I had never been to Swain Gardens before and didn’t know what to expect. When I arrived I was wowed by its feeling of being hidden, like you were discovering a secret garden – it was so lovely! Kirsten grew up in the local area so Swain Gardens was a family favourite – including Chloe, her parent’s Golden Retriever! Kirsten and Tamatea were prepared with a van full of props. I think my favourites were their cool laid-back bikes. On a side note, their tattoos represent something from their family history which I thought was very special.

Those of you who know me well, know that I love animals and I love it when my clients want to involve their own animals in their photos! Lowenna and Nick love their three cats – Polly, Hobbes and Splodge and we started with the impossible task of having all five faces looking at me but we eventually got there even if it involved lots of food bribes And then just across the road, there is a lovely reserve that is wonderfully overgrown so we had a lot of fun discovering its beauty whilst the sun set.

Two engagement sessions with doggies in the one weekend – how spoilt am I! Zoe and Jessie are very active dogs and love the water so this session was a little more active and crazy! Laura and Mark love their cattle dogs and I can see why – they make a great little family Sirius Cove was a gorgeous location with lots of great little doggie families. Enjoy the human and doggie smooches!

And the shot of the day – Jessie drying off

What a lovely morning spent on the beach. This was my first engagement session with a doggie – I was so excited when Sandrine and Ly told me about Odyssey! She is an important part of their family so they couldn’t imagine doing the photos without her! We almost had the beach to ourselves so Odyssey was able to run around and play in the sand while her mum and dad were getting their smoochy pics done.