Maria Murray Photography

Baby Chloe - 9 days old

Well I haven't been a very good blogger lately. But with the Christmas rush, several albums to design, 2 new websites and blogs launching soon, I have my hands pretty full! I will be posting the rest of the Maldives wedding on my new blog which will have larger images and just overall be the bees knees ( I hope!). I am now closed until the 10th of January but please get in touch via email if you would like to enquire about availability for next year. Just CLICK HERE

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Lastly, I wanted to share with you some shots of this beautiful newborn baby girl from a session this morning. Welcome, Chloe.

Baby Mia - 7 days old today!

I must admit, it's not been a good week. Been pretty down in the dumps due to family health issues, the freezing cold weather, and lack of sleep.... 

But today, my day was brightened up by this little baby girl. Newborns are definitely my favorite subject - I'm fascinated by their tiny features, the faces they pull and the little bags under their eyes. They really make me feel positive - they are so innocent and unaffected.

Completely and utterly unaware of this crazy world around them and the thousand little (and big) things we all worry about. I always notice that their predominant expression seems to be a frown - I wonder what they are thinking? Enough reflecting for now, here are some piccies!

Welcome to the world baby Mia.

and although I am not normally into novelty shots...I just had to - she looked so cute!

Rome & Kairo

Here are a few more from the session I had earlier today with this lovely family who first came to see me four years ago. back today with the new addition, here a sneak preview from the session. Mummy and daddy - hope you like it !

the boys together

Kairo - I just love this image

and a family shot with a slightly more funky pose, inspired by Henk Van Kooten, a fab Dutch photographer

George & Izzy sneak preview

Today I had a lovely session with these 2 little rascals. We started off in the studio but then decided George & Izzy will be far more at ease at the local park, so off we went. It was a beautiful day, and I was glad to be able to do what is probably one of my last location sessions for the year, and capture the gorgeous autumn colours. 

Mummy and daddy here is a little preview, I hope you like it!

a couple from the studio

my favourite family shot from the session

having fun kicking some leaves about

Kanuhura part 1

Well, now that I am back , and have access to my normal internet connection I am finally able to post some pics! I will start with day 1 & 2, which was our arrival, followed by the fabulous sunset cruise that Alan & Jenny arranged for all the guests the night before their wedding day.

I will be blogging more over the next week so be sure to pop in and visit - and feel free to comment!

 DAY 1

The fantastic view from the seaplane....yes I did take some pics even though I was feeling rather beat after the 11 hour flight

and the Kanuhura resort - stunning

how could anyone possibly not like the look of that approach...

 

a welcoming smile from Jen, the lovely bride-to-be, with Alan lurking in the background!

was going to say something witty about the next one...but have brain freeze. So anyway, some palm trees - I'm easily impressed!

 

DAY 2 - the sunset cruise

After spending the morning chilling out on the beach I took my camera along to Alan & Jens who arranged this lovely surprise for all their guests. I thought it was a good opportunity to give my equipment a test run , which was a good idea really, since my lenses steamed up for the first half an hour because of the heat! 

At the villa for some drinks before the cruise

on the way to the boat, check out that beautiful warm light

getting comfy..

and away we go!

the highlight of the trip was dolphin spotting - and some got rather excited!

and here are the dolphins - unfortunately they were not in the mood for jumping...

the sunset

as part of the cruise we were able to enjoy some traditional entertainment, and boy , were they into it!

 

all lurrrved up!

and from the the top deck - the bride and groom's dads discussing the pre-nup (not!)

and another which is my favorite...I love the sense of peace and space

Overall it was a great evening and I was really happy to be part of it and meet everyone properly before the big day.

I will leave you with a a pic that I took at the beach that evening - using torchlight as the lighting. There were loads of these little blighters running around at night - I mean loads. We came out of our villa and swept the torch across the beach and I had a bit of an "arachnophobia" moment. But it didn't put me off enough not to take any pics...so here it is - a crab. Check out that little face , it looks quite strange, doesn't it...and the shadow is more scary than the real thing!

Will be blogging lots more in the next few days so please pop back for another visit!

Megan + Kara

I am back to the studio now, and my first session was with those two lovely girls. Both Megan & Kara were very photogenic and i really enjoyed photographing them. Kara is little sweetie with huge blue eyes, and Megan was a fantastic little model - just just check out that expression! Julie, the girls did you proud - hope you like the preview! 

Oriana

This is Oriana - she is a gorgeous little girl with big blue eyes, and it was a pleasure too photograph her earlier today.

Steph & James Wedding ctd....

one more from the oh so cool breaker's yard

girls leaving the fab LEE STAFFORD
hairdressers in Leigh-on-Sea

with this ring...

and the first dance

and then what is affectionately called the "toilet dance"....don't ask - the girls loved it!

c'mon James you know you want to...!

Steph & James Wedding

What a day it has been! Today I had a pleasure of shooting S & J's wedding, and it's been a fantastic day. Starting from the preparations (time seemed to fly??), then the church (yeah I had a tear in my eye - you could feel the love between those two) , the Yard (cool) and then the reception ( finally relaxing!), it was all fun fun fun - and we have been so lucky with the weather ( although at one point I was lying in a pile of mud, but it's a long story!). My favorite part of the day was the bit between the church and the reception aka the very cool car breakers Yard ( Stock Auto Breakers - thanks guys for letting us in & being models too!). We hung out , chucked a brollies around, rolled around on the floor (well I did...), roped unsuspecting bystanders into having pictures - just the usual stuff that goes on a wedding day (not!). Steph looked stunning and James couldn't take his eyes of her. Steph & James , as promised here is a quick preview for you before you get away for your honeymoon - have a fantastic time! Thank you for letting me share your day with you, it was fab. Hope these are grungy enough for you! Please click on images to enlarge...

and a slightly more conventional shot for the mums!

Rachel, Jasmine & Elle Sneak Preview

My second session today started about 20 minutes after my Maternity session ended so when the girls arrived I was still bouncing of the walls. Again, we had great fun- Jasmine was a gorgeous little girl who posed like a complete pro, Elle a bit shy to start with (no reason to - she's beautiful!) but then really came into her own, and Rachel a lovely lady who obviously loves her girls very much. I normally wouldn't do such a large sneak preview but the pictures are such fun, I had to share! Thanks to all 3 of you - I had a great time shooting you ( well you know what I mean)!

aren't they just so cool?