Award

Today I had an email from a lovely friend, Esti Erasmus, who follows my blog and she wanted to give me a blog award - what a lovely thing to receive in my emails today. Thank you Esti.

If you'd like to take a look at her lovely blog, here's where to go - Esti Erasmus.

She's asked that I list 7 things about myself that you wouldn't know.

1. I'm the eldest child in my family and also the eldest grandchild.

2. I remember playing with my Dad's SLR camera (Nikon I think) as a young child and trying to figure out how to get the dial to go into the middle.

3. I like to eat my chocolate cold from the fridge.

4. I don't drink coffee.

5. I love my house to be clean but I hate wasting my time doing it.

6. I can keep a secret.

7. I love freshly painted toenails.

There you go, thanks again Esti for this.

Now, off to finish writing those Christmas Cards of mine before the big day arrives.

Sydney 2010 sessions

Well the year has just flown by and it's less than 40 days until I head to Sydney for a wedding workshop and also some sessions with some wonderful families - I'm really looking forward to it.

I only have 2 session times remaining - one on Monday 11 January at 4.30pm/5pm
- one on Wednesday 13 January at 8/8.30am


If you would like some information, please email me and I'll send you the details out
leannestamatellos (at) hotmail.com


I have some great locations in mind and I can't wait to meet everyone.

A one hour session includes,

all high resolution images on disc for you to print as you wish

as well as five 5x7 images sent to you.

Of course, you get to have lots of fun too which is the best part!


Can't wait to see my Sydney friends soon.

It's Christmas time ....

Well they don't call it the silly season for no good reason.
Not only has the year flown by but now December is here and my youngest son, Joshua (3.5yrs old) keeps asking each morning if Santa has been - not long now!

I've had a wonderful year with my photography with all my business coming from word of mouth. It's a powerful thing and I appreciate all the referrals from family and friends. All orders have been sent out and final orders for Xmas cards are going out this week.

I'm looking forward to a special Christmas and also a really rewarding 2010.

January is shaping up to be a really busy month. I'm booked solid with sessions and I'll also be heading to Sydney for 3 days to attend a workshop by Jasmine Star - voted one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the world. While I'm there I'll be photographing some gorgeous families (will be contacting you all soon to confirm details). I have one session time still available for Wednesday,January 14, 2010 - feel free to email me if you're interested in taking that spot.

Then in March I'll be heading over to Las Vegas to attend one of the biggest events in the Photographic Industry - WPPI. It's a convention for Wedding and Portrait photographers with over 12,000 photographers flying in from all over the world to attend.
I will be fortunate enough to be taught by YERVANT (Wedding Photographer of the Year - in the entire world) in a small class of 25 students for 2 entire days as well as attend so many fantastic lectures and classes by the leading photographers in the industry. I can hardly believe I'm going and can't wait to put into practice what I learn.

Thank you again for all the support I've received and the lovely comments that are left on my blog.

I wish you and your families a magical Christmas and a fantastic New Year.
Best wishes,
Leanne

shane + katrina + charlie

I had a late afternoon session with Charlie and his parents last weekend. He was almost 1 year old and he had me running to capture some photos of him. I was running down the jetty, running under the jetty, running on the sand and running in the water. He is adorable and such an easy going little boy. Thank goodness, Katrina grabbed a few changes of clothing - he went through them all while attempting to join the kite surfers that day.

Here are a few of my favourite photos of Charlie and his family.

Something about this shot I absolutely love.

I can see this really big on canvas!

matt, cassie + charlie and mark, simone + william and grant + stephanie

I captured so many lovely photos from this session last weekend. Nothing was too much to ask and everyone went along with my ideas. The girls kept both Charlie and William laughing and smiling all morning with their beautiful songs.

Take a look at Charlie - 7 months old and sitting like a pro.

This image just has to be blown up on a canvas - look at that beautiful face.

Charlie with his stunning mum, Cassie.



Meet William - isn't he just adorable!

Attemping a quick getaway!



Doesn't he have a beautiful mum in Simone!

Grant and Stephanie - how cool is this couple! We got to capture some 'kid free' photos here.

Check out William's hairdo - nice!

aww - just like a little cabbage patch doll.

Such a good looking family.

Love this one!

How excited is William that he's standing - 10 months old.

More kid free pics!

This is a favourite of mine - Stephanie you look amazing!

Thanks again for a fun session - discs and photos will be out soon.

damien + lisa + perry + liam + toby + george

You know you're going to get some fun photos when you have four gorgeous young boys, with the greatest smiles and terrific personalities. Of course it helps when looked as cool as they did in their gear - thanks Lisa !

Here's Perry ... too cool.

Doesn't this photo make you smile? This is Toby.

Gorgeous George! How sweet is he!

And the charismatic Liam - he had so many great ideas for this session.

One of my favourite collages ever .... love to see this big and on a wall.

Here's one of Liam's ideas - anyone need a photographer's assistant?

Lisa was quite happy to have photos of the boys only ... how could I do that?

So here's the photo I promised you'd be out of focus in.

Cool, cool, cool!

Wish we had brought some empty spray cans to make this look more authentic - the boys loved this wall - tried some ACID processing on this shot - does it work?

And, the last shot of the day ... capturing real life - I love it!

Great idea Damien.

Thanks again for a great afternoon - it was a pleasure to capture some photos of the family.

Can't wait to make your Christmas cards with your favourites.

phillip + annette + aiden + maddison

With the Christmas season sneaking up on us, things are getting pretty busy around here. Last weekend, I had so much fun photographing Annette and her gorgeous family. We started at this terrific park near their home with an old fashioned swing tied to a huge tree - the kids had a ball and I have some great action shots. Then we head down to a secluded little beach where we took some more photos - it was a lovely afternoon.

Here are a few photos from the session - I hope you like them!

I told you they were a gorgeous family - thanks for looking.
More sessions later in the week.