Jennifer Stocks Photography – The Blog

I have been given many wonderful gifts in this lifetime, but not a lot comes close to the gift I received when I photographed this extraordinary family.

This is no ordinary family. It is a young family filled with love, affection, closeness and beauty. But it is a family that is changed. Changed by the death of their husband and father in a work related accident, just this year.

When I was contacted by beautiful mother, Ansia, she told me that having family portraits done without her husband was going to be a very difficult and sad thing to do. She was certain however, that she didn’t want any more time to slip by without capturing her family – it was something they had meant to do for years and hadn’t got around to it…  I can’t even explain how it made me feel that she wanted me to photograph them. To say I was truly honoured would be an understatement.

Ansia, Tiaan Anya and Alani – spending the morning and photographing your family has been the highlight of my photography life to date. The special bond you share is evident – there is something so close ….. so incredibly beautiful about the love you share. I’m feel so privileged I was able to witness it and capture it. But it’s not just stored as physical images – it’s stored in my mind.

Ansia – you are an extraordinary mother. Your smile, your nature, your compassion and your love for your children makes me want to be a better mother. You are brave and beautiful and I am so glad to have met you, and your amazing children.

As you are about to see, the kids in this family are absolutely stunning. I must also give a special mention to Anya (the oldest girl in the family) who managed to knock out her front tooth about a week before the photo session! I think it looks so darn cute though!

I really hope you enjoy your preview and I will be in touch with your full gallery very very soon.

A beautiful little life came into the world on Saturday 5am, 5th September. This perfect little creature was my nephew Eli, and he arrived 5 days early. I was fortunate enough to share the entire experience with my sister and mum (as her husband was at work in Queensland and wasn’t able to get there on time). In fact, I even had the pleasure of photographing the birth to show Eli’s daddy. It was the most awakening, fulfilling, amazing experience watching this perfect little creature come into the world.

It was even more inspiring watching my brave, amazingly gutsy sister give birth to him. She is a true hero. (Not to mention the fact that she was home by lunch-time that day to ensure she was around for our little sisters hens night which just so happened to be on the same day). Fortunately it was being held at our parents house so she could sneak away for some quiet time, and a quick kip or two. I think it definitely makes a difference that it was her 3rd baby, so doing it that way was far more achievable than if it was her first baby!

So, of course – I had to take some newborn photographs of this gorgeous little man. He has a beautiful head of hair and gorgeous eyelashes and lips. He actually looks so much like his dad it is uncanny. So, here we go – some long awaited images of this gorgeous little man….Oh, how I love him.

Anyone who lives in Bathurst knows that the weather is so damn ordinary at the moment. Dreary, gross, ew. I just am not a fan of winter at all. I must admit I do like a snuggle on the lounge under a blanket, and have always been a bit of a heater-hog, but overall I’m a singlet and flip-flops type of person. I love pottering around outside while the kids wet each other (and the dog) with the hose and run around in shorts with no shirt on. Yes, Summer is the month for me, followed closely by Spring and Autumn.

However, as miserable as it is, sometimes you just HAVE to get out amongst it, so that is what we have been trying to do (until the kids got sick of course!). I have posted so little of our own kids over the past few months, I thought it was time for a little catch up. The extra child is my cousins son, Gil. These guys are such great mates, and we love having Gil come to play at our place.

Photographing a couple’s wedding is such a priviledge….. but photographing a family members wedding is something in a completely different league. When my sister-in-law, Anne & her fiance, Rory asked me to document their wedding, I was beyond excited and couldn’t wait! I also managed to enlist the photographic abilities of Cassandra Anguita-Deep of caspix photography (seriously awesome Sydney photographer) to join me as second shooter for the day. To check out her blog preview from the day see her website.

After a relatively short engagement, the week of the wedding arrived. We packed up our kids, our clothes and my camera gear and set off to Sydney’s Northern Beaches for what was to be a brilliant weekend.

I fully expected Anne to look stunning as a bride, but when I saw her getting ready, then step out in her wedding dress I found it a little hard to focus through a few teary moments (which I did exceptionally well to cover up of course). The bride, the bridesmaids (also my sister-in-laws, plus another who may as well be) looked incredible. There was just so much happiness and love  floating around.

When we arrived at Long Reef Golf Course, Rory and his man-crew also looked incredibly dapper. I just loved watching Rory’s face as his bride walked down the aisle, and my father-in-laws face as he walked her down (seriously, two of the best moments to capture at a wedding.)

Everything went beautifully, and after the ceremony we headed to the top of Long Reef  to take some more photographs.  The funniest part was hooning up the top of the headland on Golf Carts. God, it makes me laugh so much just thinking about it. Me and Cas were seriously lagging behind the bridal party’s golf carts, so we were madly going pedal to the medal through ditches and hills, camera’s on laps, to get to the top. When we did, woah – what a sight! You can see just how beautiful the view was in the photos below…

The entire day was absolutely stunning, so many perfect little touches and beautiful words spoken. I love seeing the two of you together – so much love, mutual respect, conversation, and companionship. I am so pleased you found each other (although there wasn’t much chance of missing each other when you only lived a few doors apart!).

And now….. hopefully the photos will do the day justice! I hope you enjoy your preview and the remainder of your honeymoon. Oh, and welcome to the family Rory – we love having you in it! xoxo.

I met this little darling, Evie, and her mummy in the park for an Autumn mini-session. My oh my, she was a little gem… she even listened when you asked her to do something (shock horror – not something I am used to in this game!). She had so much fun frolicking around in the leaves, and dancing around. She had the funniest range of expressions, and was so full of charm and character. Of course, I had so much fun photographing her (and her mums legs). What a beautiful love these pair share – it is just so so evident.

I could post a bunch of images on here, but I have decided to try and cut down on the amount I show on my blog. Sometimes I just go WAY overboard. Anyhow, it was lovely to meet you both and your online gallery is very close to being finished – I will be in touch when it’s done!