New York so far

New York has been a bundle of emotions for me so far...

I got to see snow for the first time and ended up in a Blizzard...

My lovely cousin, Vicky lives there and generously put me up. She is awesome!

I spent a lovely Christmas there and then was very excited to go to Asheville, North Carolina for some Swing. Unfortunately, as many of you know, all the flights going in and out of JFK were cancelled due to bad snow.

I was pretty devastated but took things in stride, my cousin took me to see The Nutcracker with the NYC Ballet at the Lincoln Centre. It was pretty amazing.

Here are some photos of my trip so far...

My lovely cousin, Vicky, Bryant Park

Frost

Vicky in New Jersey, just before the big Blizzard

Bokeh Christmas!

Vicky looks awesome pouring sparkling wine

My Swing Dancing partner in crime, Amanda came along from Perth too... Unfortunately, although a day late, she is already swing dancing in Asheville before me. :( I caught some pretty ones of her before she left me... hmmmpph

I thought I would go swing dancing in NYC. I arranged to meet up with Trev and Annaliese who are from Perth and are travelling around the country. Due to the weather, many gigs and events were cancelled... which added to my downer. However, the one night that we managed to go out, it was pretty awesome!

Here are some shots from Swing 46 which is an awesome Swing bar with live Big Band music featuring the George Gee Orchestra. 

Ok, off to Asheville now... fingers crossed... xoxo

Hanging out with my friends...

Leaving Perth and feeling nostalgic...

thought I would hang out with my little friends before I left on my adventure...

Hung out with my little friend Ruby Nator today... we spoke about cupcake purses, Santa and hair clips in between cinos... mmm she loves gingerbread but the waiter with erm ginger hair scares her apparently.

Ruby Cino girl

Ruby, glamour girl... 

I then hopped over to hang out with my other friend, little Aalia Nator. It has been a few good months since I had last seen her!

She loved playing with her little tubes and her best friend is unfortunately a little curious monkey and not me... :(

We played together and she quite liked taking her photos taken. She was truly a lady of many faces. I loved it when she pouted.

Frown...

Stop taking my photo!

Thank you for spending the day with me... now off to my travels and I'll see you soon!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Last week... I met Anny and Rob...

Anny and Rob are a cute brother and sister pair...

Hanging out with them really made me miss my brother, Kerner.

The fun laughter and games that they shared together and the relationship they have brought a smile to my face.

Thank you Anny and Rob, Merry Christmas! I hope your mum and dad love the photos!

For more photos from this photoshoot, please visit: Anny & Rob!

Meet little James Sherring, 1 week old

What a sweet little darling...

And big sister Sophia is just gorgeous too!

The gorgeous mummy

James was absolutely gorgeous and so tiny! 

Vintage Editing

A few photographers and people have been asking me about how I create that feel in a photograph.
The photography language used is often, "how do you photoshop it?", "What filters do you use?"

As a photographer, I thought it was very important to develop a style in my photography. This was simply because anyone, and everyone has a digital camera these days. Also, many people feel like it isn't important to have photos specially taken as anyone can take a photo these days.

I believe that everyone's a photographer, and everyone takes photos that they love. I decided to go into vintage photography. I wanted to create photos that creates a nostalgic mood when anyone looks upon them. I wanted to create a romance and nostalgia.

So. here's a before and after photo for you to compare. I didn't use any filters in Photoshop. The trick is good lighting, subjects who are so awesome, a little touching up in photoshop and tweaking of some colours in lightroom.

Surely you can agree that Little Evie was perfect to start with?

Also, a couple of people have asked me why I'm so pedantic about people not cropping my photos in Facebook or removing the watermark. There's a simple answer to that, a lot of thought is put into creating the perfect composition for every photo I take, why would anyone want to mess with that? Also, there's this other thing called intellectual property. Thank you to everyone who has respected that!

There is a photographer for everyone and I may or may not be the photographer for you. 

What do you think? Please leave me your comments!

xoxoxo Dabelyn

"Closer to Home" Book Launch

My uni friend, Mel came to me with an idea 3 months ago. She asked me if I would like to be part of her project, her vision, which was  a book with a compilation of stories about parenting. No sugar coating, just about telling parents, about the experiences of being a parent.

I am not a parent. I have never had kids. Why am I here? I'm here to support a friend, and friends who are parents.

It is awesome to see Mel's vision finally come into being. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your vision, Mel. And also, for allowing me to display the beautiful photos of my clients and their beautiful families!

Thank you to my friends for coming to support this event, you know who you are! :)

Also a big thank you to my clients who are also my friends, Marta, Emma, Tania, Des, Katrina, Deb H,  for being part of this book. Without your stories, the book would not be complete!

My photo of Emma

The beautiful Mel

For more photos, please visit the facebook site: "Closer to Home"

"Closer to Home" is a non-profit book about parenting experiences that can be purchased for AUD$29.95. Please contact melissa@melissacolemanphotography.com if you would like to order a copy.