to fiona carson photography. i’m sure all my followers are aware that i shoot weddings with my good friend and business partner, bec – under the moniker carsonhall photography. well a chain of events (which started at alice in wonderland and ended up with an acid trip of sorts – ask me for the story behind that if you have time to spare!) has led us to come to the decision that 3 separate businesses are just too time consuming to run…and we know we work well together anyway, so why not just join forces for EVERYTHING???? and because carsonhall sounds…well stuffy, and we are SO not stuffy people, we also decided a name change should be had.

and thus became bec+fo.

now, current clients, don’t fret. i still have things to wrap up here. but if you want to catch up on things with bec+fo, check out our blog or keep up with our facebook page .

so i’m kinda sad. but also excited. sad. excited. it feels weird. but pretty cool too. and i think we’ll be doing amazing, fun, totally unconventional things. if you are up for some hilarious fun…please check us out at our new home.

only 6 more weeks of hair for me – and i’m getting a bit nervous about how cold it’s going to be with no hair in the middle of winter!!!

if you aren’t already aware, i am taking part in a clip for cancer, and my good friend, andrea, and i are shaving our heads. our husbands have been madly growing beards….and intend on shaving them too. we have nearly hit the $1000 mark with our fundraising……but we aren’t quite there yet. if there is any chance you could donate, it would be greatly appreciated.

i would also like to offer this as in incentive. for the next 6 weeks, any clients that book a session with me, instead of paying my session fee of $150, i simply ask that you donate $100 towards our clip for cancer. this not only will save you $50, but will make you feel all warm and gooey, cos you are doing something good. and you get a rocking session out of it. pretty sweet deal, right?

and because i can’t just post something without a photo…..here’s one of my eldest, boofy haired thing. i should maybe talk him into shaving his hair too, yes?

next month, it will be 11 years since my mum was diagnosed with cancer. she went in for a routine colonoscopy, and was transferred straight away to a ward, where she underwent surgery less than a week later to remove part of her bowel. After almost 12 months of chemo, and radiation, she was cancer free, and has been cancer free since then. it was a pretty scary time of my life, but i will always admire the positivity my mum showed. i don’t think she ever once thought it was anything “serious”. my mum has always been a huge cancer council supporter. and i have always talked about it. but not really done much apart from the odd relay for life, and even then, since having kids i don’t think i’ve done many of them either.

fast forward to a few days ago…to where one of my wonderful neighbours and i were sitting having a cuppa, avoiding the housework. we somehow got talking about shaved heads, and raising money (no idea how)…and then and there we decided we would take part in a clip for cancer. she and i are going to be shaving our heads, and trying to raise $5000 in the process. we have convinced our husbands that even though neither of them have much hair on their heads, that maybe they could grow a beard and shave it off too. and the alpine street clip for cancer crew was born.

now, i’m not a vain person. half an hour is the usual for me to get ready to go somewhere. well, that was pre-kids, now it’s probably a bit more like 45-60mins. you know how it goes – jump in the shower, ignore whining child at shower door, jump out of the shower, break up the ‘ultimate fighting’ that is going a bit too far, apologise to neighbours for having to run through house naked while blinds are open, get dressed, break up the ‘power rangers’ fight that is going a bit too far, pull out hairdryer, hand hairdryer over to kids for a play, wrangle hairdryer back, get out hair straightener, make sure kids are safe distance from hair straightener, get 5 mins to straighten hair, wack on a bit of make up, all the while trying to avoid kids who will want to also put make up on, walk out door, drive out driveway, drive back in driveway, put kids in car, drive out driveway.

wouldn’t it be nice to skip the whole hair thing? i think so. that would save me like 20mins of my getting ready preparation! and besides, it’s only hair, right? it will grow back. and probably in my case, it will grow back within a few weeks! it’s not a big deal for me anyway, my hair is really short. andrea, however, has long hair – it’s a big change for her. but she’s like me. it’s only hair.

so anyway, long story short and all that, here’s where you can go to donate. please consider it for us. as i said, our target is $5000. can you help us hit it????

alpine street clip for cancer

and just because it feels weird not to put a photo in here….i will. i’m just not exactly sure what the kids (andrea’s and mine) are doing here, i never thought to ask!

way behind again. just can’t seem to find the time to blog these lately. but here we go.

day 20.
i’ve done this type of photo a million times. but i needed one for my photo-a-day book, as i love it so much! our street is so cool, i love that we can play out there with no fear of getting run over!

day 21.
i was hosting a workshop for the wonderfully talented dale taylor and today was the photo shoot to start it all off. my husband was going to be late home from work, so i had to take my boys…which really turned out to be a bit of a disaster, and I didn’t get anywhere near as many photos as i would have liked. i did end up with this one of max that is very typical of him! he loves to perform!

day 22.
this is the sunset that we would have LOVED at yesterday’s photo shoot. instead we were stuck with no sun and just cloud. this sunset would have made spectacular photos for our workshop. SPECTACULAR! but alas, it was not to be. instead it made for a spectacular photo-a-day photo for day 22!

day 23.
the last day of dale’s workshop and i was exhausted. the kids were playing peek a boo over the fence and this was all i had the energy to muster up! if i had’ve had more energy i would have made them move a bit so the house wasn’t in the background. would have made a much stronger photo. oh well.

day 24.
we had promised max a trip to australia zoo for his birthday, while ben10 was there. this was the last day we could do it. so off to australia zoo we went! it was a wonderful, hot, exhausting day. but totally worth it! also my big sister’s happy birthday. not telling how old she is!

day 25.
the kids are into making forts in our house. and they end up being huge and messy. but they love it! (and yes, max seems to be pulling a face of some sort in almost every photo. i’m very aware of that. can’t stop him though!)

day 26.
happy australia day!
subtitled: how many kids can you squeeze into one clam shell?

and lastly.
day 27.
sambo’s first day of school. something that i was excited and terrified about. i managed to get his lunch ready, and get there on time. that in itself is a miracle. sambo went through a few different emotions, and it ended up with us both crying when i had to say goodbye (i don’t think he realised i was crying though, hopefully not anyway). clydey was dropping max off at his new daycare and went through the exact same thing! at the end of the day, sambo came out with a big grin in his face and told us how much he LOVED his new school. he doesn’t go again until monday, so fingers crossed he remembers just how much he loves it, lol. i am so proud of him – my big school boy!

so our lovely weekend away means i’m a little behind the eight ball at the moment. i have sessions to edit. and photos-a-day to catch up on. and sneak peeks to put up. i promise i’ll get there. my apologies if you are waiting on me. once school starts next week, i should get back on track. well, that’s the plan stan.

so, for now i prioritise. sneak peek tomorrow. editing tonight. photo-a-day now.

day 14.
that was our first day of “ho-ye-days” as my boys call it (neither of them can pronounce their l’s. i make them say “lollies” and giggle to myself when they say “yoh-yees”). we met up with friends for a swim. these boys have turned into little fish in the last week alone. sam is still very cautious, but max….well, he’s always been the crazier of the two. sambo only let me get this photo if i let him get back into the pool. so swim he did (or rather, walk around in the water where he could touch). and i got my shot.

day 15.
our weekend at kingscliff. the boys loved being close to the beach, and loved having a pool in “our backyard”. they also loved running back and forth from the pool to the “sparkle” (took me a while to work out what max was talking about with this one!!!).

day 16.
sambo is getting more and more confident around water. i’m glad i didn’t force him into more swimming lessons once it was plain he was terrified. he’s coming around. and i’m sure he’ll learn to swim in his own good time. 12 months ago there is no way he would even get this close to the ocean. it was too big, too noisy, and just way too scary for him. and now look at him!!!

day 17.
home from our holiday. and the novelty of this photo-a-day challenge is starting to wear off. max was literally running from me. time for me to beg, plead, cry or blackmail to get my photos from now on.

day 18.
up to the sunshine coast (yes, we are exhausted!!!). a session took us up there, and as chance would have it, my nephews, and the boys’ much adored cousins are there too so we get to spend the afternoon with them. you can see poor lach’s sunburn…but he bravely played with the boys anyway.

day 19.
my gorgeous eldest boy. and he is gorgeous. or beautiful. it’s probably wrong to describe a boy as being beautiful, but he is. i never thought he would be – he was a fat baby. actually make that FAT baby. obscenely so. if you had’ve told me 4 years ago that he would be tall and skinny and gorgeous, i would have laughed in your face. i know mother’s are meant to think their kids are gorgeous…but i wasn’t silly. i mean, i adored him and thought of him as my gorgeous boy, but i knew he wasn’t actually gorgeous. he was fat, and smiley and happy, and seriously the best baby EVER. but he wasn’t cute.

i had to kind of set up this shot – he’s at that age where he gives fake smiles. (and i hate fake smiles!) he’s a bit complex, my sambo. well, not so much for me – he’s my mini me, right down to his personality. i *get* him, but not everyone does (including his dad!!!). i know what makes him tick, i know how to get him to do something (most of the time). he is headstrong (like me), and cocky (like me) and stubborn (like me) and super dooper, ultra cool (like me.) (ok, not so much with the cool for me). i sometimes feel a little sad for him – everyone loves max straight away. max is a little bit crazy (in a good way) and knows how to make people laugh, and he’s one of those really cheeky kids, but cheeky in a “how on earth do i get mad at you” way. everyone loves max. but sam is a bit more reserved, and it takes you a bit longer to get to know him properly. persevere and you’ll realise how amazing he is. he’s funny, and cheeky, and smart, and determined and brave and he is going to go a long, long way – i just know it. he’s sweet too (most of the time), and i absolutely 100% adore him. and god damn……i just can’t bring myself to cut off that hair! i know it’s wrong to think that his hair defines him, because it most certainly does not. but he just wouldn’t be my sambo without it. it will be a sad day when he does eventually decide he wants it chopped off. i have asked him many a time if he would like short hair, and he always, always says “nah, mum, i like my hair long”. although he has also said that he will chop it off when he turns 6. that’s in 6 months time. fingers crossed he forgets about that.

i’m a bit behind. my apologies. we’ve had a big few days!

day 8.
my boys both got my hair. i’m ever so grateful for that – my husband had the thinnest of hair. and it’s dead straight. like “i’ve been using the hair straightener for an hour straight” straight. we always laughed how we have 2 boys with gorgeous waves, and if we were to have a girl, she’d probably get stuck with his hair, lol. we got lucky though. the boys have gorgeous, gorgeous hair. sambo expecially. although max doesn’t seem to have quite as MUCH hair as sambo (not a big deal, sam had his first hair cut at 6 weeks of age – the kid had a bucket load of hair!!!) – but max has more curls than waves. and when it comes time for a haircut, i get a little torn. i mean, max’s is a bit ratty. and a bit too long. but those curls. just look at them. what would you do? chop or not????

day 9.
max’s birthday. his 3rd birthday. last year he was in hospital having seizure after seizure, so we didn’t really get to celebate it. this year we hadn’t planned on doing anything at all (the boys want to go to australia zoo, and ben10 is there as of the 12th….so that was going to be his birthday celebration!!!). we ended up having a quick morning tea with some close friends. then a bbq dinner with my sister’s. i always make the kids a birthday cake, i can’t bring myself to just buy one. martha stewart…i am not. but i try hard, and the kids usually love it. mostly because i buy some sort of toy to put on top of the cake, to distract them from the total disaster of what is underneath. this year for max, it was a ben10 (of course) cake. the omnitrix, with a ben10 toy on top. i don’t think they saw anything other than all that green icing. suits me really.
happy birthday maximo. love you little guy.

day 10.
this year i’m trying to make family a bit of a priority. not that my job isn’t important, but i need to focus a bit harder, so that i’m not spending quite so much time at my computer. and i’m trying, i really am. i’m spending way more time with the boys outside. we go on the swings. we kick the ball around. today sam and i were outside with the water pistols (max sleeping). some of the kids in the street rode past on their bikes…and we couldn’t resist. we sprayed them too. an hour or so later…and it was WAR. there was myself, max and sam, against 2 of the older boys in the street. we were all drenched, and god damn it, we laughed! then clydey got in on the action too. we were all soaking wet, but we were having so much fun. no idea who won. no one really cared. it was a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, and we made the most of it!
(2 photos today. couldn’t choose!!!)

my neighbour and i got the kids ready and headed off to the beach this morning. i think we were there by about 8.30am (which for anyone that knows me, is an absolute record. i struggle to be able to leave the house by 9am most days. god help me in a few weeks when sambo starts school.) i had visions of getting my photo today of the kids flying kites and laughing and running and sunshine and smiles and….and you get the point. so typically there was no wind for kite flying. the weather was crappy. there was no sun.

so i had to make do. and i got quite heaps of photos that i really like. i struggled to pick which one to use. i even had them up on my computer all day and would pop into my office. and when i glanced at this one I had a flashback. you know how you get those? it took me all the way back to 1981 (I think? correct me if I’m wrong, mum). there was a huge flood in the town i grew up in. we had to stay with friends (they had a highset house). and once the water started to recede, there was mud. lots and lots of mud. and we had SO much fun playing in it. well most of us did. my sister, nat, had just washed her hair apparently, and was not. a. happy. camper. when someone threw mud in her hair (yes, most likely me – refer back to day 2 – i’m a stirrer, remember?). i remember her standing there with clenched fists. a pile of mud on her clean, blonde hair and a look of anger, hated and disgust on her face. don’t think i have the memory of an elephant. i don’t. the only reason i remember this so vividly is because there is photographic evidence of it. a photographer from the courier mail was there. and seriously, who could resist? i know i wouldn’t have been able to. the photo featured in the paper a few days later. my mum still has a copy. it’s awesome.

so nat, this one’s for you!

kids and mud. and a photographer. a winning combination.

max. my youngest. turns 3 on saturday. always been in a big hurry to do things. walked early. talked early. he’s got the smarts too, this one. he’s also got more than his fair share of crazy! he’s a born entertainer. some of the facial expressions he has are hilarious. and he loves to make you laugh! everything is in extremes with this one. if he falls over….then it’s either the end of the world, or he just doesn’t care. when he talks, it’s either ear piercing loud, or a soft whisper. he has a short attention span. and gets distracted easily – or by “shiny things” as i tend to say. he sucks his thumb. and was toilet trained but now he’s not. i don’t like to talk about that, so let’s not. when he’s talking he MUST have your total attention or he gets very frustrated and upset. and his mind is usually racing so quickly that it takes him 10mins to spit it out. but don’t try and finish his sentence for him, or you’ll suffer the consequences. he has beautiful, big, blue eyes. i love to photograph them. (but today they were hidden under a pair of giant green glasses.) not 10mins before this photo he had fallen down on the road and was screaming. then i pulled out the glasses. and he got distracted. see? shiny things!

i’m feeling a bit under the weather today, and therefore a little unmotivated. the boys were playing out in the puddle, so i walked out, snapped off a few shots, and walked back inside. nothing exciting. just more water. and rain. and puddles. and mud. and a much higher electricity bill with all this dryer use.

i want some sunshine. and lots of it.

ps, just realised only just over 3 weeks till sam starts school. that terrifies me, and makes me giddy at the same time. is that normal?

so back on schedule with my photo-a-day challenge.

Day 2.
i love that i have 2 boys. i grew up in a household of only girls, so most things are pretty foreign for me. like the whole penis thing for example. but i was never, ever a girly girl. and i really think that i’m definitely a “boys mum”. and i love that my boys, in general, get on pretty well. of course we have our days. our i’ll-rip-my-hair-out-if-you-boys-have-one-more-fight kind of days. but in general, i’m pretty lucky. sam is the big stirrer. boy, oh boy, does he love to stir. can’t complain, he gets it from me. max is our comedian. he loves to make people laugh. he truely is a bit of a nutter. they are like chalk and cheese really. but holy crackers….they are totally loyal to each other. last year when sam’s daycare group was planning a trip to the museum, and i told them that max couldn’t go….sam swore black and blue that if max wasn’t allowed to go, then he wasn’t going either. the venom in his eyes and face when he made that comment made me realise how much he really loves his brother. (and then he probably turned around and punched him, of course!!) but anyway. i love when we have our good we-love-each-other-and-will-play-nicely-all-day days. yesterday was one of them.

Day 3.
when we first moved out to bald hills, i hated it. i hated living so far away from the city. i felt like we were living out bush almost. hell, it’s only 45mins to the coast really from here. i almost cried everytime i drove into the city because it takes. so. damn. long. and then something happened. we became friends with one of the neighbours. and then another lot of neighbours. and another, and another. and now we have our own little street community. if i need to pop down the shops quickly, one of the neighbours will watch the boys for me. or if someone else needs to get a haircut, then i’ll watch their kids. and we all have teeny tiny backyards. it’s a bit ridiculous to even call them backyards really. but it doesn’t matter – cos the kids just hang outside on the street most of the time. you will constantly hear “CAR” being called out, and everyone makes sure all the kids are off the road. not that it’s really necessary, because most people in the street know that at any given point in time, there will be a child out on the road, so drive carefully. it’s wonderful, and if we just had’ve moved to a different street, i think i would still be hating living here. but i don’t hate it at all. i love it. i adore it. i love our neighbours. and i’ll be ever so gutted if anyone moves house. we dream of winning the lotto so we can all buy a big estate so we can ALL move. wouldn’t that be nice?

anyway, day 3. sambo and i hanging out the front. this was just before all the other kids came out too, and had a huge waterfight in the rain!!! i would have got my camera out for that, but for all that water!!