Annie la Rue Photography

from the minute I walked in the door these guys were funnnn!  I mean like crazy fun! I think you only have to take a look at their session to get the idea.

The problem (I should say challenge…) was it was pouring rain this afternoon… good ole Singaporean tropical down pour but that didn’t dampen these guys spirits.  This family is just full of happy juice, it was oozing! We laughed, we jumped, they tickled, they rumbled…and we even manged to break a bed…oopps!  it was madness…just like any good family session should be!

hello how gorgeous btw are these children…..?? something tells me it’s in the genes…

thanks guys for bringing the magic, I had a ball!  I hope Olivia found somewhere to sleep!

I’ve spoken about these guys before…they are my fabulous clients that drove all the way down from Malaysia just for this shoot with me… amazing.

Aside from the dramas we had about traffic jams, terrible directions and getting lost, it was hot!  Singapore steamy, “will some on pour me a Singapore sling” hot!!  I love when my clients have really thought about what kind of shoot they want and particularly if they want to capture a bit of Singapore in it…I especially love it if they want to capture something a bit out of the box!  Monica did, she wanted a shoot that screamed dirty grungy asia.  Instantly I knew the place, the flipside of one of my favourite parts of Singapore, Boat Quay.  This is a very authentic Singapore experience, the row of restaurants and bars on the river, the hawkers badgering you to eat inside, the notorious over priced fare, the quintessential tourist experince but like anywhere, the locals know… the place to go is the street behind… it’s much grottier, the service is verging on blunt, the chairs are plastic but the food is  AH-MAZING! it’s the real Singapore.

…and this is the lane in between where all this craziness meets, the hundreds of aircon units hanging from the windows, the gas bottles, the dumpsters, the uncles peeling onions ( and if your lucky doing their washing) and having a cigarette preparing for the onlaught… it screams grungy asia.

And we had fun… dodging delivery trucks and a local Channel 5 soap being filmed down the other end (or could it have been a film clip? who can tell!?). OH and yes and despite the heat and craziness little Sophie was a trooper!

The street behind that I talk about is Circular Road and was actually the first place I worked in Singapore… no NOT a dodgy restaurant or bar…! I should say above this street, in a small design firm. My absolute favourite restaurant there is called Thai Smiles, I go back every time I’m in Singapore and they still remember me…do yourself a favour and try the lemongrass chicken, oh and the steamed whole fish with ginger, oh and the black pepper chicken (and eat the basket – the best bit!) , the venison with ginger and green shallot, the cereal prawn, oh and the green mango salad….actually you had better make that two visits!

sisters…I was never lucky enough to have any.  I always envied any of my friends that had any and looking in from the outside it seemed like such a cool exclusive club…it like an instant best friend for life. Some one to share your silly jokes with, lipstick, clothes, secrets about boys…  These three little stunners have all that to look forward to but you can already see they have besties for life, even the littlest Eliza who hasn’t caught on to sisterly love quite yet!

(eeeww those eyes!  Milly’s piercing blues and Charlotte’s stunning chocolate drops)

and then girls being girls…we needed an outfit change.  I just LOVE this little Oobi number Eliza was sporting….

Just in case you are wondering I had brothers, two of them and I loved it… okay we didn’t get to share make up tips but I can swing a hammer and bait a hook with the best of them!

the gift of love,

the gift of peace,

the gift of happiness,

may all these gifts be yours this holiday season

thank you all for an amazing 2009

x Annie

All kids are really into something,  I mean REALLY into…maybe it’s Dora, or the Wiggles but for Jacsen it’s Bond!  He just LOVES James Bond, he does a mean Bond pose, knows all the bond songs and all the intro action scenes, I think it was Octopussy we watched…well it had a snow slope, a heliski, and Roger Moore in the opening action scene, what more could you ask for, especially as a nearly 3 1/2 year old !

Singapore has some great locations if you want to get outside (early….before the heat…and the locals!),  we started our shoot at one of my favourite Singapore locations, the Central Fire Station and as we discovered those doors really do open and fire engines  do come out…!  But it was worth it, I just love those red doors and the brickwork.

and then we had some time for some fun at home…

Thanks Nat & Marty for being so relaxed, listening to my crazy ideas and sitting on the dirty footpath (with the dog pee!) no questions asked…sometimes you just have to go with it!  xA

So, I was lucky enough to meet Milana when she was just a little bump….her gorgeous mama  Minja did a bump to babe session with me.  Minja text me from Singapore when she arrived and I was so excited to get back and meet her, it was worth the anticipation… she was a star, it obviously runs in the genes in this family!

We had heaps of fun (again!) with this session and Milana was a trooper.

See a peak from the “bump” session below…

Thanks Minja & Marc, it was wonderful to finally meet Milana, you make a beautiful family. xA

The weather was against us…it was a horrible Canberra day…we had great plans for outdoors but sleet driving sideways and a top temperature under 10 it wasn’t going to happen.

Lizzie is my favourite (nearly) 3 year old… she loves the idea of being photographed but not the actual reality of it…but when I manage to catch her it’s worth it.  Fortunately Katie and Steph were equally as photogenic so when Lizzie had had enough of the paparazzi I turned to them…. aren’t those eyes to die for??