PK Photography » Personal

Mar 11

by Penelope Hale in 10 o 10, documentary, Family, Monthly Favourites, Personal, PK Photography 16 comments tags: documentary family photographer, hunter family photographer, hunter photographer, newcastle, Newcastle family photographer

10 on 10 | March

10 on 10 | March Each month, on the tenth day, a group of photographers post ten images from the previous month. Each photographer links to another in their post which in the end comes full circle back to the photographer you started with. This is my contribution for March, using a collection of images from February. Don’t forget to follow through the circle with a clickable link at the end. February was a pretty quiet month for us here yet full on lots of new things, firsts and getting settled in to the new routine. I attempted a Day in the Life of our family on 27 Feb but didn’t make it much past school drop off… Evie is definitely a book worm. Olive is becoming more independent The beach is where Evie belongs. Evie was pleased to learn she hadn’t forgotten how to do up the zip on her dress during school holidays. To keep moving your way around the circle and see what the other 10 on 10 photographers got up to, head over to Jessica Dherari‘s 10 on 10 post.

Feb 26

by Penelope Hale in documentary, Family, Personal, PK Photography 0 comments tags: documentary family photographer, hunter family photographer, lake macquarie family photographer, Newcastle family photographer, newcastle photographer, pk photography

Relocation Part Three | Documenting the move to Newcastle

We have now moved in to a more permanent address (only slightly, as it was sold in the first week we had moved in after unsuccessfully being on the market for many months so we are on the move again mid-July). We have been here a little over a month now and I am still pinching myself that we live a 10 min drive from Redhead Beach! The removalists arrived as I was putting the key in the door . They were a little bit early so we didn’t get a chance to run around the empty house or explore before it was a hive of activity. I did manage to get a ‘calm before the storm’ shot though. I set the girls up with a drink and some morning shows on the balcony. I am not sure what your kids are like but mine seem to have a special skill at getting under your feet – especially if you are in a hurry or carrying something heavy. It won’t be the first time these words have been uttered (or shouted from a corner in desperation), “The boxes are never ending!” and it has sure felt like that! So sometimes, […]

Feb 18

by Penelope Hale in documentary, Personal 0 comments tags: documentary family photography, documentary session

My turn in front of the camera | Documentary Family Photography Session

Recently, a fellow documentary family photographer and I did a session trade. We swapped an eight hour documentary session of each other’s family. The Hales (that’s us) were up first as we were moving away shortly and Sharon (of Sharon Troy-Baldwin Photography) was able to fit us in before the move. It is something I will be forever grateful for because as a super sentimental and emotional person (I cry watching Christmas ads for not-for-profit organisations or reading about people being kind to each other), I really think it helped me process our move to a new area. The lead up to our session I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to see how another photographer photographed my family. Would she see different personality elements in the girls or find pockets of light I had never noticed because I had some ‘go to’ ones at various times of the day? What do I miss noticing because I am in the thick of this thing called parenting? Then it happened… All those little thoughts and fears I tell prospective clients to not worry about started creeping in. Worrying about the clutter/size/cleanliness of my our home, wondering if we are even very […]

Feb 07

by Penelope Hale in 10 o 10, Personal, PK Photography 12 comments tags: 10on10, blog circle, documentary family photography, hunter photographer, maitland photographer, Newcastle family photographer, newcastle photographer

10 on 10 | February

This year I am participating in a blog circle. I was unable to post for January due to my computer being in a box in a shipping container in a warehouse so here I am with my first contribution! I am proudly joining a group of photographers who either shoot ten images on the tenth day of each month or curate ten images from the previous month. Follow the link at the bottom of the post to keep making your way around the circle to the next photographer! My ten images for February are from the tenth of January. I wanted to document how we were spending our days living in the temporary apartment accommodation. While we tried to get out for a small adventure each day, this just happened to be a day we stayed in and looking back it seems that cabin fever was at its peak with emotions being high or low – there was no middle level. Don’t forget that this post is part of a monthly blog circle. To continue the circle, following a group of photographers all sharing ten images from either a theme or a day or simply the previous month, click here […]

Feb 04

by Penelope Hale in documentary, Family, Personal 0 comments tags: documentary photographer, family documentary, family documentary photographer, family photographer, family photojournalism, hunter family photographer, lake macquarie family photographer, maitland family photographer, moving house, Newcastle family photographer, relocation

Relocation Part One | Documenting the move to Newcastle

Relocation | Part One Moving house. Moving to a new house, new city, new school, new preschool, new everything. I wanted to make images of the move to use it as a way not only to document the process but to sort through the emotions I was anticipating. I am a sentimental and emotional person and thought this move out of our family home, the first place we brought our two babies to when they left the hospital, would really weigh me down. We really love our little spot in the Blue Mountains and while we are excited for things Newcastle has to offer that we don’t have here (beaches being the biggest and most exciting of them all), it will be quite an adjustment. I had planned in my head a whole bunch of photos of things like boxes being taped up and written on by the packing removalists but really didn’t want to get in their way so didn’t end up getting any of those. So here is a small sample of Part One aka Our Life in Boxes. A little bit of our own packing before the professionals came in. Escaping the hail storm outside and […]

Oct 23

by Penelope Hale in Personal 0 comments tags: lesson, lost, prints

Print your photos. I wish I had.

I feel as lost as Olive when she was stuck in the pumpkin plant. One of my biggest fears happened on Friday morning. I still feel pretty numb about it, and deeply sad. You see, with client images I back up in three locations. With my own? No back ups. HUGE MISTAKE! PRINT YOUR PHOTOS! I wish I had. I was working off a laptop until late July this year, when I upgraded to an awesome computer with an amazing screen. I have been meaning to copy the pictures from previous years over to my hard drive for a while now, in fact I had already copied 2014 and 2015 over. There is something pretty exciting in the near horizon which prompted me to get off my behind and finally do it. It seems that I didn’t copy+paste but that I cut+paste which is really where the problem is. See, when I plugged my hard drive back in to the computer there was an error dialogue box and then 2016 folder was gone. Just disappeared. Because I had cut+paste (which I NEVER do!), they were also no longer on my laptop. PRINT YOUR PHOTOS! I wish I had. I am […]

Sep 02

by Penelope Hale in documentary, Personal 0 comments tags: blue mountains, day out, documentary, documentary photographer, documentary session, family, girl, grandparents, photography, pk photography, train

A morning out | Documentary Session

My parents are going away for a bit and refused to let me drive them to the airport (which is about a 2.5hr return trip) but let me drop them at the train station five minutes down the road. The girls and I decided to squeeze in some more time with them by staying on the train for a few stops and getting off in time for a morning snack. We haven’t had an outing for a while – especially not a train one! – so I brought the camera along. This is an example of how a documentary session unfolds photographically. We did our thing and the photographer (me!) documented what went on. Interested in bringing me along to a family day out? Contact me here – I can’t wait to start planning with you!

Jun 28

by Penelope Hale in Personal, PK Photography 0 comments tags: donating, fundraising, hamlin fistula, maternal health, maternity, newborn, pk photography

Fundraising for Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia

I have always wanted to be a philanthropist. While I definitely do not have the ability to make “a generous donation” the size that a philanthropist can, I am going to start giving more than a $25 donation to sponsor my cousin in his Multiple Sclerosis cycling event. If I sit around waiting to earn the big bucks, my small bucks that can make a difference won’t get out there either. So, as the saying goes, “There is no time like the present.” I know I want to donate my time and skills to Heartfelt, an organisation who provide photographic sessions to families who experience stillbirths, premature births or have children with serious or terminal illnesses. I am a bit of a huge softie* and so think I need to wait until my two are at school so I have time to process the experience and to the be truly available to the families. * I get all choked up and teary in Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast when they put Gruff to bed. ‘Nuff said. I was trying to think of other ways I can use my creative side to contribute to an organisation or cause I believe […]

Oct 03

by Penelope Hale in Hip Dysplasia Journey, Personal 0 comments tags: brace, DDH, hip baby, hip dysplasia, pk photography

Our Hip Baby – Part Three

It has been one month since our last check up. I left the Children’s Hospital with a skip in my step. Olive’s braced hours are reduced to 12 hours, or her night time sleep! It took nearly two weeks for Olive to adjust to brace free daytime sleeps. She was not able to self soothe if she woke up after a short sleep, took a bit longer to get to sleep and often needed to be put back down at the bottom of the cot. There is a still some dysplasia in one hip but the other is exactly where it should be for her age! Our next appointment is not for another two months. Fingers crossed the remaining dysplasia is corrected and we get the all clear! The photos below are from one morning not long after the brace free days commenced.

Oct 01

by Penelope Hale in Monthly Favourites, Personal, PK Photography 0 comments tags: spring

Favourites Collection – September

Below are some of my favourite images from September. Don’t forget to let me know which one is your favourite (either from this collection or comment with your own favourite)! Enjoy!