{ Oh YEah, Awesome Engagement shoot }

OK.. this is what is was all for.. my first Image is Found and Bebb Studios inspired shoot. It is one thing to be in America and watch these amazing photographers and participate in their cool workshops, it is another to then come home and put all of the information I have learnt into practice! Gina and Gerard were awesome! We had a lot of fun, as you can see laughter was the theme of the shoot, that suits me just fine! I think their wedding is going to be alot of fun! Gina looks so beatuiful and check out that cute little bump! Thanks guys, I hope you love them, here is a little sneak peak! Everyone else have an awesome day..Luv lee :)

{ more beautiful babes }

Check out these 2 beautiful brothers!! well one beautiful one and one a crazy, happy 2 year old, full of beans!! I had a lot of fun rolling around on the ground with this big brother!! Although his little brother didn't want to sleep for me we still got some amazing photos! Such a lovely little family, it was so nice to meet you.. I also loved this first photo so much I had an enlargement done and surprised the mum today.. yes there were happy tears!! I LOVE IT!!

this makes me laugh!!

{ Brianna Graham.. kids }

I am a little bit slow, SORRY :P I spoke previously about my brain hurting.. it still is!!! So much AMAZING information.. but here is a look at the very last workshop I did while in America. I cant believe how different each workshop was and how much I learned at all of them..

So Brianna Graham was different in that her workshop was focused on little munchkins. Both studio and natural light. Again I met some really lovely people. Dana Scherer.. my room mate, coincidently lives Phily and I will definitely be catching up with her again. Tara Hingco, who was our car pool buddy also ended up being pared with me so I got to shoot her!! and my previous language barrier post is dedicated to all those girls you can see shooting behind Brianna in the group shots!

So what do you think?? I had an amazing time, and cant wait to try out some cool new ideas here in Newcastle.

Brianna at work with all of us watching.. THANK YOU brianna :)

{ Being an Aussie Part 2 }

It had to come sooner of later.. and with all those friendly folk in the US checking out my blog ( I love you all!) I had to include a little dictionary to not only help translate but in aid of a good laugh. This blog entry is dedicated to all the crazy guys and gals I met in Grand Rapids, namely Miss Rachel, oh what laughs we had! So here we go, now with the strength of being home in Australia i am ready to tackle it! Comments welcome and Aussie (pronounced Ozzie) girls feel free to add!


The Basics of Aussie Slang
Australian culture and customs are unique, but not as unique as the Australian language. Our own style of English is so full of colloquial expressions, slang words and slang phrases it is enough to confuse other speakers of English quite easily.
So just so you don't look like a complete drongo here are enough Aussie words to help you get by in Australian society! Now, the accent, well thats another story...

The really basic basics.

• G’day is hello, pronounced Gidday which is a shortened form of Good Day, and used mostly in informal situations. More formally we would say Hello, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or the likes.
  

• Goodbye is, um, er, Goodbye. Although some people say Hooray, pronounced ‘ooray.
  

• Bloke is an Aussie male who generally is a hard worker and does the right thing. Eg., "Bill’s a Good Bloke".
  

• Mate is Friend, mainly for males. Everyone in Australia is mate, so we would often say "G’day mate" or "Thanks mate".
  

• Onya means Well Done, a shortened form of Good On You.

Abbreviations

For some reason Australians shorten words wherever possible, particularly peoples names. They are generally shortened to one syllable if possible, and then have a suffix added to the end. Here are a few examples:-

• "a"

A Cup of Tea or Coffee becomes a Cuppa.

• "ie"

Angela becomes Angie.
Australian becomes Aussie
Barbecue become Barbie
Elizabeth becomes Lizzie
Football becomes Footy, pronounced with a soft "T" somewhere between T & D.

• "o"

Burgess becomes Burgo
Johnathon becomes Johnno
Smoko means a break from work for a smoke, which now means a tea break even if you don’t smoke.

• "zza" or just "z’

Marion become Mazza or Maz
Sharon become Shazza or Shaz

Thanks aussieslang.com you're ace!

Now you practice.. your own name will work a treat.

Now for some sayings and translation.

No worries mate (one of my fav's) Everything will be ok my friend, no problem!

Ankle biter	Small Child
Arvo	Afternoon, "I'll be there this arvo."
Away with the pixies	Daydreaming
Aussie (pronounced Ozzie)	Australian
Back of burke	Way away from civilisation
Bathers	Swim trunks
Billy	A metal can to boil tea over a fire
Biscuits	Cookies
Bitumen	Asphalt road
Bloke	Man
Blowies	Blow flies
Chook	Chicken
Chrissie	Christmas
Cocky	Cockatoo
Cuppa	Cup of tea or coffee
Dag (Just for Rachel)	Amusingly uncoordinated, "he's such a dag" or Dork.
Daks	Underpants
Dinki-di	Something good from Australia
Didgeridoo	Aboriginal wind instrument
Dob (in)	Snitch (most Australians won't)
Fair dinkum	Someone or something genuine
Fairy Floss	Cotton candy
Footy	Australian Rules Football
G'day	Australian for hello
Good on ya	Good job, good for you
Grog	Alcohol
Happy as Larry	Very happy
Icy pole	Popsicle
jelly	jell-o
Jumper	Sweater
Lollies	Candy
Mate	Friend
Mozzie	Mosquito
Nong/Prawn/Noodle	Idiot, silly billy, "you nong!"
Hooray	Goodbye
Prezzies Prawn	Presents Shrimp
Rello's	Relatives
Sacked	Fired from your job
Scones (short O)	Biscuits
My shout	I'll pay this time
Stickybeak	Nosy person
Snag	Sausage
Shonky	A questionable deal
Ta	Thanks
Tea	Dinner
Tucker	Food

So what do ya reckon?! I hope you have all tried Vegemite since last we spoke.. If you dont have access let me know and I'll post you some! Luv Lee :p

{ I'M HHHOOOOOMMMMEEEEEE! }

Whow! What a amazing time I have had. So many stories, once I go through the 3000 photos I took!! I will post a couple of them!
Its wonderful to be home, where everyone around me sounds 'normal'! Shh dont tell anyone, but driving on the wrong side of the road for 3 months also has its drawbacks.. I may have turned a couple of corners yesterday onto the wrong side of the road.. AHHH but just for a second. I think it is the jetlag, yep thats it!

Now for my little speech.. I need to say THANKYOU to all of my lovely customers who have found out about my engagement and passed on their congratulations, It so nice to be loved!

I also need to give a HUGE hug to all of the amazing people I met throughout America and the world over the past 3 months, so many insanely talented photographers and beautiful people. I'll find a few and include their links.

So back to work it is.. Luvlee Photography is back in Action and I am booking up fast! So wonderful! Let me know what you have been up to..now let me find a little photo for you, because I just cant post with out a photo!

The 'LOVE' fountain. I spent most of my time on the streets of Philadelphia.
That reminds me of a song!! Yes the fountain was green!

{ Courts and Az }

Here you go courts, before you have a melt down.. some way cute photos of my little sis and her Boy! They are currently living in Guelph, Canada.. an awesome place. I haven't seen her for a year and a half, it was nice to hang out with her, even if she has a broken ankle. 3 months away in Central America and the night she got home broke her ankle... hmmm.
Check out her cool photos of Central America at her Blog.. clearly i have taught her everything she knows!

my first day with courts was at the hospital!!

Love you courts see you later in the year!