being at the wedding practice and meeting family and hearing snippets of stories. Ange’s Dad Murray has had colon cancer twice now and only has a smidgen of colon left in his body. It didn’t look like he would even be here to witness the wedding at one stage. So for him to be walking his little girl down the aisle was immensely precious.
It is in these moments when I am struck by how profound a wedding is. A wedding is a celebration of all the memories of a person’s life- all the parts that have gone before are honoured and magnified in the uniting of two people. The triumphs, hurts, people who have been part of bringing up a child all witness this handing over process. This is why I cry a lot at weddings of people I hardly know. The emotion of it all coming together is just a bit much for my romantic heart.

I will let the photos do the rest of the talking now…. but thanks for coming this far with me.

Details details….

Ashley and Holly were adorable and did really well throughout the whole day.

I think I was holding my breath here- oxox Love this moment

First Church is a dramatic backdrop for a wedding ceremony-

Ange- you are seriously gorgeous! Such a natural beauty. xo I love photographing you so much

I love this so much!!

The lovely ladies! Lisa and Shanay (sorry if this is spelt wrong) were fab bridesmaids

And the boys- you make the church look HOT!!

then we braved the cold, wind, wet and got into extreme photography mode! I LOVE this photo. One of my all time faves.
I would like to give a shout out to my lovely assistant Kimberley Cheyne at this point. Without your help carrying my gear, providing a brolly over my head, moral support, laughing at my jokes etc etc etc- the shoot would have been a shambles. Thank you so much! ox

This totally sums up the great attitudes of everyone present. It was such a blast being part of your day!

So great! oxox You guys are so much fun

Love love

Boys- thanks for being so great! Dan and Jagger you were such fun groomsmen! You really helped make the day fun.

beauty full. I am loving the sepia. It suits the weather and vibe of the day so well. It is rich and warm, and enhances the emotion.

I have nothing to say that could possibly add anything to this perfect moment.

Ange and Mike- It was my absolute pleasure and honour to be your wedding photographer. I have enjoyed the journey and wait for your wedding day so much. I hope we can keep in touch in the future. You are a very special couple. I cannot wait to show you the rest and make you a spectacular album!
120 film is being processed too!! oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Miss Harriet

Rachel — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:04:13 +0000

Harriet, there is serious danger of me going a bit over the top about how gorgeous you are. So in the interests of having a post without a whole lot of gushing, I am going to just let the photos do the talking.

It was so lovely to meet you and your fabulous parents poppet pie! I hope we will meet again soon.

oxox

A perfect winter wedding

Rachel — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:27:17 +0000

The day was beautiful.
I hadn’t met Brenda and Paul in person until I turned up at the wedding practice the night before the wedding. I instantly knew we were going have an amazing day.
Brenda and Paul have a natural cheeky fun way of interacting and the practice was full of stolen glances, pats on the bottom, giggles, smiles and great words.
These two are special people. They give a lot.
They met while working with youth at their church. Brenda is a nurse, Paul a farmer and together they spread a lot of love about.
Brenda was a stunning bride, very relaxed, calm and elegant.

Brenda you are simply gorgeous!

The colour theme went so well with the winter light and temperature. I love this shade of red and it set the tone of romance.

The boys wait nervously! Love the expressions here so much.

The unveiling! I really like the way Brenda and Paul kept this tradition as part of the ceremony.

LOVE red shoes. I have said it before and I’ll keep on saying it. It totally works!!

LOVE these colours!!!

You guys are so great together. I love this moment.

Also I love this- a lot.

Oh this was amazing!! The sun came out right at this moment and was like a spot light on the lovely ladies. I love this so much! You all look so beautiful!

Stunning girls! Amy and Lisa are Brenda’s nieces. It was so meaningful to have them as bridesmaids. You girls were so great to spend the day with. ox

The boys… I Love the casualness. You boys rock this photo.

Beautiful fun bride + easy going fun groom+ ocean view beach+ sunset+ HORSES = TOTAL AMAZING ROMANTICNESS!!!

I was in photographic heaven. This was such an incredible way to finish up our photo time.

Brenda and Paul I am so excited to show you these memories from your spectacular day. Thank you so much for the incredible honour of being your photographer. Spending the day celebrating with you and your family was such a privilege for me. I wish you all the happiness in the world. ox
Can’t wait to show you the rest! Soon!
oxoxoxox

highlights

Rachel — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:54:28 +0000

Hello everyone, I have been wanting to blog for a few weeks now but have not been able to find the required time and brain power to do so. I have for you though a conglomeration (love that word) of what I have been up to these past few weeks. I have been to Invercargill to photograph the lovely 8 day old Sienna, on a week long holiday with my beauty full friend Tracy to the McKenzie Country (which was so bliss by the way) I met gorgeous wee Madison and her parents and photographed a beautiful Winter Wedding in Dunedin last weekend. The odometer on my car is now a hefty 2500kms higher than 2 weeks ago!!
I will post more details about all these things in the future hopefully, but if I am going to be able to get through everything it needs to be all jumbled together in a fun filled post of highlights!

and one very sneak peek from the wedding on Saturday… more to come soon!
This is my fave

Kirsty and Jono

Rachel — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:17:25 +0000

WOW Rach - we knew we were hiring the best and you have just proven again how amazingly talented you are. We had so much fun with you on our wedding day and are so blown away with the awesomely super fantastic memories you’ve given us of our day! Thanks so much!!!

Jono and Kirsty

Hineau and Hayden

Rachel — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:13:06 +0000

love love LOVE the photos thanks so much.
Absolutely beautiful. You have done such a great job thank you so much Rach.

Hineau and Hayden

Dani and Stephen

Rachel — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:09:24 +0000

oh my gosh Rachel You are the best! Yay thank you so much. Thanks for the photos! We have received them and they are gorgeous
Again thank you so much again

Dani and Stephen