So, as promised, here's the Maxabellaland family as seen through the masterful lens of lifestyle photographer Tim Coulson... And, yes, that's me. So, I guess my days of pretending to be a petite, classy, blonde are over, but at least you know what I mean when I blog about things like my hair taking over the entire world.* It's all completely true. It could actually happen.
Tim shoots 'documentary' style - families 'doing what they do'. So we had breakfast, dressed the Tsunamis and ourselves, played outside on the swing and trampoline for a while. Typical Saturday morning stuff (the image above, for example, is me consoling Cappers because she had a melt-down (an annoying meltdown) after I called her... annoying. I know that's not a nice thing for a mumma to call her daughter but... she was!)
What do you wear to a 'doing what you do' photo session? I didn't want us to be matchy-matched (the white t-shirt plus jeans uniform springs to mind) or too stagey-staged (everyone wearing red). Otherwise, it had to be clothes that we would typically wear on any given Saturday, although I banned myself from my signature-noncolour black and I made sure none of us clashed! Seemed to work okay.
Tim just slotted right in. From the minute LOML opened the door to his smiling face, he was just part of the family. His easy, confident manner is crucial to the style of photography he does - he was both present through his excellent company and invisible in the way he blended in. At one point a pillow-fight broke out and you could just tell that Tim was itching to put down the camera and join in! Fortunately, he stayed on the tools and got some great shots for us.
We spend many a weekend at a fave, little-known spot, and that's where we took Tim next. We tromped around playing in the playground, walking along the paths and skipping stones. I kept forgetting that Tim was taking photos, to be honest. The resulting images are some of my very favourites.
Oh, the joy of having this record of our family doing what we do. What a wonderful morning we had with Tim and, aside from his magic with the lens, it was an honour to meet him. I mentioned on a post on his blog that I always thought that good photographers had an ability to capture light that the rest of us don't have. But now I know that it's because they carry that light around inside them. Tim just shines, I tell you!
I know that images of my family are far more exciting for me, than for you, so I thank you for your endless patience. And please do stop over and say hi to Tim... he's very nice and his blog is lovely. I'm off to look at my photos once again... can't stop looking... will never stop looking!
* Not to mention my butt... does the camera add 5kg or 55? And please remember, I look completely different to this in my head.
[All images by Tim Coulson]