I was so thrilled with my first family photo session that I relished the opportunity to do it again. Of course I was nervous. What if the first time was a fluke? What if I lucked out with an extremely photogenic family? What if I really can’t success without that fabulous green chair?

Yes, I was nervous and conditions were less than ideal (Hail (yes, hail) and a toddler who ran out of patience), but I realized that what I love about taking photos is the ability to capture the moment – not the perfect smily photo, but images that reflect real life.

I am just so happy with the moments I managed to capture for this family – complete with the surly 3 year old.

This is quite possibly my favourite…

And this one is a close second. One of those moments where I walked outside, turned around, and there was the photo. I was being pounded by hail, but it was definitely worth it.

And then the hail stopped just long enough for me to catch a photo of little Iver sitting up for the very first time. I hope they always remember that moment when they look at the photo.

I did manage to get a couple of smiles.

And of course at this time of the year you have to make the most of the cherry blossoms.

Thank you Davis family for letting me capture these moments and for giving me the opportunity to photograph some adorable baby blue eyes.

I am so pleased with how these turned out. It was such a nice change photographing some new people and it just seemed so easy and natural. Here are some of my favourites. I had about 50 favourites total so it was difficult to narrow it down but I’ll do my best.

Thanks to my friend Meaghen and her gorgeous family for being my very first customers.

My very first photo shoot went wonderfully. It helped that my first clients were an incredibly photogenic family and so easy to shoot. In fact my friend Meaghen had so many great ideas for props and locations that I barely felt like I was working. In fact how could this be called work? It was so much fun.

Here’s a tiny little sneak peek.

I’ve also started up a gallery and account over at Smugmug. It’s a work in process but I’m excited about the possibilities. I can lock down customer galleries with passwords, provide them with permission to download and they can even order prints directly from the site.

Kei and I are going to work on the design and customization to make it pretty. At the moment I am limited to a photo of myself and a brief explanation of the business name. You’ll also notice that my gallery is filled images of very familiar subjects while I work on building out my portfolio with non-family members.

http://lyrebirdimages.smugmug.com

Of course now the cogs are turning with so many ideas for logos and designs for promotional materials and other paraphenalia but I need to remind myself that I am starting slowly. No need to stress myself while I get the ball rolling. I mean who knows how far this will actually go? I had some interest from another couple of friends over the next couple of months, but it may not go any further. I’m hoping it will but I’m not going to actively promote right now, just rely on word of mouth. I do still have a day job after all…

And here is some amazing footage of a Lyrebird and how it mimics its surroundings. It’s definitely worth watching if you have a spare three minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y