I thought a good way to get back into the blogging routine would be with a ‘What ____ Looks Like” post, so here are some images from the few days we spent in Cape Range National Park in Western Australia. It is the most incredible part of the world, and I’m already dreaming of ways to get back there. Amazing snorkelling and fishing, beautiful clear water, perfect weather. One of the days saw the first good rain we had for the whole trip, in the shape of a short but intense storm, but ended with the most incredible light and clouds!

And here are some images taken with the GoPro from the Drone. Cant wait to put together the video footage!!!

 Don’t forget to head over to one of my favs, Kelsey Gerhard, and see her wonderful post about a special birthday. xo

We embarked on this adventure for so many reasons, the main one being to spend more time together. Ben and I were sick of trudging through our days, filling them with work and ever increasing, unwanted stress, never spending quality time together as a family. Existing just to wake up each morning and do it all again. We knew something had to change, so we set about changing it.

We left a few weeks later than we wanted to, as I broke my finger and then got terribly sick, so we had to rush through Outback Queensland a little quicker than we wanted to, as we had bookings at Lawn Hill National Park. Thats where we are now, and it is one of the most amazing places I have ever been!

Here’s our first week in images. A week that comprised of ironing out wrinkles, lots and lots of driving, swimming under water falls, canoeing, hiking and Darcy need ing to find/use every public toilet possible over 2000km’s.

And here are some iPhone images, my most favourite of little cameras. I post most of these to Instagram, so if you’d like to follow our adventure there, I am @el_hogan. Harry and Lily have accounts too, they are @iamharryhogan and @theadventuresof_lilybear

We also bought a DJI Phantom Quadcopter for our journey, which Ben has been practicing and getting better and better at using. Here is a quick video of the sorts of things we’ll be doing. Its very exciting.

This is filmed on an afternoon spent in Lawn Hill National Park on Harry’s Birthday. Not a single soul for miles and miles. A beautiful and spiritual place.

This post is also part of my “What ___ Looks Like” group, so head over to the AMAZING Kelsey Gerhard to see her June!

These portraits were taken on a late afternoon over Easter while we were camping, and I just adore them. I love the light, and their salty skin and hair, remnants of the day spent in the ocean and on our bikes. I love Harry and Lily’s freckles, and the way I can see the changes in them as they grow seemingly before my eyes. And I love that in just a few more weeks, I’ll be spending much more time with them, with afternoons that will look just like this.

Be sure to head over to the Kara May’s wonderful blog to see her month http://www.karamayphotography.com/blog/?p=5411

Be sociable and share!!!

I’m sure if I lived in New York, Lindsey, (who is also a photographer) and I would spend lots of time together. People who laugh a lot are just the kind of humans I like to hang out with, and I’m sure, given enough time, my kids too would be cool like Stella. *sigh*. If only I could move to New York!!!!!

Thank you Mike and Lindsey for having me for the morning! It was an absolute dream come true to photograph you and Stella (and Gizmo). Thank you for showing me a great part of New York I hadn’t spent any time in before, and showing me just how great growing up in this city can be.

el     .     xoxo

Be sociable and share!!!

We’ll be flying into Dallas and driving to Nashville, with a stop in Memphis. I’m excited about driving through some areas of The South, as its an area of America I’ve never been, and I hear the weather is going to be amazing! (also the history geek in me is excited)

After a few days in Nashville (where the closet country music fan buried deep within me will be unleashed ) we’ll head to Washington DC via The Blueridge Parkway, which is Americas longest scenic drive, and from all accounts, not to be missed this time of year. We like to keep off the main roads when we travel, and take our time off the beaten track, and this drive looks so beautiful, I’m really looking forward to it to spending a few days exploring it.

We’ll be tourists in Washington DC for a few days, and then head North to Niagara Falls before heading across to Boston. We’ll take a week or so doing this, and we don’t really have any plans of which route we’ll drive to get there, so we’ll just make it up as we go along. I spent a couple of years in Boston with my family when I was younger, so I’ll be heading back to my old school and neighbourhood to show the kids and see some long lost old friends.

From here we’ll catch the train into New York and explore the city for a week or so, before flying to LA, to of course, go to DISNEYLAND!!!! I wont lie, this alone has been a better bribe the last few weeks with the kids than Christmas and Birthdays combined. The thought of meeting Tinkerbell in real life is almost too much for my girls and I to even comprehend!!!…. and between you and I, I think I’m a little more excited than them.

I have a few family sessions scheduled, but if you’re in any of these areas, and would like to update your family photos, then be sure to email me! I’d love to hear from you!

I hope to blog regularly, and of course you can follow my Instagram account as well, ( @el_hogan ), and Harry has his blog that he will be adding to as much as he can as well http://iamharryhogan.wordpress.com.

We’ve travelled a lot with the kids, so aren’t too concerned about the long flight, but if you have any fantastic travel tips, I’d love to hear them! Anything you couldn’t travel without? Anything you wish you’d packed? Any horror stories?

el    .    xoxo

PS: we had to update Harry and Lily’s Passports. How cute was little Harry!?