You know when you meet someone for the first time and it feel like you have known them forever?? that is the way I felt when I first met Jen in Spetember last year. We had been chatting on a forum for a few years but never had we met. Then during the shool holidays last year I made a quick decision to go to visit my brother in Orange, it then dawned on me that he is not that far away from where Jen lived so made arrangements to visit her and her two boys aswell. Well we didn’t stop chatting the whole day, it was really relaxed and her two boys and my four boys played so well.

 Now Jen is a fabulous and I mean fabulous photographer you can check out her work here and I decided late last year that I wanted her to do our family photos….yes I am having my photo taken aswell. At the time Jen was pregnant with her third little boy so we made a time for when she will feel like picking up the camera again. I was thinking how nice it will be to have some photos of me with my boys and that got me thinking about Jen having photos with her boys. Suddenly one of those lightbulb moments hit me so I sent her a message…as we do in this day and age of modern technology….offering her a newborn session so that she could be in some of the photos with her brand new bubba.

Well over this seriously rainy weekend I travelled to Orange and then to Bathurst to do some photos for Jen of her new baby Mitchell Quinn. He was just so gorgeous, with the most amazingly smoochy lips. He slept the whole day with only a couple of feed breaks. Now I ended up there quite a while due to the fabulous storms passing through the area, and while it played havok with thelight at times we still managed to get some gorgeous photos.

So here we are….introducing Mitchell Quinn Stocks aged 10 days.

and this is the gorgeous Jen and her husband Damien

Thanks so much for letting me spend the day with you guys, I just wished we lived closer so we could catch up for coffees. The love you two have for your boys is overflowing, they are so lucky to have such kind and caring parents. I know that you will be surrounded by three fabulous strapping lads that you will be proud of in 15 years time.

I had so many wonderful entries for this competition, I am really humbled by the response. So as a result I have decided to give two prizes. The first prize winner will get a 9×9in album with ten 5×7in photos. The second prize winner will get a session with me and a 12×18in wall print valued at $175.

Now to the winner of the first prize….I chose this couple because when I read their answer I immediately said “awwww that is so sweet” They look like the cutest couple too….so relaxed with each other. So I am happy to say that

David Atkins has won a session for him and his partner and his 4 words were “everything I ever wanted” CONGRATULATIONS David I will email you soon…….I can’t wait to meet you both.

and when I saw this answer from the second prize winner I couldn’t resist as his answer is what my hubby says about me. So the second winner is

Christopher Inglis and his answer is “gorgeously breath taking smile” CONGRATULATIONS Christopher I will be in contact soon.

Now I thought since I am getting you guys to tell me in 4 words what you love about your partner I figured I should probably do it too. I would describe what I love about Brendan “he believes in me” he is my biggest supporter in everything I do in life. That said he is level headed and when my imagination gets carried away with something he is the one to pull me back to earth and look at things realistically.

On that note as it is Valentines Day and I haven’t seen my husband since Friday morning due to a trip to Orange I am going to sit down with a nice glass of wine and a lovely dinner with him.

I hope you all have had a lovely day weather it was a big one or just a little bit special….go and enjoy it.

Oh and check back here tomorrow night to see what I got up to in Orange with a very gorgeous 10 day old little boy called Mitch.

Oh gosh I recieved so many entries to the competition, I don’t know how I am going to choose a winner. I will have to sit down with a glass of wine and sift through them all tonight.

I am currently in Orange and am about to travel to Bathurst to photograph a very special little man. When I get home tomorrow night I will announce the winner right here on the blog. So stay tuned.

Oh and no photo with this post as I left my laptop at home so Liam could finish writing his story….lol.

Well I am still on a high from my workshop…so much so that you guys are going to get something huge and fun. I have decided to run a little competition for Valentines Day.

I had so much fun photographing Natalie and Victor on Tuesday that I am going to offer a photo session to one lucky couple who is totally…..utterly in love.

Now to enter this competition all you need to do is send me an email at nataliebicephotos@gmail.com and

describe what you love about your partner in 4 words….the more creative the better.

Include a photo of you and your partner doing something that you love  and you could win a fun photo session with me. You will also recieve 10 photos matted in one of my albums.

So here are the details again

WHAT DO YOU WIN: a photo session with me and 10 photos in an album (value $700)

HOW DO YOU WIN: send me an email describing what you love about your partner in 4 words and include a photo of yourselves doing something you love.

WHEN DO YOU WIN: the competition opens tonight Friday 5th Feb 2010 at 10pm and will close on Friday 12th Feb 2010 at 10pm. The winning couple will then be announced on Sunday 14th of Feb 2010…..awww happy valentines day…lol.

The fine print….

The winner will be chosen by me based on your creative answers. The decision is final.

The winner will be either in Canberra or willing to travel to Canberra for the session. Travel and accomodation is NOT part of the prize.

The session will be held before 14th of April 2010.

A model release must be signed for the session to go ahead.

The prize cannot be redeemed for cash.

Entrants must be over 18 yrs of age.

So get thinking guys I can’t wait to see your photos and read your answers. Here is another photo of Natalie and Victor…..nawwwwwww.

You know there are a few times in life that you could say are ‘life changing experiences’. My first was when my best friends sister died of cancer when I was around 12 and I didn’t get to say goodbye and that still haunts me to this day. The next was getting married 13.5 yrs ago (gosh I feel old…lol).  Then when were told we would never have children naturally my heart sank as that was all I wanted, children. After that it would be the birth of my first child, then my second and third and fourth, the last two were wonderful surprises. Next it would be sending them off to school for the first time. Throw trip to London in there and you could say my life has changed many times but all of these moments go towards shaping who were are today.

Well over the last few days I have experienced another of these moments. I was lucky enough to attend a business bootcamp by the fabulous Liana (Lehman) Hall. This was not only a workshop on how to run a photography business…NO it was so much more than that. It taught my not only who I am as a photographer but as a person as well. I got to share this experience with a group of photographers who I am lucky enough to call friends now. We laughed….we cried….we talked….we listened and we learnt. So to the gorgeous girls…and guy…thank you for being you. My life is so much better for having been through this experience with you all.

Now I have to give a HUGE shout out to the bestest chicky out there Christine Pobke who harassed Liana into coming out to Oz, and the wonderful Kelly Tunney who is the BEST wedding photographer in Canberra…dare I say Australia, for allowing us to invade her studio. If you click on Lianas link up the top of this post you will see some photos of us all…yes even me. I was rail-roaded into having my photo taken…lol, see this is why I became the photographer so I didn’t have to be in front of the camera…lol.

Now we finished the workshop on a very fun note……a shoot, but not just any shoot a high fashion bridal shoot, which is Lianas specialty. We had the most gorgeous couple, Victor and Natalie who were married a few months ago. They were soooo in love, I remember being like that after my wedding…lol. She got to wear her wedding dress again which she was very excited about and had her hair and makeup done, wonderfully I might add, by Heather Turk a local makeup artist.

Now, I am not a wedding photographer and I have no interest in becoming a wedding photographer BUT I had sooooooo much fun doing this. No pressure just pure creativeness.

So in light of everything I have learnt there will be some changes to the way I am running the business so be prepared to see a few things done differently over the next weeks and months. Come along and join me for the journey that Natalie Bice Photography is going on.