Bickie Monsters Sadie and Lexi | Wellington Children's Photographer

Sadie (the gorgeous creature in pink) began the session with a melt down bless her sweet heart.  She wanted a bickie as she was hungry and did not want to play the game until she was no longer hangry.  Now I am a simple girl like this as well and do not function well unless fed.  But pop two bickies in this girls hands and she was happy as Larry. Sadie...I get you.....I totally get you.   Then there was Lexi the smiley wee moppet...so much fun to photograph.  I am so tickled I met their Mum Kylie who owns Get Funkd Hair studio on the Terrace... Not only is she incredibly sweet but she also has given me the best colour I have ever had in my life.  I LOVE IT!  And my hair feels like silk....right after a colour .... what is that about?

Mr. A La Mo

This year's Charity of Focus was the Movember Campaign and we created a Coffee table limited edition book and calendar as a fundraiser for Men's Health.  

Congratulations to 

Simon has won the following prize package:

Simon will feature on the cover of both the book and calendar as Mr A La Mo 2012, winning a major prize pack that includes a barbeque from Mitre 10 Mega Petone & Upper Hutt valued at $599, a Surreal Illustrated Portrait Package by International Award Winning Master Photographer, Mandi Lynn of A La Mode Photographic Boutique valued at $1,900 and a ‘Mr A La Mo’ book (in addition to their category prize).  Flight Coffee have donated a voucher for you and a group of friends to enjoy - Flight Coffee Geek Out Session/Tour (approx 2 hours) for up to 10 people.  Mitre 10 Mega in Petone & Upper Hutt have donated a $100 gift voucher Global Beauty have donated two Nimue men's skin care products valued at $75.  Les Mills have donated 1 months gym membership. Plus A La Mode Photographic Boutique have donated a Model for a Day Photography Package (this is a makeover and photo shoot for that special lady in your life valued at $440)

Treena and Cassandra | Mother Daughter Photography

They are just the cutest mother and daughter.  The tatoos that they share are a doodle that the two of them doodle all of the time.   Such a cool relationship to observe and capture and they are both so darn beautiful inside and out!

Imaginarium | Rubin and the Zombies

Imaginarium: A Piece of Digital Art that dives into the adventures of the mind of a child and features them in their own adventures.
Rubin loves Zombies and Ghosts.  It just so happened that after he told me this I found out I was going to be photographing a Zombie Flashmob in Wellington and so I invited Rubin to come along and play.  I think he was nervous as could be in the beginning and I almost called it off for him but he would have none of it and thought the idea of taking his zombies for a walk was a brilliant one.

Here are some of the behind the scenes from the day

 

Obviously Rubin warmed to the Zombies after a while.  His mum said he had an amazing day

Here is the final image.  This will be part of the Imaginarium Series I am currently working on and accepting commissions for...unless I get a whole cluster of 9 year boys my guess is the rest of them will not be quite so dark :).

Imaginariums | Isabella and Tigger

Imaginariums are one off pieces of surreal photographic paintings that are created to celebrate the adventures of your child's imagination.  The quicksilver of their dreams is captured in all of their wonder with your favourite little person as the star of the show. 

Behind the scenes: of Izzies Imaginarium:

So when Isabella goes off into the land of her imagination she brings her trusted friend Tigger with her.  I asked her to draw a story of what they get up to and hers involved her and tigger bouncing with huge springs on their feet into a deep wood.  There was also her cat and an Umbrella featured as well. 

Today we shot the first series of images for her Imaginarium piece.  Can't wait to get started on it. 

This was Izzie's drawing

Mandiland Images | From the imagination of Mandi Lynn

Yesterday we visited the Aethercon Festival which celebrated all things Steampunk in Wellington.  Nicole from Bodyfx did a beautiful job making up Chantelle Naraine this was one of the pieces I created from our shoot entitled Ruler of Thirds.  My Partner Craig was there manning the stall as I had to be pulled away to shoot a Zombie flashmob in the Trainstation in Wellington and start on our first little boys Imaginarium piece which features Ghosts and Zombies.  Little Rubin when asked to draw what was taking place in his imagination at the moment (he is 9) drew me ghosts and Zombies.  I heard about the flashmob through my apparent zombie connections I didn't even realize i had and bam we had 50 zombies to chose from.   Those images to follow soon.

Jessie and Her Peoples

The Doctor Becomes the Patient

I decided that I need to drop some weight before going on an epic hiking trip.  But I wanted to celebrate each stage along the way so I plan on showcasing how a woman can be beautiful and sexy no matter what her size....so this is me at 127kgs (280lbs).    If you would like to follow the blog that goes into detail about the journey then hop over to Love Mandi Lynn

Dale's Model for a Day Shoot

Dale won our Pink Wheel of Happiness at the Women's Expo and won a voucher for a free print the lucky girl.  She the upgraded to the show special and got a chance to be spoiled by Renee in the makeup chair for a couple of hours.  She needed it too after having a challenging week...she was sure that we were not going to get much from her in the state she was in but nahhhh.... We always find ways to pull out that sparkle.  Doesn't she look amazing.  She is now plotting her next shoot and this time with her partner.  :)

collection of Before and Afters | Wellington Portrait Photographer

Magenta Me | My rocking new hairdo

When I was a kid my favourite place was the humongous book stores we used to have in the U.S. Or used book stores...any book stores would do really...I remember reading this poem as a kid and thought it was "the balls" (although that was probably not the correct term back then...It was something much more 80's inspired like bitch'n) and realized as the roughly good kid that I was that I was probably saving my better randomness for my older age. This was the poem I think was tapping me on the shoulder saying....hey guess what...you are getting a bit older now (the big 40 countdown has started)....now is the time to start the fun!!!!. 


Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Jenny Joseph

So this week I decided to dye my hair purple.  I was doing a shoot a couple of years ago and there was a woman there who had brown hair with purple highlights. She was a woman in her mid forties and she just had such a light about her. She had grey streaks in her hair and basically just said stuff it I'm going to rock this grey thing so she threw in some purple highlights. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I loved the idea of it...then recently all of the pastel hair and ombreed looks have come in to fashion and I thought...cool look at all of the options...then darn...It might look like I am just following a trend which will go out soon....So after I was done arguing with myself I said stuff it and did it. As the ends fade I imagine they will go a bit pinkish or lighter purplish who knows. Ohhh this is fun....Wonder what I will grow the ovaries to do next?

Michelle's Gorgeous Moppets | Wellington Family Photographer

Aren't they Gorgeous!

Aisling and Lauren | Wellington Portrait Photographer

Oh my Goodness this shoot was absolutely a blast.   Aisling and Lauren are best friends and are the most gorgeous girls inside and out.  It is hard to imagine the parenting that went into take two girls that are so beautiful and shaping them in to being such unassuming, playful loving 15 year olds.  They were an absolute riot to shoot with and then would pull out the most gorgeous angelic shots that immediately followed complete and utter piss take shots.  It was a roller coaster ride of awesomeness.

I posted the behind the scenes of Lauren and Aisling's shoot and Aisling wrote this to me on our Facebook page "Hey Mandi, Lauren Mee and I just wanted to say a huge huge thank you for a wonderful day on 4th July! We had the most amazing time traveling around Lower Hutt with you and the crew taking photos, of which were full of hilarious and amazing times evident in your amazing photography :) We had an unforgettable experience and we both hope we get the chance to work with you again :) Thank you so so much for this experience, we can't wait to come view the photos this coming Thursday :) xx"

Golden Ringlets | Wellington Photographer

Some times you fall in love with a client...if mum would have let me I would have taken her home and raised her she was so incredibly beautiful inside and out! There is just something about the wonder and possibilities in the eyes of a 4 year old. The world is still so sparkley and magical. I kept wanting to pick her up and squeeze her like the little girl from Despicable me and yell "She's so fluffy" She wasn't very fluffy but I just really wanted to squeeze her like a puppy. GOD I LOVE MY JOB!

Beautiful Bethany | Wellington Photographer

Today I am working on some images of Leigh and Bethany a gorgeous mother daughter duo who came to have a mothers day shoot done with us.  GORGEOUS!!!!  I haven't even gotten to Leigh but I worked up this one of Bethany and I couldn't wait to show it off.  Isn't she the most beautiful porcelain creature ever?  Her skin and eyes and hair and lips...geeze what a gene pool.   So looking forward to the rest of these but let me just share this one first then I can dive back in!

Richard Wood and Emily Rose | Wellington Family Photographer

Richard Wood won New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers Photographer of the Year Last year.  I am a huge fan of his work and his favourite muse is his gorgeous daughter Emily Rose.  Luckily he is a sharing sort of guy.  He brought me up for a talk to the Hawkes Bay members of NZIPP this weekend and we chased it with a photoshoot.  Here are a couple of my faves from the day. 

Georgia on my Mind | Wellington Portrait Artist

I am loving playing with blending my illustration with my photography it creates something just a little bit magical to me and I know it is what I am meant to me doing because I loose track of time when I am drawing.

Nummy Noelle | Wellington Fashion Photographer

Noelle was one of our model for a day winners that we met at the Wellington Wedding Show.  She is on her way to get married in Germany and wanted to get some lovely shots done for herself and her partner.  We had such a good time on this shoot and lucked out.  As I was taking her to my favourite black wall to shoot on there was this gorgeous mustang parked in front of it and the owner / friend of the owner / some dude on the street was standing by the car and let us use it for the shoot.  LOVE the result. 


When Noelle came to collect the images this week she was laid out with a cold and then wrote us this, " Thankyou again so much for the beautiful makeup, hair and photos! I love them! My cold is going away and I am pretty certain it is because my body figures it has to feel at least half as good as that woman in my photos looks."


Glad you are feeling better Noelle and I hope you have a wonderful trip to Germany.

Simple truth #1 | Wellington Kids Photographer

Source: Uploaded by user via Michele on Pinterest

Free Range Kids Book | Wellington Childrens Photographer

For the last couple of years I have been collecting images to create a book of visual poems about childhood in New Zealand.  I have an idealized view of it as a Kiwi by choice but not by birth.  I know I had quite a Free Range Childhood in the Suburbs of Atlanta but America was not looking at all like the sort of place I could give that sort of an upbringing to my Sam.  That was one of the reasons we moved to New Zealand in the first place.   We eventually bought an organic farm in the Akatarawa Valley.  This was where my photography business started as I would record the beautiful children who would come and pick blueberries on our farm.  I got the idea to do the Blueberry Farm Kids book...but wasn't quite organized enough to get all of the kids I needed in one season (I was running the farm and an Environmental Education program as well as working at the Hospital and teaching myself photography....go figure.)  So this project I thought would take just one year has spread into four and I am keen to see the book published but I am finding that after organizing the images I have less children than I thought I had gotten for it and would like to get some more to round out the picture I was shooting for.  

Just click on the book below and you will be taken to a page that will give you all of the juicy details on how to sign your favourite littlie up for the book.

Photographing for Craft Sales: Lecture for Handmade

Happy Mother's Day Janine

Janine and Sophie came for a mother daughter shoot the other day and we had such a good time.  As per our usual pattern we started with Sophie and went out and had a great time in the last day of sun before it all turned to custard. We posed on Graffiti walls, in gardens, and old bricks...I really love petone.  We decided that a trip to the beach was in order when Janine finished her shoot only to be met by completely gale force winds.  They almost got sand blast facials by the end of it.   I think we lasted about 7 minutes on the beach in the end and were afraid we were going to take off like kites but it was good fun and then we ran back to the car to warm up.  Janine I think is more of a kid at heart than Sophie and she got back to her roots riding my bike around the mean streets of Petone.  I so love doing mother and daughter shoots....but it makes me miss my mommy......

A Chocolate Story and a Lazy Sunday

I love lazy Sundays.  There really is nothing better in my mind.  Once in a blue moon the stars collide and I am given a morning of decadence.  This morning I used it to play.  When I am given unstructured time...as rarely as that happens I find that I want to paint...either physically or digitally.  Today it was a digital painting day.   I am taking a digital illustration class to learn how to do vector illustration.  We were given an assignment to create a vector mascot for a food brand.  I started off wanting to do a bit of a piss take on the Honey Badger, but then realized that I really had no interest in illustrating a badger...and the whole reason I took the darn course was to be able to push my feminine drawings and create a modern take on the beautiful graphics of Mucha.   So I changed my mind and decided that I would do something to help the new chocolate boutique that opened a couple of blocks down from my studio.  I would create a poster for them featuring their chocolate.  Something beautiful and inviting and luscious.   Who better to be a model for it than the glorious Salacious Sugar herself.   So off we went on Saturday after my official shoots,  I draped Miss Sugar in some flowy fabrics we had around the studio and stuck her against a beautifully distressed wall down a side road in Petone.  Late afternoon sun reflected off of the wall in front and gave a very soft lighting.  Beautiful!  She looked like a goddess.  You would never have known that there were some sort of animal bones to her right, traffic driving past every couple of minutes, and random shoppers walking by.  It was good good fun.....and we got to eat the chocolate afterward.  Yummmy!  The Chocolate Story is the name of the boutique and it is a lovely wee shop down on Jackson Street In Petone.  YUMMMMMMMMMMYYYY you need to go in and try their Hot chocolate....delicious!  This is the first stage of the illustration, I now am going to try and convert it to vector graphics...Not sure I want to but I do want to make a vector frame about it.  I will post the final one when I have finished for you to have a look at.