It’s a rare but exciting day when the stars align like this. I wasn’t expecting that to be the case with Alice’s maternity shoot – the sky was black and I had my wipers flying across my windscreen as I drove to meet her.

The drive from Riverton towards Tuatapere is stunning and the coastline is rugged. I stopped in Riverton on my way through from Invercargill to consider rescheduling. The light was fading fast and I was a wee bit nervous about how these photos might look. I sent Alice a message and then suddenly decided that it was happening no matter the weather – we were too committed by that stage to cancel. So I sent another message straight away saying that I’d changed my mind, and let’s do it!

Alice jumped out of her car looking like an absolute goddess, then sun broke through the clouds, and the rain stopped. It was perfection.

Halfway through shooting we thought it might be fun to get some water photos. I wasn’t dressed for the beach, opting for more professional attire but the water was beckoning. So I took my boots off (priorities!) and waded out into the ocean, camera clutched very tightly in both hands. A few rogue waves later my dress, tights, and coat were very wet, my camera and bag were damp and salty, but look what we got!

I’m so excited about how beautiful these are, and I can’t wait to see them arrive as prints in my mailbox this week <3