Melissa Stampa Photography

Miss M - { South Burnett Children's Photographer }

2012-02-12T21:35:00.002+10:00

How wonderful it is to have repeat clients. Miss M has grown from bump to newborn to a bubbly little 9 month old in images I have taken of her. She is such a delight to be around and so much like her Mama. Here is a few of her shots from today. I crack up laughing everytime I see the one of her on the green chair - what an expression! You're so cute, missy.

February Mini Shoots - { South Burnett Child Photographer }

2012-02-12T20:33:00.002+10:00

So today was mini shoot day! Hooray! I had some great fun with these three little people who all just loved the peddle car. Enjoy your sneak peek!

Valentine's Day - { South Burnett Boudoir Photographer }

2012-02-07T10:02:00.002+10:00

In December I put out a call for a boudoir model to help me out with a Valentine's Day promo I was looking at doing. Sam responded almost immediately and I knew she would really suit the retro look I was wanting to go for. We teed up a day in January and Sam drove out from the Sunshine Coast - what a friend! We had hair done at Chris Cross Hair Studio in Kingaroy, and then make up done upstairs at Sans age Spa. Then we headed out to Sunny Ridge Gardens and Fudgery to catch up with Rav and Armani, the alpacas. I love alpacas and wanted to just do a quirky shot with the alpaca and Sam before we headed back to the studio. We took some studio images, then a few at some nearby locations before she headed back. It would have been a HUGE day for her but the results are stunning. She just looked fabulous and I'm so happy with how the images came up. Below is a sample of the images followed by the two deals I'm running for Valentine's Day. I would love to work with you to create some beautiful fun portraits of yourself or your partner (or both of you!). Contact me at admin@leftofcentrephotography.com.au to book in or to discuss things. And don't forget to pop over to my facebook page as I often post specials and limited time packages over there. :)

The Secret Garden - { South Burnett Events Photographer }

2012-01-08T20:52:00.002+10:00

Before Christmas I photographed the 1st birthday party of little Miss Charlise - Jodi's daughter from Little Bit Lush. A bunch of awesome women from the South Burnett came together to make a seriously stylish party and I'm so rapt I got to capture it all.

The party was The Secret Garden theme and the colours were violet and chartreuse. Jacqueline from Standout Creations put together the cutest little invitations as well as the labels on the the sweets table. Renee from Swish Events styled it, Karmilla from Karmilla's Cakes provided the cake and baked treats. Jacq from Jacq's Circus and Enchanted Faces put on a circus and facepainting for the children. And the whole thing was held at Sunny Ridge Gardens and Fudgery and Kathy also did the omg, too-good-for-words fudge.

I was so so impressed with the whole thing, the party goers entered and got their choice of green or purple hair clips or clip on bow tie (CUUUUUTE!), there was a little soft reading area with throw cushions and lanterns and The Secret Garden book (the babies loved it) and the view was amazing. There were balloon balls and a hobby horse in the theme colours. Peacocks strutted around without a care, a pony was wearing purple and green flower clips in his hair and alpacas were grazing out in a field.

The sweets table was just beautiful - so many little details. And those flowers at the front were actually handcrafted chocolate made by Treats Chocolates. Honestly, I could just go on and on.

I'll leave you with the photos though and to check out others you can pop on over to Amy Atlas's blog as the party was lucky enough to be featured! Exciting!

Packaging Pretties. { South Burnett Photographer }

2011-12-30T21:32:00.002+10:00

I'm making my own CD wallets now as part of personalising your photography experience with me. Each wallet will be handmade. Fabrics and trims will vary to make each wallet a little bit unique. Just like you.

Chicoco Love - { Children's Wear Fashion Shoot )

2011-12-10T14:25:00.002+10:00

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with Carolyn of Chicoco a beautiful clothing label for girls aged 0-13 years. Chicoco dresses are amazing - total testament to Carolyn's fantastic sense of style. This one is the Very Special Tea Party dress and truly, images cannot show just how stunning this dress is in real life. So many little details make it amazing.

You can find Chicoco here. And like them on facebook here.

Cowgirl ~ Themed Shoot - { Nanango Child Photographer }

2011-11-28T20:30:00.003+10:00

Golden afternoon for a play at being a cowgirl! Thanks for being such a fantastic little model, Miss R. I hope you enjoy your sneak peek. :)

SMCC Formal 2011 { South Burnett Events Photographer }

2011-11-17T20:14:00.002+10:00

This was actually the first formal I've had the pleasure of attending - ever - so what an eye-opening experience for me. Jess, my daughter in year 8, assisted me and I think her eyes were glazing over at the glitz of the evening. The girls were dressed AMAZINGLY, the guys were incredibly dapper, everyone had awesome style and co-ordinated beautifully with eachother. And of course they all arrived in style with an array of vehicles from mustangs and vintage cars to stretch pink hummers to a rickshaw. The red carpet was awash with people waiting to catch a glimpse of the graduates as they stepped out, cheers as they ascended, music playing and mini interviews as they reached the doors. It was truly incredible - I'm sure the Year 12's had an amazing night - they were certainly dressed for it.

Congratulations on the end of your schooling career, people, all the best with your future ventures. Here is a sneak peek of your evening before I finish up with the official photos. :)

Free Spirits { South Burnett Child Photographer }

2011-11-06T18:26:00.002+10:00

That is definitely a couple of words I would use to describe this little Miss 4 and her baby sister. Actually, she reminded me a lot of my almost 4 year old - fast friends with everyone, full of energy and just a sprinkle of cheeky. And her 5 month old baby sis was a sunny little delight full of grins. I hope you enjoy a few quick peeks before I have your gallery up!

Field of Flowers { Nanango Child Photographer }

2011-11-05T20:34:00.002+10:00

Spring in the South Burnett is AMAZING! The wildflowers are out, the jacarandas bloom, the wheat is ripe... Two little blossoms in a field of flowers - can it get any more picturesque. :)

Little Cherub - { South Burnett Photographer }

2011-11-05T13:25:00.002+10:00

This little one was such a delight to photography today... she was lovely and interactive, showing off her beautiful big eyes and lovely eyelashes and then when she decided being a model was all too much she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep!

Friday Fun { Nanango Child Photographer }

2011-10-28T16:06:00.002+10:00

Today these two little gorgeous people and their mum came out to the studio to visit me and see if we could get some images of them. Little Miss was very serious today but as you can see she is still completely gorgeous anyways and Mr 4 years old tried knock knock jokes with me but I messed up the punch line! Oops! We had fun regardless. We even took an impromptu trip to the yellow wildflowers - pretty!

Party of 5 { South Burnett Family Photographer }

2011-10-27T20:06:00.004+10:00

I had a lovely afternoon out with this family of 5 this afternoon. It's amazing how excited kids get by a few helium balloons. These children were so photogenic it's going to be hard to cull down a gallery, I took soooo many photos. Enjoy a few of them from the sneak peek, guys - I'll have your gallery up within the next 48 hours. :)

Themed Shoot | Red { Nanango & Kingaroy Child Photographer }

2011-10-22T18:46:00.005+10:00

I started doing Themed Shoots recently - something a little bit different and I was so excited to gather all the little red bits and pieces for this shoot. How adorable is this little 1 year old!? Nikita was just gorgeous and such a pleasure to photograph. It started to rain on us a little during the shoot but fortunately the wind blew it away quickly! Thanks so much for coming out and playing with us today!

Bunting by: ZippyZippy

Lace Bloomers and Leggings by: Little Bit Lush

Blackboard by: Lark

Bath tub Baby { Nanango Child Photographer }

2011-10-18T14:46:00.002+10:00

I've been looking EVERY where for an old washtub and then I found one when I least expected to. Usually when I'm photographing babies I have another set of hands or two to hold the baby while I'm shooting. However this time all three of my 'big' girls were out and so was hubby so I was forced to ask Alex (6) to be my 'holder'. Evie mostly sits on her own now so she didn't need to much holding up. There was no water in the bath and she was propped up with pillows to sit high enough. Our red hens are very curious and came over to have a squizz.

A party with Swish Events - { Kingaroy Events Photographer }

2011-10-17T15:41:00.002+10:00

I recently had the pleasure of photographing the stylings of a vintage party put together by Swish Events. The details were AMAZING and Renee is just lovely. I think I may have squealed when I saw the votive drink dispenser. The cake looked delish and was created by Karmilla's Cakes. Click the names to like their facebook pages and see more of their grand work.

Some more of the 52 week Selfies project. { Nanango Photographer }

2011-10-14T18:37:00.002+10:00

Thought I would update with the latest selfies in the 52 week project. I think I'm going to need to go on a prop hunt soon as I have some ideas on my list that I need some bits and pieces for. :)

Beach Fun - { Brisbane Family Photographer }

2011-10-10T19:20:00.003+10:00

On the weekend I had the fortune to photograph a seriously special family reunion. R hasn't seen her dad in EIGHT YEARS! He had flown over from New Zealand to visit with his gorgeous wife and for them to meet their grandkids. Usually you have to really encourage people to play with each other but this family was full of joy and a total pleasure to photograph.

Thank you SO MUCH for such an awesome day at the beach! Enjoy your sneak peek until your gallery is up!

So Darn Dapper - { Nanango Child Photographer }

2011-09-15T19:49:00.003+10:00

Thirteen years ago when I first became a mummy I would never have dreamed of the wild array of little girls clothes that are available now. The internet has a lot to answer for. Seriously. My bank balance asks questions. In a time when the shops are full of clothing for little girls that makes them look like strange little Bratz dolls, the handmade revolution is a welcome breath of fresh air to many mothers like myself who believe that kids should look like...well, kids.

And there is a lot of choice out there for little girls right now. Pillowcase dresses in florals and laces, crochet details, amazing headwear, ruffle pants - the list is long and full of beautiful innocence. But as I bemoaned on facebook the other week, when it comes to boys I was at a serious loss. I wanted my little guy to have some cute accessories too. After all, he runs to the door whenever the postie brings some new piece of gorgeousness to his sister.

I've got a themed shoot coming up that is going to be amazingly vintage and very cool and I've been hunting down 'the details' for it and discovered this super cute retro looking suspenders from Little Bit Lush. And while I'm out there today picking up a couple of pairs, the woman that owns the shop takes down this too cute red hat. Which my son claims and walks around the house ALL DAY wearing. Totally adorable.

Slightly left of centre - { Nanango Child Photographer }

2011-09-02T19:14:00.004+10:00

They told us not to work with children or animals - but we've never really liked rules.

Another awesome headband creation from Petite Bling. And the phone table was a second hand score this week from a local. You can guarantee it will be making an appearance as a prop again! (Thanks to Khal Drogo the chicken for his awesome co-operation)

***Please note: this is a composition shot - someone's hand was on the baby at all times.

Giveaway - { Nanango Portrait Photographer }

2011-08-31T18:53:00.003+10:00

This week I hit 350 likers on my facebook page and to celebrate and to thank you all for your awesome support I decided to hold a giveaway. I'm giving away a free shoot - in Nanango at one of my favourite locations - plus a free digital photo package of 10 high resolution digital images and 10 5x7 copies of your negatives plus 1 8x10. Priced at $500 - so a pretty awesome giveaway! Open to anyone local or those willing to travel for up to 6 people and to be taken in the months of September or October 2011. The winning participant has to be willing to allow me to blog the session because I want to show off how very awesome I KNOW these images are going to be! The shoot is not transferrable or redeemable for cash.

SO! How do you enter? As you might have noticed from my images I'm a little bit quirky. Slightly left of centre. So to enter I want you to shoot me an email to mel@melissastampa.com.au with your quirky shoot idea. Like my facebook page and invite your friends to 'like' my page too and tell me that you sent them so I can keep a running tally of your referrals. The most referrals wins! I'm announcing the winner on the 6th of September. Good luck, people!

And because I find it physically impossible to post a blog entry and not images here are my latest self portraits from my 52 weeks project.

So chic!

2011-08-26T12:14:00.003+10:00

I know I'm biased but I think I make pretty cute kids. The little kids all suffer from photographer's child syndrome - which is that as soon as they see the camera they run, turn away or occasionally collapse into a tantrum of "Muuuuum! I don't want anymore phoootooos!" It's probably made worse by me because I've got this dreadful habit of saying "Okay, just one more pic... *snap snap snap snap snap*... Okay just one more..." But I can't help it because they're so darn cute. My older girls are however, total hams. They play it up for the camera, fight over who gets to have their photos taken, wait anxiously while I process them and within seconds of me uploading it to facebook my eldest will have set it as her profile picture.

Just six months ago Ebony would stand awkwardly in front of the camera if bribed to pose. She would forget how to smile. She would become robotic and look weird and unnatural in images. Yesterday her shoot started out like that. But after a few frames she was all hand on hip, flicking her hair and laughing. We got some great images of her.

Ebony was so lucky because a couple of weeks ago I managed to snaffle a highly sought after Chicoco dress which is completely divine. I just love this soft, girly look that is so chic and sweet looking at the same time. We teamed it up with a stunning headpiece from Petite Bling, some black balloons and had some fun. Below are some of the images from yesterday.

To try to snaffle your own Chicoco dress pop on over to their facebook page here or their website. Petite bling can be found here and has some absolutely gorgeous headbands for little girls from tiny bubbas to bigger girls.

Have an awesome weekend, peoples!

Why I don't have my wedding photos on my wall...

2011-08-24T12:19:00.003+10:00

I can't emphasis enough how important it is to hire a good wedding photographer. It's the one lasting memory you have to remember that day you spent planning for months. I mean, what other occasion do you plan down to your underwear? You do your nails, your hair, you buy the dress. You pick the location, the menu, the table settings. You hire someone to marry you and work out who drives to the wedding in what. You plan your music. And it's pricey stuff. Getting married will seriously put a dent in your savings or house deposit. It will deplete your holiday fund. And if you're lucky it will happen once in your lifetime.

These days odds are if you're planning a wedding you probably have a friend or cousin or Uncle Bob with a DSLR. They're relatively inexpensive and they will take nicer photos than your point and shoot. If you take a look on google or your local noticeboard there will be advertisements for a veritable smorgasbord of photographers. It's confusing stuff. Some are offering discs of all images - the images are different sized, some can be printed and some can't. Some offering only prints. Some are offering coffee table books and albums and discs and their grandmother's dog in order to get the gig. Obviously you can only hire who you can afford. I don't advocate going into huge debt to get your wedding images. But as a client recently said to me, "cutting corners just to save a couple of bucks is a false economy when you don't get what you want."

I shoot with myself and a second photographer so that we don't miss vital 'moments'. We begin with the bride getting her hair done and end the day with a mock cake cutting. We generally come home with thousands of images - literally. I go through them and cull them to the very best ones - a few hundred. I edit each of those images tastefully and carefully. I upload them to a password protected online gallery so you can choose your favourites and then depending on your package you get a variety of prints and a varying amount of files on disc. The prints are archive quality, the packaging the best quality in Australia. Because I'm picky like that. I probably won't be the cheapest quote you get. But your wedding photography should cost more than a television. It's a lifetime gift. It is forever.

I don't have a single photo of my wedding up in my house. I actually can barely stand to look at them. It's not even that they are bad but they are boring and old school images. They don't really tell the story of the day. I wish often that I had really researched my photographer. To make it up to myself (and my husband) I thought maybe for our 10 year anniversary we could do a couples shoot with someone awesome in formal wear or something quirky (because I love quirky) and that will be cool and I'll be glad for it but I'll always be disappointed that I don't have the actual wedding day images. We'll never look that way again and not just because now I've got a few more wrinkles and he has a little less hair. But we'll never again look at each other as husband and wife for THE FIRST TIME.

So please while you are planning your wedding take the time out to really search out the perfect photographer for you. See if you can view one of their weddings - start to finish - so you can see exactly what sort of collection you'll get - not just the few photos that were the cream of the crop. Have a look at their editing and see whether it is still going to look fantastic in 20 years. Sure black and white with just your bouquet in colour might be a bit different now but in 20 years time it could be a bit like the mullet....a good idea at the time but kind of cringeworthy now.

When I take your wedding images I want to give you something you can put on your wall. Because I don't have any wedding images on mine.

Surrendering to the Cute of it.

2011-08-22T16:56:00.004+10:00

I've been at this mothering gig for 13 and a half years now. And when I first held a squalling red newborn in my arms (all 4lb 7oz of her) I decided that I would not push stereotypical pink outfits on her. Or dolls. Or headbands on her bald head. I wouldn't buy Barbies. I wouldn't read Shirley Barber books.

But what amazed me was how children naturally gravitate towards gender stereotypical toys on their own. I didn't push pink or dolls on Jessie. But Jessie wanted them anyway. And three daughters later when I finally gave birth to a son we certainly had a surplus of dress up shoes (which I still maintain are the most ridiculous girls toy ever - plastic high heels that snap in three seconds hooray) but Alex would reach for a truck. Or a matchbox car.

Reuben (my fifth child) is mostly similar although he has a serious love for the colour pink. So much so that he often tells me - loudly, and in public - that he's so glad we "have a pink baby". This mortifies me because while I realise he means a GIRL baby who we dress in pink I'm concerned that others will misinterpret it to be some kind of racial thing. Which it's not. So if any one sees a little boy in glasses with dirt on him somewhere asking lots of questions of a frazzled looking 30 year old woman toting a 'pink baby' - that's us.

Six children down the track - my last baby, my 'finale' - I threw all of that out the window and decided sod it. Evie is dressed in a wardrobe of outfits in varying shades of pink with a plethora of cutesy hats and headbands. I'm sure soon enough she'll be like all my children tearing headbands and hats off their heads (Don't they KNOW about sun awareness!) so I figure I've got to get in as many cute headbands as possible.

And she doesn't look like she minds too much anyway.

Evie is wearing headbands from Petite Bling. Find them on Facebook!

Everyday Beauties

2011-08-19T09:41:00.004+10:00

I've always been a huge fan of the peach blossoms that seem to appear almost overnight as winter prepares to turn to spring. One day the trees are nothing but bare skeletons and then the next a few blossoms appear and within days the entire tree covered in pale pink blossoms with a dark pink centre that are impossibly beautiful to look at. I can't stop wandering over to the window to peer out at them. There is something entrancing about a tree with no leaves but covered in flowers. On the way to Kingaroy from Nanango the sides of the road are pitted with tons of these types of blossoms on leaf-bare trees - I'm not sure what type of tree they are or if they're actually a nuisance to the natural landscape but they're insanely beautiful to look at. It's times like that that I just love this part of the country and think there is no way I could ever return to suburbia.

We have a few stone fruit trees in our backyard that have been dreadfully neglected as while I was pregnant I couldn't bear the thought of yard work with my dodgy pelvis much less actually do it. So while I doubt I'll get as many beautiful blossoms as I usually do it was still a pleasure to see them start arriving. Before you know it it will be Jacaranda-Go-Purple day in September.

Earth Mother { Brisbane Maternity Photographer }

2011-08-16T13:35:00.003+10:00

This is another catch up blog post from my maternity leave and shows of the beautiful belly of a woman who I've had the pleasure of photographing on a few occasions now. I've known S for half my life so I consider her extended family and she is one of the sweetest people and natural mothers I've met. S was about 36 weeks pregnant with her second child - a little boy - here. We went with some very relaxed lifestyle type family images for the indoors shots and for outdoors we were trying to capture some images that really showed who S is as a person, some shots that were earthy and natural and maybe have a touch of something ethereal about them.

52 Selfies - { Fun Personal Post }

2011-08-10T10:02:00.002+10:00

Six weeks ago a photographer friend of mine posted on facebook - "Who wants to do a 52 selfies (self portrait) project with me?" Photographers love any excuse to photograph but often we're not real rapt about being in front of the camera - or alternatively there's no one to take our photos! So I was ready to jump in with both feet. It seemed like a great idea to have some fun and stretch my creative legs to see what I could come up with each week.

We set up a group with 65 participants and so far we're on week 6 and the quality of work is astounding. There's images that make you burst out laughing and images that make you feel like crying. There is some collections that are running on a theme but basically my theme was no theme because part of my psyche seems to be that if there are too many rules my motivation goes, "Meh" and nothing happens. True story.

So far my 6 selfies have been all completely different. Week 1 was a photograph of me and Evie because at 7 weeks old she was still basically living in my arms. Actually at 13 weeks old she's still kind of living in my arms, but I digress. Week 2 was a simple front on black and white portrait. Week 3 was me in my newspaper garden (too darn cold for a real one!). Week 4 had me holding some helium balloons just prior to my second eldest daughter's 12th birthday party where the vast majority of those balloons ended in squeaky voices. Week 5 I became Little Red Riding Hood - purely so I had an excuse to wear the cape. And Week 6 I became a Stepford Wife because basically that is the complete opposite of me. I totally bought those cookies from the bakery and whacked them on a plate so I could look like I baked them because while I'm quite happy to scour eBay for the perfect 1950's dress for an image I draw the line at baking.

STUNNING Mumma-to-be { Nanango & Kingaroy Maternity Photographer }

2011-08-07T15:48:00.003+10:00

A huge thank you to M & M and their beautiful little boy H who drove out from Brisbane to visit us today in Nanango and have their maternity photos taken. M is 36 weeks pregnant with their second child and looks amazing. And she certainly had more energy than I've ever had by that stage!

I hope you enjoy your sneak peek guys - I'll have the gallery up shortly for you!

Little Miss M - { Nanango Newborn Photographer }

2011-08-02T13:56:00.007+10:00

I know, I know. I'm the world's worst blogger and I'm terribly behind on sessions. This is little Miss M who's mummy I took photos of way back here. Miss M made the two hour trip out to Nanango from Brisbane when she wasn't even 2 weeks old. I'm assured she slept the whole way - even babies like outings to the country!

Evie's Room - { The Nursery }

2011-08-01T12:47:00.008+10:00

I've had a LOT of people comment on Evie's Room and ask where I got certain things so I thought I would do up a blog post and give you all the links. :)

The colours in Evie's room are Dulux paints - Antique White USA and the pink trim is Marshmallow Magic.

Her furniture is from the Amani Babyhood Range and from Bubs and Grubs. It's delivered very promptly and they had wonderful customer service. The furniture was easily put together. My husband put together the cot but I put together the change table and her drawers. :) We got the 7 piece package down the bottom. We have also used Bubs and Grubs for Evie's Mamas & Papas Dream Swing , her Oricom Secure 200 baby monitor and her Twilight Turtle nightlight.

We get soooo many comments about her wall decal from My Friend Matilda. It is stunning in her room, adding a beautiful splash of colour and it was simple to put up by my mother and myself. You could easily put it up mostly by yourself although it was handy to have an extra set of hands on the curly branches.

Her bunting was bought from the madeit website through the seller Chester and Lolly.

Her cot has a handmade quilt sewed by my Nanna (Evie's great Nanna) with owl fabric bought from funkyfabrix. They have a great range of fun fabrics and are reasonably priced with quick postage. The remainder of the owl fabric got cut out and attached to the bottom of her curtains with vliesofix. Her curtains are sewn by me with fabrics from Spotlight. You can pick vliesofix up from most craft stores and I believe Spotlight sells it also.

She also has a hand crocheted granny square blanket made by myself with 100% machine washable merino yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills in Wild Orchid and Wild Apple.

Evie's little cot friend in the top image is her stuffed owl from Plushka on madeit. There were a few other sellers on madeit selling similar owls but the Plushka ones seem to look like they are made much better.

Above Evie's cot hangs her Tiger Tribe Owl mobile which was a gift from one of my beautiful friends bought from UrbanBaby.

Her canvas is created with photography by me using my favourite canvas supplier.

Another of my friends made her name wall hanging which is gorgeous on her wall and everyone loves it.

On her dresser is a photo frame from Big W with a handmade letterpress owl print from letterpress on etsy who are based all the way over in Austin Texas. The owl print arrived quickly and was packaged beautifully. It's on heavy card that feels and looks divine. I've used letterpress a couple of times now and love them.

Her tiny owl in the bottom image is from an Australia Post store.

Her tree is from Alysa Grace Designs who are based local to me in Kingaroy. Their prices are awesome on lots of their stuff. I was almost ready to move in to the shop when I picked up her tree. The trees come in three different sizes...this one is the medium. :)

Lastly her little silver frame is another Big W one with little cards inside from the Daisy Lane swapcards pack 1 available at Lark which is one of my favourite online shops. I first stumbled across Lark when I was shopping for a cupcake stand for my baby shower while I was pregnant with Evie and found this gorgeous one - Regency Mis-matched China Cake stand.

I hope you've enjoyed the sneak peek into Evie's nursery!

Mine - { Personal Post }

2011-08-01T09:53:00.002+10:00

Well my littlest girl is 12 weeks old today. I can barely believe that much time has gone by since we welcomed her into our lives. Evie will be our last baby and I was anxious to capture every detail of her, to savour it and remember it. Barely a day has gone by where I haven't photographed her and she is a typical photographer's child - HATES the camera. If she's not avoiding it completely she instead becomes completely enthralled by the lens and stares totally deadpan into it even if she was smiling and chortling to me only seconds before. These are some of my favourite photos of my little bean.

Gorgeous Baby R and her lovely locks - Nanango Newborn Photographer

2011-07-26T15:03:00.002+10:00

I had the pleasure of photographing baby R's mumma when she was pregnant so I was quite excited to meet this little one. R and my baby Evie were only born a couple of weeks apart and May babies are super cute :-P. As you can see she has been blessed with AMAZING hair! It was so lovely, long and thick, she was totally adorable.

You would never know - { Brisbane Maternity Photographer }

2011-04-04T11:36:00.003+10:00

You would never know from looking at these images that this mumma to be has been sick the whole way through the pregnancy. She looks so happy and glowing and is very much anticipating the arrival of a little girl this month. Thanks so much to K and C for letting me photograph you during this wait for your daughter - I can't wait to meet her, I'm sure she will be every bit as sunny as her mummy. :)

Not even rain could stop this couple! ~ Brisbane Wedding Photographer

2011-03-31T17:03:00.003+10:00

This is a belated wedding post - from January in fact. B & T got married on a wet weekend just before the flooding occurred - lucky! We were even more fortunate in that the drizzle and showers that occurred the day prior and that morning stopped for just a little while. The ceremony still got moved inside but we managed some outdoors shots. How photogenic is this bride and groom?! They were stunning. Thanks for letting me capture your day - I hope you have a wonderful life together.

26 weeks - Personal Post {Nanango & Brisbane Maternity Photographer}

2011-02-17T15:29:00.002+10:00

As per a certain request I thought I would post up my most recent belly pics taken last week when I was 26 weeks. I've been chugging along with this pregnancy thinking, "I have oodles of time" and when 27 weeks rolled around this week I started to feel a little.....disorganised. March is solidly booked with shoots, I have two newborns set to arrive in April and then my little bundle in May so I know once March rolls around I'm going to be very very busy indeed and perhaps I should get slightly more organised then a shopping bag in the corner of my closet housing a handful of outfits and some bunny rugs! I have a LOT of painting and organising to get finished in the next few weeks.

So just as a general notice with my maternity leave looming in April (only photographing those two newborns for that month) I am now only taking bookings from SEPTEMBER 2011 onwards. Please make sure if you are wanting to book in that you do so asap as my return to work will coincide with wedding season and I intend to only do a few shoots a month for the first few months back.

I do have two lovely ladies to visit next month for their maternity shoots and hopefully I may get to share some of those images with you - as well as my own burgeoning bump and wrinkly little newborn when she arrives so please continue to stop by and I'll try to keep updated with photos even during my leave.

Photo A Day - Day 7-15 {Catch up}

2011-01-16T06:36:00.002+10:00

I said I might end up having to post a few days in one shot because I would be away for work a lot this month. Only when I left last friday I expected to be home sunday. Not thursday. And not kept away for the reasons I was. And I never expected I would have to postpone shoots until the Blackbutt range opens back up. And I REALLY never expected to be told 6-8 weeks until it does. But I'll explain all that with the photos.

Firstly, Day 7. These are Reuben and Alex's feet. I was trying to get a good shot of the kids lazing about at Nanna and Pops in the lounge room and this was what I ended up with.

Day 8. Kelly and I shot a wedding (sneak peek to come) and I snapped this off of Kelly while she was waiting for the bride to begin walking down the aisle.

Day 9. We had cake at Nanna and Pops for Reuben's birthday. Usually I leave in the morning but I was planning to leave that day in the afternoon. Heavy rain had closed east bound traffic from Kilcoy but I was still hoping to get through west bound that afternoon. But by the afternoon Kilcoy was shut completely. We ended up staying another night. My fried's husband was going to try to get to Brisbane the following day via Crow's Nest to Toowoomba and she was going to let me know how he went to tell me whether I would be able to get home that way.

Day 10. My friend sent me a message that morning to say that her husband had left for Crow's Nest and that the Blackbutt range had had rockslides and wouldn't be open for 1-4 weeks. I began to worry about my cats who I had left at home expecting to only be away a couple of days. I fretted all day about trying to get through to Toowoomba or not and ended up deciding to go just before lunchtime. We packed the car in a rush and set off. It was pretty straight forward the whole way to Withcott. We had about 5 -10 minutes of really heavy rain and then we were stopped. For anyone who doesn't know Withcott is about 15 minutes from Toowoomba and at the bottom of the Toowoomba range. When we got out to have a look the water racing through Withcott, across the Warrego Highway and through a shop called Tomatoland was unreal. I had never seen water like this before in my life. It was a complete force unto itself. No one had any idea what had just came through Toowoomba and that what was now plowing through Withcott and carving out the earth with no regard on it's way to Helidon was nothing compared to the water that was about to barrel down the range and take out Helidon a few hours later. Everyone was still saying, "Oh, we're so close to Toowoomba." I managed to turn around and start back towards Brisbane but got stopped not even a kilometer up the road by another washout. After a few hours that subsided and we were allowed to proceed but got told we would make it no further than Helidon Bridge which was supposed to be another 4-5 hours from receding. Actually there would be a second rush of water from the Toowoomba flash flooding. We decided to pull into a motel I had seen just off the Warrego in between Withcott and Helidon and try to get a room. The water on the way didn't look like a creek or a river. It was too large. It looked like a really pissed off dam that was whipping around large trees and sometimes separating for houses and sometimes just going straight on through. Back at the room I nearly cried with relief of being somewhere dry and what I felt was safe (we were actually safe there but for the next two days I would feel fear that the water would rise suddenly and wash us all away constantly). There was no electricity but I could run a bath (slowly - no electricity meant the water gravity fed in) for the kids and ordered some dinner for them.

Day 11. This bath was what broke up the day for the kids. I ran two shallow baths each day...one in the morning and one at night. Half of us would bath in the morning and the other half at night. Reuben bathed both times. After the first night the motel ran out of food. There was still no electricity. This day a pair of mum's that were also staying there took a trip to Withcott where a man had cleaned up his IGA and was selling things (quickly - as everyone was buying) if you could pay cash for them as the eftpos didn't work. I gave them some money and they bought us some milk and cereal, biscuits and Saladas and nappies for Reuben who had an upset stomach. That night someone brought a rump in and shared it with everyone in the motel, the lady who ran it cooked up a large pot of eggs (thankfully the kitchen was on gas!) and pot after pot of hot water for tea and coffee. There was still no word on when the Toowoomba range would open and there had been a storm raging in Brisbane all day that was putting it in danger too. Places in Brisbane were being evacuated and Wivenhoe Dam was at almost twice it's capacity. The Brisbane River broke it's banks and it became obvious for us stuck at the motel in Helidon that waiting for the Toowoomba range was now our only option. The flooding in Gatton and Grantham was bad, helicopters flew overhead constantly rescuing and searching. We were cut off from everywhere by water in both directions. Everyone fretted that the water would rise and put us in danger particularly when it would rain solidly and heavily and the property next door became inundated and looked more dam than field. Our radio was out, mobile batteries were being kept barely alive with running our cars but no one wanted to waste petrol or car battery and we had no idea how long we would be stuck. As late as Wednesday morning we got told by police the Toowoomba range was closed indefinitely.

Day 12. We woke up that morning to a grey sky but no rain. By 9am we could see a little bit of blue peeking through the clouds. The below picture shows how this bit of sky really boosted the kids spirits. For two days Jess had been sitting in a chair staring into space and fingering her hair and Reuben had begun to bite his nails and I would lie beside him in bed at night and listen to him biting them. A call to the Lockyer council told me that we were cut from Withcott and that the range to Toowoomba was still closed and they had no idea when it would open. You couldn't go back to Brisbane. You couldn't get through Murphy's Creek. Stay put. Only we now had serious supplies issues. We had run out of food. Our water had been turned off and there was no more. My daughter needed an asthma puffer. I got told by the council that if we were desperate we could drive through to Gatton and get supplies from there. I decided to set out and do that. I packed the whole car first because I was now completely stressed about getting stranded somewhere else. Helicopters were out in full force today, worse than any day prior. The Grantham flooding was really really awful. The dead and missing toll for the flooding now stood at 12 dead and 76 missing. On the way to Gatton we got to really see the destruction for the first time without the rain obscuring our view. The destruction was unfathomable. Roads torn up, houses leaning, things missing where things stood two days before. Boats and unidentifiable bits of tin and iron scattered. On the road to Gatton just off the highway I saw a van and stopped to ask if it was true we could get supplies from Gatton. She said no way. If you head through you won't be allowed back as you have to pass through Grantham to get there. She gave me 2L of milk and wouldn't let me pay her for it and escorted me back to a little corner shop in Helidon that was open and doing business. They had power and let me charge my phone awhile while I ordered some hot chips (!) for the kids and bought some supplies including extras for the people back at the motel. When I got back to the motel I was taking some hot chips and fruit and yoghurt down to the other two families when I heard the father say, "Come on, get out, we're going to Toowoomba! The roads are open!" He told me that the road to Withcott had just been opened and they were letting 20 cars up at a time to Toowoomba. I already had the car packed so we jumped in and left. His wife and the other mother had been going off to Gatton for supplies too. I have no idea if they got there or if they could get back if they did. I don't know if they made it up the Toowoomba range that day. I don't even know who told him the information. But sure enough I got through Withcott and before I knew it there was a traffic control man asking me where I was headed. I told him I was hoping to get to Toowoomba and he told me "Sure, we can get you there!" Could be a bit of a wait though as we had to let cars come down also and were taking turns. No problem! A little boy on the back of his father's ute drove up and down the sides of the cars handing out water bottles to the cars waiting in queue. We were the 3rd lot of traffic to go up the range. We pulled into the motel my mother had booked the night before and the kids promptly went and turned on every light - ecstatic to have electricity.

Day 13 and 14. I didn't do any photos on these days. On day 13 I drove home from Toowoomba via Crow's Nest and made it back to our house at about 11am. We'd had a fair bit of water through our downstairs...most everything in the studio will need to be thrown out and there is major clean up to be done. Upstairs was fine although covered in mould from the walls to the furniture to the kitchen benches to the carpets. The rest of day 13 and 14 I spent with the kids beginning upstairs. We've probably got another day and a half - 2 days upstairs before we can begin downstairs but I'm thinking of getting a couple of cleaners in next week if I can to help out. It's a bit too much for pregnant me to take on on my own and while I've received so so much support and offers of help from friends and family I don't want anyone on the roads just yet. I'll get there.

Day 15. Yesterday I drove into Kingaroy to buy Jessie her birthday present - a sapphire ring - for her 13th birthday in two days. The kids got money from their grandmother for christmas and the little ones were desperate to spend it so we took a detour through Big W to the toy section. Alex bought two Toy Story Legos. He loves Lego but when he gets it the building of the Lego consists of him nagging until one of us breaks down and agrees to put it together for him while he sits beside us and offers moral support and encouragement. Yesterday Isabella got the honours.

Day Six ~ Birthday Boy

2011-01-06T15:26:00.002+10:00

Here he is in all his 3 year old glory. Birthday boy. His sisters decorated the dining area and piled his presents in the centre of the table for him to see in the morning. With Christmas fresh in his memory he was an old hand at opening presents and jumped in with great gusto. His loot has made his head swell and he has strutted around like the King of Birthdays (a title formerly his older brothers) all day. For lunch he only wanted to eat cherry slice and cheese. Then we cut his cake and now he is busily bossing everyone around. Early night here I think.

Day Five ~ Last.

2011-01-05T15:42:00.005+10:00

This is probably the last photo I'll take of my littlest boy while he is 2. He turns 3 tomorrow and is just so so excited. He overheard Jess and I talking about buying him birthday presents yesterday and squealed, "My birfday?! IT'S MY BIRFDAY!!!" He hasn't really asked for anything in particular but he has desperately wanted a jumping castle since his brother had one in May for his 5th birthday, so when his Daddy comes back from work in a couple of weeks we'll hire the Thomas jumping castle he wants.

He is a little firecracker of energy. He is stubborn with just enough sweetness to know how to get his way. Mummy won't get up at 6am on the holidays? No worries...I'll just kiss her repeatedly on the face because it's impossible to be cranky at waking up early when I'm delivering sloppy loving kisses all over her face.

Last night at dinner he tried everything to get out of eating his chicken and salad.

"I'm full."

"I wants to go to sleep."

"My heart hurts."

Then the conversation between us went like this...

Me: Reuben, eat your chicken.

R: I have to talk to you.

Me: Just put it in your mouth.

R: I want to buy me - and you - a car.

It didn't work.

Day Four ~ Coerced

2011-01-04T15:06:00.002+10:00

My poor children. They suffer from photographer's child syndrome...which is to say they all see me pull out the camera and they run. I try to keep any photo sessions to a minimum amount of time and aim for one good photo of them each a month. The thing is they are just so adorable and completely beautiful that I can't help but want to freeze how they look to me on any given day. I hope that one day they look back on the photographic memories that they will have of their childhood and forgive me.

Today's photos was totally bought with bribery.

Day Three - Pancake Public Holiday

2011-01-03T15:11:00.003+10:00

It occurred to me that I probably need to start thinking (and cooking) school snacks. With 4 school kids the snacks seem to disappear pretty quick so on school holidays I try to squirrel away as much as possible. Pancake leftovers have always been frozen for school snacks in our house as the recipe I own for them was given to me by a fellow large family mum so makes A LOT of pancakes at a time. Plenty for everyone to go back for seconds or thirds and then have spares. The only problem is cooking them always takes over an hour. I've included the recipe below if anyone is interested...

Pancakes:

3 cups of milk

3 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

3 cups of self raising flour

1 teaspoon of bicarb

Mix into a batter (if it's too runny add a little more flour) and cook away.

Day Two - Giggles

2011-01-02T13:44:00.002+10:00

My boys can't stop wrestling. Or mucking around. They can't stop. The seem to roll from room to room in a fit of giggles and flailing arms and legs. EVERY thing becomes a sword to fence up and down the dining room and lounge and round the table. We're sitting at the table for lunch having chicken sandwiches (or in Reuben's case just chicken) and they wouldn't stop giggling.

Photo A Day - Day One {New Year - New Life}

2011-01-01T13:48:00.003+10:00

A bit of tradition amongst photographers is to start each year with A Photo A Day as a record of the first month of the year. Sometimes some people mix it up a bit and start from the first day of their holidays... check out Katie's 30 Days of Summer, but the idea is that we record a small snippet of our lives to look back upon and cherish.

You don't have to be a photographer to take part! You don't have to know how to take a technically perfect image, nail the composition or process it like a pro in photoshop. It doesn't have to be art. Just pick up your camera (or your phone!) and snap one shot each day. One shot to say this happened, I was there, I bore witness. You won't regret it.

This is my day one. A self portrait of my 20 week and 3 day pregnant belly. We're expecting a baby girl in May this year. (Love being able to say 'expecting this year'!) I'm so excited to meet her.

The New Look

2010-12-01T07:18:00.002+10:00

I've been portfolio building for what seems like forever. I knew it felt like forever a couple of months back when I had to renew my domain name for another 2 years. I was like, "Wait, ANOTHER two years? You mean it's been two years already?"

I finished up portfolio building pricing a few months back realizing that a portfolio is really a living thing...that photography, as an artform, is a living thing and that my journey was never going to be 'over'. What I was able to do was consistently achieve results I was happy with, that I knew my camera inside and out, that I could look at the day outside and know within a click or two what my settings should be. I could find the light. I felt I had developed a style. I was ready.

So I figured the first step would be to give my photography a 'face'. I'm blessed to know so many amazing and wonderful photographers throughout Australia and in that group I first met Katie. Katie's own branding for heartstory blew me away with it's kaleidoscope of colours. And her portfolio showed how versatile she could be.

I wish I could go back and explain all the steps that it took to get the branding to this point. It began with me describing everything to Katie, from my style and what I wanted to say to clients with my branding to just general things I liked and things I didn't. And after several revisions and tweaking until we were both satisfied I ended up with something that I loved. I love the colours, the fonts (which Katie hand drew!), the little stitches (also done by hand) - just the whole thing. I've come away feeling like Katie knows me better than a best friend.

So over the next couple of weeks I'll be changing over blog headers, logos and business cards all with the design below.

To get in touch with Katie click the link. And to Katie, I can't thank you enough. xxx

Shorncliffe Wedding - a Perfect day. { Brisbane Wedding Photographer }

2010-11-13T07:37:00.005+10:00

About a week before the wedding I shot Jacinta off an email saying "Do you have a wet weather contingency plan?" because it had been WET in Brisbane. October was the month that saw bridges go under, road washed out and homes being flooded all over and looking at the forecasted weather (extended) it really looked like we were going to be rained out. But the weather turned out to be just perfect on Jacinta and Jeremy's wedding day with not a drop of rain in sight.

All brides are meant to be beautiful on their wedding day and Jacinta certainly fit that. She was absolutely stunning and Jeremy looked so happy throughout. Both Kelly (my second shooter) and I kept commenting on how Jeremy was just smiling away all the time making our job easier. Clearly we weren't the only ones to be a bit awed by our bride...standing on the jetty a little girl walked by with her Mum and Dad and said, "Mummy, when I get married can I have a veil on the beach?" Hehe, beautiful.

Jacinta and Jeremy enjoy this small sneak peek at your wedding day. Thank you so much for choosing me to photograph it for you. May you enjoy your lives together.

Fishing Day { Nanango Child Photographer }

2010-10-23T10:37:00.003+10:00

My boys are my most hardest to photograph subjects. While Reuben (the two year old) simply runs in the other direction when the camera comes out Alex pulls frown face and collapses on the ground moaning, "Nooooo, I don't WANT any photos!"

I've always got to employ 'this will be fun' tactics when trying to get images. A few posts ago I hung hearts from trees to get some shots of Reuben. Yesterday I spent $15 on goldfish. The boys were completely delighted with the fish...who were named 'Tony', 'Bob' and 'Eric'. Don't ask me! They named them! While Tony, Eric and Bob mostly just swam in their coffee jars the boys enjoyed 'fishing' in the lagoon with stick rods. I was going to put Tony, Bob and Eric in the pond at our house when we came home but the boys are most indignant about these fish joining the others in the pond and are insisting they go in a tank in the house.

Beautiful Boudoir Package

2010-10-12T21:03:00.002+10:00

On the 5th and 6th of November I'll be holding Beautiful Boudoir photo sessions. To be held in Brisbane City at a fantastic price - never to be repeated - take the chance to do something for you! Email enquiries to mel@melissastampa.com.au or use the contact form on the website www.melissastampa.com.au

The Sweetest Thing { Brisbane Newborn Photographer }

2010-09-18T08:45:00.003+10:00

Last weekend I drove down to Brisbane to have an early birthday lunch for my grandfather and to finally meet my cousin's brand new baby boy. My cousin S and I are 8 years apart and I can clearly remember her as a baby. I've always loved babies, I was one of those little girls who was still pushing a doll pram around at 10 and dressing my dolls and feeling guilty if I forgot to give one 'attention'. S and my brother L are born just over a month apart with S the older of the two and because our family is quite close knit I had the best of both worlds with a baby brother and a baby girl cousin who I loved like a sister. Anyway, seeing S's little baby C just felt like seeing a little S again. He is one of the cutest newborn's I've seen, with little tiny rolls of gorgeous chubbiness already and beautiful blue eyes. These were my two favourites from his newborn session. Welcome to the world, little one.

Sneak Peek - August Mini Sessions { Brisbane Family Photographer }

2010-09-07T11:53:00.005+10:00

Another sneak peek from the August mini sessions!

Spring has Sprung! { Brisbane and South Burnett Photographer }

2010-09-06T17:12:00.005+10:00

Well Spring is definitely here. I can tell because already the magpies are swooping. It was so funny this year because we walked near our house on the last day of Winter and nothing. The first day of Spring however saw my daughter walking with her bag on her head. Poor thing! And I saw my first wildflowers on the drive to Kingaroy today. When we first moved out to the country we moved in Spring and I was just amazed at all the wildflowers and wildlife.

My September Selfies were taken in honour of Spring. :) If you'd like to book a session please go to Melissa Stampa Photography and use the contact form. :)

Christmas Gift Package { Brisbane and South Burnett Photographer }

2010-09-01T15:11:00.004+10:00

August Mini - Sessions { Brisbane Family Photographer }

2010-08-31T17:12:00.003+10:00

What a blast the mini sessions were last weekend! I had heaps of fun photographing everyone, even though the poor kids had a hard time containing themselves so close to the playground. Maybe the next mini shoots should be at the beach instead! ;-)

Here is a sneak peek for one of the families.

Grateful Daily - { Personal Post }

2010-08-27T07:08:00.002+10:00

You know those moments in the day when for a split second you see something and everything bad in the world falls away and you are just intensely happy? It only happens for a second. But for that second you just revel in the thing that makes you happy. It makes your heart soar.

They're usually normal moments. Your child picking a flower. Baby toes. The sunshine warming your face in winter. A drawing from your child that says "I love you, Mummy" with backwards letters and a sloppily drawn heart. These moments make a smile creep along your lips. It pulls back all your troubles and you just feel joy. Then it's gone and you carry on with your day.

All too often we focus on the troubles and forget these little moments. I know I am guilty of that. In a project inspired by Clair Bremner who was inspired by Haylie Bartholomew I decided to take a photo each day on my iPhone of things I am grateful for. Here are my first 8 images.

Expressive Little Bean { Brisbane Newborn Photographer }

2010-08-23T11:28:00.003+10:00

On the weekend I had the pleasure of meeting little baby R at his home and taking his picture. His Mummy has been taking beautiful photos of him since he was born so I already had seen what a complete cutie he is. And so much hair! I was lucky enough to meet his Mummy, Daddy, both grandmas and his uncle and see how utterly adored he is. Just like all babies should be. :) Here is a sneak peek of some of the images from his session. We managed to catch him frowning and smiling. Enjoy.

Quiet Afternoon - Priceless! { Nanango Child Photographer }

2010-07-21T15:30:00.002+10:00

One $2 wooden whistle and my little 2 year old has been kept happy and amused all afternoon. Amazing!

Birthday Girl { Nanango Child Photographer }

2010-07-20T13:07:00.003+10:00

Yesterday was my second daughters birthday and she turned 11. It's flown by really, it seems like only yesterday she was a tiny little thing with fuzzy blonde hair (and hardly any of it) who loved pink and dresses and cats. And now here she is still with blonde hair but wouldn't wear pink if it was the last thing in her wardrobe. She still loves cats though. :)

Here are some of my favourite shots of her from yesterday. Happy Birthday Bella.

Twins { Brisbane Newborn Photographer }

2010-07-13T13:05:00.003+10:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph these two tiny little girls. They were both absolutely adorable and very good little models.

Bright and Fun - Brisbane Family Photographer

2010-07-11T12:49:00.003+10:00

I have to admit, as cute as little toddlers are and as heartwarming as it is to hold a newborn, tweens and teens are my favourite subjects. They're so full of laughter and optimism and of course they are great models, seeming to know instinctively how to 'look good'.

I have a particular soft spot for this location too, what a fun shoot!

Baby A { Nanango Newborn and Infant Photography }

2010-06-29T14:10:00.002+10:00

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the happiest little 8 weeks old bub in the whole of the South Burnett!

Baby A's parents contacted me about a photograph to go in her newborn casting from Everlasting Casting which is located on Drayton Street in Nanango. So we popped out there to take some photos and find one to go in her frame.

Here is a couple of my faves.

Mother's Day.

2010-05-03T20:38:00.002+10:00

I decided to take the last 'baby and mummy' photo of me with my littlest baby for mothers day. *sigh* He's gotten so big.

Packages - {Belly to Baby}

2010-04-28T11:33:00.000+10:00

Melitta and Justin get hitched! - Brisbane Wedding Photographer

2010-04-19T15:03:00.002+10:00

On the weekend I had the honour of taking photographs at the wedding on one of my favourite people to her prince charming. :) It was a beautiful day, a loving and emotional ceremony and a great party. I couldn't pick just a few shots for sneak peeks so I compiled some of the pre-ceremony shots into a slideshow. Enjoy!

Melitta and Justin's Wedding - Pre Ceremony.

{ Brisbane Child Photographer }

2010-04-08T20:02:00.002+10:00

A couple of weeks ago I had an afternoon session with one sweet little 10 week old girl, M, and her two lively brothers, D and R. The first thing you notice about M is how placid she is and then how gorgeous her chubby little cheeks are. D and R were a bit unsure of the photographer lady to begin with but they warmed up and in no time they were bouncing all over the park!
Here is 3 of my favourite images from the day.

A Day in the Garden.

2010-03-22T19:20:00.003+10:00

{Evacuated}

2010-03-20T17:00:00.002+10:00

I'm never one to be glad for a natural disaster and certainly not a cyclone but it did mean they evacuated my husband home from his work camp. :)

And I am glad to see him.

{Just My Kids}

2010-03-14T19:20:00.003+10:00

I've been trying to get a nice portrait of my children at least once a month. Sometimes it sounds a lot easier than it is. They aren't always agreeable and I can be soooo busy. I think it tends to be one of those things like plumbers always having leaky taps and mechanics driving cars that need work. ;-)

Sigh

2010-03-07T07:43:00.002+10:00

After my very hectic last uni study period it's been an absolute pleasure to drop back to two subjects and have time to breathe! Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed or stressed I just have to step back and take my camera and head outside and shoot until I've got it all out of my system. I can concentrate on the way the sunlight it streaming through the trees or a raindrop is precariously dangling from a leaf and ignore everything else. Looking through the lens gives you tunnel vision and all that other peripheral junk just doesn't exist. It's delightful.

When I'm processing photos for clients I tend to do clean processing. I might throw in a few textured shots or grundgy ones but I'm aware that the vast majority of people prefer that clean look. Sometimes when I'm shooting just for me though I like to really layer the shot and build up the textures and colours.

Here are some of my latest just-for-me shots.

Boudoir

2010-02-10T10:24:00.002+10:00

Particularly relevant coming up to Valentines because who doesn't want a nice photo of themselves or their partner looking sensual and sexy. Collection of a few boudoir shoots.

Us.

2009-11-11T14:28:00.003+10:00

The other day my husband asked me if I could change his profile pic on facebook for him. (He's not real technologically savvy that way). I said, "Sure, what do you want it as?" After a few minutes of browsing we realized we had few photos of him which is his own fault for camera dodging, and no photos of the two of us since....our wedding maybe? Which was 6 and a half years ago. That afternoon in an attempt to rectify it I set up the tripod to take a shot. I only got to get one because of aforemeantioned camera dodging but nevertheless...

Speaking of facebook you can find my page here...

{ South Burnett Maternity Photographer }

2009-11-09T21:19:00.003+10:00

Last week I drove out to a town nearby to meet up with B and her husband A. I met B through my midwife who delivered my last little baby at our old home and will be catching B's baby in a few weeks time.

B looks so serene, pregnancy certainly agrees with her.

I can't wait to meet your little bundle and I'll be in touch soon with your maternity gallery!

Baby S { South Burnett Newborn Photographer }

2009-11-04T11:46:00.003+10:00

The other week I got to meet little baby S, whose Mummy I photographed here. Baby S was about 10 days old when I got the chance to photograph her and had the most beautiful skin tones. She really loved the bean bag and was a bit upset when I took her out of it! K and P, I hope you enjoy the collection of images of your precious daughter.

{Brisbane Family Photographer}

2009-10-21T13:11:00.002+10:00

On the weekend I had a wonderful visit with S and H. I have previously taken shots for S and her partner R but little H was sick at the time so we had to reschedule. H is such a precious little boy who is completely in love with Bob the Builder. So sweet. Here are a couple of my favourites from the day.

Busy!

2009-10-11T15:07:00.003+10:00

I have been a bad blogger lately and haven't posted anything! In my defence we've been moving house which has taken up a huge chunk of my time. We're still surrounded by boxes and are far from 'set up' but we have moved. We are still in Nanango though and on the upside the new house has the space for a small studio space which will allow clients the option of coming to me. The gardens will be amazing with a little bit of work also.

On another note, one of my good friends from high school is getting married in April and it's going to be one heck of a wedding. She asked me to be her photographer and I can just tell it's going to awesome fun shooting it. We'll get all the 'traditional' shots but we've been brainstorming some ideas for some unconventional shots also. I even...brought out my old wedding dress for some self portraits to trial out some poses. LOL. It was a bit different, got some strange looks from the neighbours but wedding dresses are great fun, I seriously have no idea why we only get to wear them once. If anyone is ever keen on a Trash the Dress please give me a call/email. Remember it doesn't have to be your wedding dress, it can just be a nice formal dress. And you don't actually have to 'trash' it. It also doesn't have to be your actual wedding day...in fact it's better if it's not. Try setting it up for a few weeks post honeymoon, it would be a blast!

{Nanango Child Photographer}

2009-09-15T08:14:00.002+10:00

Spring has Sprung!

2009-09-09T17:59:00.002+10:00

On the way out to the maternity shoot I stopped off at Pottique Lavender Farm with Jess. Pottique is about halfway between Nanango and Kingaroy and really beautiful (plus it smells pretty good, lol). I'm definitely going to have to go back there another day with more time and take some other shots but I just had to share these two of Jess.

South Burnett Maternity Photographer

2009-09-06T13:31:00.002+10:00

Yesterday I took a short trip out to meet up with K & P (and their cute little cats!) to photograph K in the last few weeks of her pregnancy. I bumped into K (not literally, lol) at the shopping centre and she had a beautiful glow about her, I just had to ask her if she would like maternity photos. A few days later and we were shooting!

Thanks so much to K & P. I really hope you like the collection, I had an awesome time.

Kumbia Couples Photographer

2009-09-03T19:48:00.002+10:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely couple, C & S. C contacted me regarding some photos of her and her partner for the wall, some 'token romantic shots'. The weather was beautiful, not too hot like it had be previously. C's parents property backs on to forestry so it was very scenic. Actually the entire trip there I was spotting 'locations'. Amazing.

Here are a few of my favourite shots of the day. Thanks so much to C & S for allowing me to photograph you, I had a great time.

An Early Taste of Summer.

2009-08-28T08:11:00.004+10:00

Queensland weather has been NUTS lately. Two weeks ago it was freezing and I was waking up to frost on my grass, plants and car every morning. And then early this week we were sleeping in summer pj's with the fans going. Very strange.

Yesterday I was outside with my kids trying to get some nice shots depicting how beautiful the weather has been and all I was capturing was those fake smiles. You know the type...they look like this...

I'm like, "Loosen up, have some fun!" My second eldest daughter was feeding and watering our chooks at the time and she sprays a bit of water at my eldest. Well that was game on! A lot of laughs and I'm so happy to have some shots of my girls just being themselves. The joy their faces when you capture them just mucking around just isn't able to be faked.

Click here to see bigger.

New Do.

2009-08-07T11:32:00.007+10:00

It wasn't just the website that got a new 'do' this week. I went out to the hairdressers and had a colour for the first time since I was pregnant with my four year old.

You forget how long it takes. To begin with I'm sitting there thinking I'd be in there for about an hour, which when you have 5 kids is a long time anyway but it ended up taking about 2 hours. Time is a precious commodity to a mother, especially once your children go to school. All of a sudden your year is broken into terms; your days are broken into 6 hour blocks. I know it seems like you would have a lot of spare time when your children are at school if you are a stay at home mum but there isn't a single day when I don't look at the clock in dismay at about 1pm and realize that once again I've not acheived nearly as much as I had hoped. Of course, I do still have one child at home full time (my 19 month old) and my four year old only goes to Kindy 3 days a week but it's still a juggling act.

It's so easy to blink and realize that your baby is now at school or - as I am doing with my 11 year old - that your little school girl is nearly finished primary school!

This is one reason why for me photos are so important. They freeze a moment in time. Whenever people talk about what they would save in a house fire almost all the time after family and pets people say they would save their photographs. Digital cameras have really helped us 'capture' more. Film was less fool proof. Digital has allowed us to shoot with more abandon, discard shots that are blurry, have caught a blink or someone pulling a funny face and continue until we get a decent shot. I can't tell you how many times my grandmother has cut off someone's head with her film camera. It ended up becoming a running joke, that Nanna would cut off part of our heads. But I do think digital has meant that fewer people see the 'point' in getting professional shots taken. You can keep shooting until you get something decent and even print it out yourself if you want to. I use to take photos of my kids a few years back that I thought were pretty damn good. I remember even setting up my newborn son on a blanket and 'posing' him. The things I didn't notice might be that I chopped off his feet, that the colour on his face was very red or that the shot was underexposed. A photographer would instantly know these things and a good photographer wouldn't do them. Likewise a good camera does not a good photographer make.

Go and have a look through your friends Facebook or your snapshots and look at how many photos are blurry, a little dark, have red eye, have chopped heads or limbs, major shadows on faces, something in the shot that shouldn't be there. Snapshots are awesome because we can't have a pro photographer follow us 24-7 but if you want an amazing shot, a piece of custom art of your loved ones, an investment then you hire a photographer.

Of course, there are going to be times when even the outtakes are keepers. You can almost see the thought bubble above her head saying, "Ugg, little siblings are soooo trying."

New Site, New Blog

2009-08-04T14:07:00.008+10:00

The website has just gotten a facelift and I decided it was time to finally stop procrastinating and switch the blog over to blogger from wordpress which was something I've been meaning to do for awhile. I had so much fun doing the new site. For starters it is RED.

Which is my favourite colour.

Secondly it loads about 10 million times faster.

Which makes me want to do this.

As opposed to waiting...and waiting...and waiting for a page to load. Which makes me look more like this.See how cranky I look? Not cool.

It's very easy to navigate. Everything is right there.

To kick start this blog off I want to let people know that I will be in Brisbane in the last weekend of October - as in Friday the 30th to Sunday the 1st and I have space for ONE more session there.

To book in for this session either use the contact us part of the website

("Hey, Mel, how do I get to the site from here?"

It's up the top - directly under the photo of the urban princess up there, written in RED - Go to Site)

or email me directly at mel@melissastampa.com.au

Chat soon!