A Gift - Brisbane Family Photographer

When I first received the call from a guy named Cris asking to book a family session, I thought it was for himself.

Soon it was clear that he had just found out one of his school friends had been diagnosed with cancer. He wanted to do something for this lovely family and what came to mind was to gift them a photography session.

This was how it came to be that I spent a beautiful summers morning photographing Hayley and her wonderful family.

I was on the back foot when they first arrived. We were standing at the gate to the Mt Coot-tha Gardens and Hayley had her cell phone on her. Her sister took the phone from her hands saying "those things will give you cancer!" I held my breath as I wasn't sure how to react, but as soon as everyone was laughing at the joke, I knew it was going to be one of those great mornings out with family ribbing each other constantly.

It totally was.

Hayley's dad had a blue tooth ear piece in his ear. When I asked him if it was OK to remove it, the running gag of the day started about it being his hearing aid. And it never grew old.

With a big family photo ticked off we headed for the jetty at the gardens lake, a stunning sunlit backdrop for some more family groupings.

Hayley's boys were so different - young Blair was not too comfortable in front of the camera but he managed a few photos for us without getting too upset.

Older brother Lachlan was fully at ease being the centre of attention and made the most of his time in the spotlight.

When the boys teamed up with their mum I nearly got teary myself. There is so much emotion when they look at each other, its so beautiful and I just hope that I managed to capture that love and connection for them.

Lots of giggles, a few tears and of course more joking from everyone ("What's that? I can't hear you without my hearing aid!") meant the morning flew by and before we knew it all combinations had been captured.

After saying my goodbyes I headed for the car with the sounds of giggles, laughter and warm love resonating behind me.