September 30, 2013

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Jillian had some family portraits taken by me several years ago, when her daughter was only about a year old. After winning a contest we ran a while back, I finally had a time booked with Jillian and her family, to get back to Coogee Beach and update their family portraits.

So there I was, sitting near the Beach Palace and watching the water. It had been a few years since I last saw Jillian, so I was keeping a close eye out for her and the kids. And then, from nowhere, I saw a family casually strolling down the promenade, in full costume. Do my eyes deceive me? Could it be Jillian’s family?

Yes, actually. Jillian and her whole family were wandering along on a bright, busy, sunny morning at Coogee, dressed up in their favourite superhero / character costumes. Between them, they were a Transformer, Captain Cook, Michaelangelo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and a Princess.

I had NO idea they were planning this, and to be honest, it took me a few minutes to recover from the shock! But we got there in the end, and the portraits turned out REALLY well… even if I DO say so, myself. ;)

I chose this image to be part of my four-print submission for the Australian Professional Photography Awards this year. I entered it into “Groups” within the Family Portrait category. Sadly, it missed a Silver award by ONE point, scoring 79 points out of 100.

Not to worry. It’s still one of my favourite family portraits ever, and I’ll always remember that sunny morning at Coogee, and how surprised I was that the family arrived in full costume.

More than that, it captures everything I stand for when I shoot family portraits – energy, connection, love… and a bit of chaos!

I even got some cuddles from the kids at the end… awesome!

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