Annie la Rue Photography

It’s the first question clients ask me…what should we wear…so I though a fun addition to my inspiration category would be a little “style” inspiration.

I always feel lucky to be able to island hop between Singapore and Australia so I thought it might be fun to be able to share some inspiration from both isles.  This edition it’s Singapore.

I love getting back to Singapore and checking out the kids range at Zara… it is one of my staples (for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, it’s like a European version of Country Road.)  My Aussie readers might be surprised to hear that although Singapore is almost smack bang on the equator, therefore the tropics, it is actually 9 degrees into the northern hemisphere…which means although it is never (that’s a REAL never, not a, like almost never) colder than 22 oC; it actually follows the northern hemisphere seasonal fashion.  Yes this does mean you can buy a goose down jacket in December… that you could not EVER wear in Singapore, even with the aircon on blizzard setting…  For me it means having to predict what size Freya will be in approximately six months which I am not always that good at….!

This is a selection from the current Zara collection, which of course you can put together with clothes from just about anywhere…spring 2010 inspiration.

I think the best sessions are the ones that reflect your personality so I believe your clothing should reflect your typical style.  If you are a girly girl family and dresses are your thing then great, and if you tend to be more relaxed and jeans or khakis are you then that’s great too.  The best results come from subtly co-ordinating outfits but by no means matching!  Colours from the same palette are perfect.  One rule that works well is choose the items for everyone in the photo like you were choosing one outfit, if it was possible that it could be worn on the one person would it work together?  That’s your winning formula!   I also believe this for ANY shoot; engagements; couples…eeww except newborn shoots which of course you know are NUDE!

I’m loving accessories at the moment (aren’t we all?!), scarves, fedoras, layers..

I was going to save this one for another day but couldn’t resist…I’m loving sneakers and dresses or skirts, more fedoras…I LOVE long sleeves and shorts on boys (or girls!) and that desert boots are cool again(that is what we call them middle bottom in this part of the world!)…and if I had a boy, I would totally put him in that gorgeous seersucker suit!  These delights are from J.Crew…

this started of as a conversation with my brother on the phone…he was wondered when I was going to feature the dog I sometimes speak about here on the blog.  I do keep meaning to take some photos of him… although my brother has a vested interest, it is actually his dog that when he moved to Queensland, he had to leave behind…. it was just too hard to take him which you might think is harsh but this dog is a Great Dane!

…I followed Tagliani around (yes that is really his name and it is reminiscent of italian pasta!)  and not that I didn’t before but, I now have a renewed respect for photographers that specialise in pets!  Tags is just not a fan of the camera… anywhere near him!

Just in case you want to actually check out a real expert you can see how they do it here…Erin Vey is a genius (oh and if you go there; make sure you check out henry + vinney, the wiemaraners…hello!?) .

I haven’t given up on Tagliani but this darling is Sunny…  I have had a busy self enforced week, catching up on all the little jobs I had been procrastinating about for FAR too long.   You know it’s always the jobs you have promised to do for your friends and loved ones that fall by the wayside, fortunately I have VERY patient loved ones…

This in a round about way, is one of those projects.  Waaaay back,  I was asked if I could photograph a beautiful garden before my dear friend’s parents moved house…some lasting memories for them.  Sunny lives in the “said” garden and like most Golden Labradors she is just SO sweet and divine.  She followed me around the garden and I couldn’t help, to be totally honest, to find her much more fun than the garden!  I can say that…the garden was for love.

Apologies for all the non dog lovers…but I am doing an engagement session this weekend which I know will feature a brown Kelpie (I can’t wait!) so I know there will be more of the canine variety to come…oh, and be warned I haven’t given up on Tags yet!

Oh and if you were interested in seeing a beautiful at the garden you can see the slideshow here.

it’s been a while since I have posted some inspiration but I came across these framing displays from Pottery Barn that spoke to me!

I love a clean white or black frame with white matt (mount board or passepartout, depending on how fancy you are!) that doesn’t overwhelm the photograph.  I also must admit I love a leaning frame…leaning on a shelf or a sideboard…I love the way it looks but I also love the flexibility, no holes in the wall, you can mix it up and change it when ever you get bored.

I’ve taken the liberty of adding my own photos, I love a mix of colour and black & white photos on the wall; it looks great in an album too.

Although these frames are from Pottery Barn which of course is not in Australia or Singapore, you can get great clean frames like these in lots of places; I love the frames from Country Road, Corban & Blair do good ones and of course theRibba range at IKEA.  I must say the mountboard can discolour in IKEA frames so I would recommend getting one professionally cut at your local picture framer!

(I’ve always had a romantic notion of Pottery Barn, I think it’s ever since they talked about it a million years ago in Friends!  I have never been and think it’s probably one of those places that would never live up to my expectations, I’d get there and find it’s probably just like Domayne, eekk so I’ll just let the fantasy stay that way for now….! although it does seem to have great accessories and lamps…)

Hope that provides some inspiration!

It has been months in the making, heaps of work behind the scenes and I’m so excited it’s finally here…!

any regular reader will probably have picked up by now, I am so passionate about what I do.  I just love it, the intimacy of being invited into a family and watching them interact and just be…  the spirit of childhood is just magical, it’s just asking to be captured…and we do.

and then children grow into big kids, we capture birthdays and graduations, the milestones get further and further apart, we were children and are now grown ups and apart from maybe wedding photos and the occasional Christmas, photos of ourselves just don’t seem to happen any more, life gets in the way.

And that is why I am so passionate about my new addition to the family… Boudoir by annie la Rue.

What does Boudoir photography mean you may ask?  Boudoir is simply a celebration of you.  Your moment in the sun!  Whether you are a mother, girlfriend, wife, single independent amazing woman; I truly believe that every woman, any age and every size has a unique an intimate beauty to be celebrated.

Boudoir is not for everyday, it’s your special splurge.  You might treat yourself to a session as a gift for your special someone, for your groom on your wedding day, to celebrate a milestone in your life, or just as a lasting memory to remind yourself that you rocked it once too! why not?!

so I hope you enjoy and maybe even decide to take a risk and celebrate you, and the glorious beautiful being you are…today, just as you are.

side note. Boudoir is an addition to the annie la rue photography family that will be going on in the background.  You will not see posts of shoots here on the blog but if you’re interested be sure to check in every now and then with the website to find out the latest news and promotions.  You can find a link to the website in my menu.  And a HUGE thanks goes to my wonderful clients who have given their full permission to use their images on my website so you can see exactly what Boudoir is all about, THANK YOU! xx

Procrastination…I’ll be the first to admit it – if there was ever a need for a “dummies guide to procrastination”, I’d be well qualified to be the author!  I don’t actually know if it’s procrastination, maybe it’s just easily distracted, maybe it’s a natural propensity to be curious due to my right brain-ned-ness…okay yes it’s procrastination!

It’s not that I’m not busy…I will be getting on a plane for Singapore in less than ten days and with that I always have a to do list as long as my arm, which for those of us that know, just seems to make the procrasination gene kick into overdrive.

The internet is a natural hunting ground for us procrastinators.  It’s a gold mine, which is why some days I have to ban myself from even opening my internet browser.  So in an attempt to spread the love I’m going to share my lattest obsession… how about orange… it’s the kind of blog I look at to see what I’d do if I had more time (yes I get the irony!) BUT the best thing about this blog is that it even has a section named time wasters (and yes I’ve done most of them!)...a blog after my own heart!

For anyone who knows me also knows my other non photography obsession is with etsy. and if you need more encouragement some of the best you’ll find on the web are here… that should keep you going for hours if you aren’t still stuck in the time wasters that is!  Oh and this was one of my first Friday afternoon obsessions when I just couldn’t wait for the week to end!  Oh and in case you were wondering about your right or left handed-ness you can find out for sure here (but I’ve got my suspicions already!)… OK now I’ll stop!

you have so many great photographs…now what to do with them…?

I was recently flicking through some house mags and came across these great examples of wall displays.  I took the liberty of adding some photos from my recent sessions of Milana & Hana (posts to come).  These great frames are from Corban & Blair (Australia).

What I love about these are the eclectic randomness…. depending on your style and personality your pictures do not have to be perfectly alike.  Also mixing black & white with colours works really well.

(thanks corban & blair and vogue living)