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Last night I had the pleasure to meet a lovely local family in their home. It was another evening session and some clever lighting was needed. We thought we didnt get a lot since the children was a little bit excited but it was a pleasant surprise when I downloaded the pictures last night. We will definitely have another session in about 6 months so try again for the family shot we wanted.

Last night the children were not interested in that:) That is the nature of children photography though and at certain ages its just more difficult to get group shots. I get very very few of my two together as Erika as as that stage. When you are two and there is so much new things in the world to see and explore, you’re not that interested to sit right beside your sister or brother:) I love this lively stage though so I am not complaining, many more years to get the group shots, just important to record them at the different stages, as it goes by much much too fast!

This one is my ultimate favorite of the session. She looks absolutely angelic with the purple fabric and the beads.

Another favorite is the awe of big sister with her smallest sister. Three sisters, how blessed they will be to have such close friends later on.

Let’s not forget some of the boys. This is big brother with another family relative. I love the absolute laughter on the young boys face.

This is the middle sister with the tiger. There were many tigers, the biggest one was well over six feet if I could give a quick guess:)

Another of baby girl. She did not want to be left on her own for a minute. She wanted to be held, on Mommy’s lap or in anyone’s arms the whole time. Oh how soon we forget those first few weeks when all they want is Mommy’s bodyheat. We just worked around that.

Last one is another favorite (I can have several favorites can’t I?). Pure sisterly love.

 

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek. It was lovely to meet everyone.

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Every so often I remind myself I need updated photos of the children. It really takes me 5 minutes. i go to where they are playing, snap away. When they would let me I would comb their hair and sometimes like today I got to have Bianca dress in a special dress but that is about it. Those images add up and if you get only 2 images every few weeks, pretty soon you have enough stunning ones to make an unbelievable album.

I adore Erika’s eyelashes and have been meaning to get a shot of them. She is in that stage of her life where Mommy could do cartwheels and she will not look at me:) They go through that at about 2years old and it really is difficult to catch them as they truely are. Even for their own parents not just for stranger photographers:)

It suited  me today as I wanted to have her look down. Its really a snapshot and I didnt even take time to clean her face. I adore this one though and it will surely be printed for some nook and cranny in our home:

 

I told Bianca today was snapshot day and I had taken a few pictures of Erika. She was not too keen but I told her we would take some of her sleeping buddy Mr “Botha” her teddybear too. I took several of only him, where Bianca “posed” him for me. It might look silly shooting a toy but he wasn’t even visible in most shots and I got her to consider letting me take her picture and the result is simply amazing. Some of her most beautiful ones of date. I will take pictures of childrens toys over and over again if that is waht gets them to open up. If they get to see the little image on the lcd screen their little faces just brightens up.

For Bianca I am actually going to make a storyboard with several images of her teddybear and herself for her room, as she has specifically requested a “block with lots of rounded pictures of me and Botha mom”. I just laughed and said sure thing. Amazed that my child is truely changing into a photographers child, knowing about pictures needing to be printed and even realising you can add them together to produce something interesting and arty.

 

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I was so happy when this little man’s parents let me know last week that he had arrived at last. He took his sweet time, 9 days overdue! Even though he was all but 10 days old today we could tell he stayed inside longer since he already had stronger legs, already were less impressed when we tried to have him in newborn positions. He was such a good sport though. So calm, his parents must feel blessed. The only real cries were right at the end of the session when his going away clothes couldnt be put on quick enough (according to him). Who knows maybe he liked being here and was just sad to go away…

In the last 6 months or so there has been so many baby girls and now we’ve been blessed with quite a few baby boys. This is the first of 3 boys that I know that will be making having their first photo appearance soon.

We went very blue to celebrate his boyishness:) I absolutely adore this one. Isn’t it the cutest!

Look at that intent look at me. He would just look at me without crying, studying what I am doing. This is a chocolate conversion.

The full body shot of him and the blue outfit.

He looked so comfy in his green blanket I immediately grabbed a green background and captured the moment. Again just checking out the world.

Little boy blue caught in a spiderweb.

One in Mommy and Daddy’s arms

And lastly a family photo. What better way to show how very small he is than to have him right there with Mommy and Daddy.

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I had the pleasure to meet a lovely local family on Tuesday evening. This was my first session at night (we started at 9pm) so I was quite excited to see how we could use the dark for some interesting shots. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the cousins. Thanks for all being such good sports and so friendly!

Here are a few sneak peek photos. The first was a peekaboo photo. Peering from behind a column. The black and white gives such depth to the photo that I show the conversion here but the colour version is just as lovely. The blue in her hair and the orange column’s colours work very well together.

The little ones liked the camera too and I had one split second each time to capture the scene before they ran to come see what it looked like on my camera. I adore this one, pure sweetness.

Here we played with the darkness to flood only her in light.

Another gorgeous orange background, its actually their wooden doors that change colour to a vivid colour when lighted differently than usual.

And lastly one of three sisters. The fun we had clearly visible. This is a chocolate black and white version.

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Readers of my facebook photography page know this already since they are usually the first to know. If you’d like to join my facebook photography page just follow the facebook link at the top of the blog page.

I recently finished the designing of two coffee table books. Both going to my own Mom and Mother-In-Law. Fitting that they both have birthdays during this Ramadan and I get to give a deeply personal gift to each. For both I designed a 12inch by 12 inch book. They have hinged pages that lays flat. When they come in I will be sure to take some pictures.

The one book will have 50 sides (that is 25 pages) and have a photo cover while the other book will have a leather cover with 40 sides (20 pages).

I made little video’s that lay out the design. Have a look below (wording inside the book is Afrikaans,as that is our home language. I can put any wording you’d like in your books to make it more personal to you, even if I don’t have any idea what the words mean).

The first is very sentimental. For my Mom. The pictures in this book (except for one or two landscape and building pictures) were all taken during the 17 days she came to visit. It’s meant to show her how much we love her. It’s for her as a reminder of her visit, of Abu Dhabi. I am making one for us too since likewise it will be a book for the kids to remember the same visit and remember their bonding time with Grand mom since they do not spend much time together. I’ve been meaning to do something like this forever and this is the first. It made me just realise again how special photos can be and what we can do with them. I do plan to do this more often, at least once a year.

The second is a 80th birthday present for my Mother In Law. These are a collection of photos (mostly just the girls) that we held as our favorites. Some were in studio (although its clear posing didn’t go far) and some were out while at play. Photos stretch from about 6 months ago. Amazing how much they have grown.

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Next week the holy month of Ramadan will start. The holy month is to make peace with those that have wronged us. This is the time to bond closer with family and friends. Do away with evil thoughts, bad habits.

Living in a Muslim country we have come to respect this holy month. Although we are not Muslim, every year I do get a sense that we too move closer to each other during the holy month. It’s become a month to reflect on the year past and to think of others.

Last year there were drives to donate to the lesser fortunate and I hope I see that happening again this year. It was easy to give.

Since Muslims fast from sun up to sun down during this month, adults here also refrain from eating and drinking (or smoking in public), showing our respect and support for others. Here and there one would see a tourist unawares, but hopefully someone will let them know to rather keep that private. Not going out and rather staying in more also lets you move closer to friends and family. Its summer this Ramadan so there will be many play dates in friends’ houses rather than an impersonal mall.

I’ve decided to give a little as a Ramadan special. To anyone that book sessions and have the sessions in Ramadan I will design a Eid Muburak card free of charge. You are welcome then to distribute this card electronically or order a set of cards to distribute. To get cards printed and ready for distribution at Eid, your session must take place before 15th August. For electronic cards the sessions could be held any time up to 2nd September (just to give me a little design time).

All regular sessions booked and paid for during the month of Ramadan will get a 20% discount on current pricing. If you order within this month too, you will get 20% discount on any items ordered over and above your credits and this old pricing is applicable.

For mini sessions, a 20% discount on products will be applied once a print minimum of Dhs500 has been reached.

I am in Abu Dhabi the whole Ramadan and available for sessions at the studio, either in the mornings or late afternoons during the week(Sunday to Thursday) and Saturdays. If you request a session at your home or during the evening, just contact me to arrange the details.

If you book and pay during this month you will still receive the initial 20% discount even if you decide to postpone the session date till after Eid. Regular pricing will then be in place when you order.

What is your plans during this Ramadan? How many of us is staying here or heading off? Feel free to leave comments below.

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Our one year birthday is upon us! It’s been a wonderful year with a many wonderful clients. There were so many newborn sessions, toddler sessions, family session and of course maternity session. So much fun! To say thank you for all my wonderful clients I am giving them an oppurtunity to get a 20inch by 24 inch canvas as gift from me. Because, well it’s our birthday  and we want to give gifts!

It’s not my own personal birthday. That comes in December and boy will there be fun to be had too since its going to be my 40th this year.

So far only 3 clients sent in their choices. Even if its only them the canvas will still be handed out! So come on, send in your canvas choices. And friends – get voting!

To send me your choice of photo to add to the competition just let me know which one by mailing me at brunilda@brunilda.me or commenting here.

Voting will only take place on my facebook fan page. Head to my fan page by either clicking the facebook icon at the top left of the screen or by heading to this ling: Brunilda Monnig Photography Fan Page

To clarify the rules:
Choose a photo from your session, let me know and I will add it to this gallery. Get your friends to lik…e my fan page and “like” your photo. The one with the most likes gets a free 20inch by 24 inch gallery wrap canvas!

Voting will take place with only the “likes” at each photo. You are welcome to add comments but those won’t count towards your “likes/ vote tally”

Who will win the canvas? let’s start the competition! Voting will be closed on 31 August.

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It’s been a while since I’ve done the snapshot posts. But this snapshot is super special, my eldest lost her first tooth. Last week already I have just been too busy to come share. She’s so very proud of it.

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One hears  so often that someone blossoms/ glows when pregnant but it has never been more true than for this future Mom. She was so gorgeous and so friendly it was such a pleasurable shoot.

I’ve been telling clients to really look around, see what they like when browsing through magazines. When she arrived she had a very clear picture of what our  goal should be for the session. With that in mind, and with my artistic eye, and help with composition we set about having the most perfect session. Having professional photos taken is not an every day occurence and the more the photographer know about you, what you want the better the results will be. After all professional photos is not just anyone with a  camera taking pictures, its creating art. (as the recent link on my facebook fan page can attest). Before I go on about this subject too much let me get back to sharing the beauty..

The future mommy, so friendly.

Taking a lie down while she still can. Just joking, I love this black and white

The last two is breathtaking to me. I have been wanting to try this for some time and the afternoon sun came in very handy. The model of course, makes it..

and the last one, almost a silhouette

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This album is very exclusive. Very substantial and heavy. This particular one is 13 inches by 13 inches. The back and spine is covered with real premium leather. We chose an image cover for the front. The image was printed and it feels almost like acrylic. The cover is at least 1/4 inch or thicker.

Photos are mounted in the album behind double matt. Therefore the pages become really thick as well, the back paper, the photo and the matts. Such a fabulously exclusive product. Really making the photos stand out.

I took some photos but deliberately did not want to show the inside of the album since its meant to be exclusive and will remain so, its for the family to decide who gets to admire it:).

I do think I might do a tiny one as sample product one day but I have a ton of products waiting on the list of samples and I can only manage to do one or two a month:) For now the photos will have to do:

The spine and back is real leather. Pages are bound hinged. Opens up flat and close flat as well, no bulging anywhere. (sorry for the bad product photography, not my strong point and I was not in the mood to get out the studio lights)

Here is a picture of the hinged pages and how neat the matt is adhered. Perfect workmanship

Close up of the double matting:

Do you dare to have something so magnificent?

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