Alex and I last caught up a year ago when he was four and I promised treasure if he joined me in a pirate hunt among the autumn leaves of Havelock North. I'm not sure he's forgiven me yet for not delivering, however he showed up with his game face on when we met a year later for some soccer at Waipatiki beach in winter.

I have photographed what must now be hundreds of little hatchlings over my career, but at four days old, Louis was the youngest. And I swear, his older brother Felix was, without doubt, the most adoring older sibling I've ever encountered. As I quietly shot the two boys together over the course of a morning, I literally watched him fall in love. It was quite beautiful to behold, and even more beautiful to press pause on these fleeting moments for their mum and dad, who generously let me share these very personal images with you.

The job title 'photographer' describes so many very different occupations, and the people that slot under that definition are often as different as chalk and cheese. I became a photographer not because I love gear or even because I specifically love taking photos. It's mostly because I love people, and being up close and personal with the big moments of their lives, and feeling like I contribute something a little worthwhile by saving those memories for them.

With a blossoming industry based around the creation of the picture-perfect wedding, it has become very easy for the focus to fall on 'things' rather than what I feel really matters at a marriage; connections, history, feelings and - most importantly - people.That belief is the reason why Breanna and David's wedding was one of my favorites of the summer

London locals, Katy and Andrew really wanted a proper Kiwi home-coming for their wedding, and so the lovely little locations of Eskdale and Bay View (where Katy grew up) set the scene for a gloriously simple and beautiful Hawke's Bay country wedding.

After a long love affair, Michali and Bree made things official at Millar Road, high on the Hawke's Bay hills looking back to the coastline of Napier and in the heart of the beautiful Tukituki valley. "We picked the venue because it was somewhere different that most people hadn't herd of.

It was a treat for us to take our creative show on the road to Oreti Village in the tiny lakeside settlement of Pukawa, on the western shores of Lake Taupo. A wilderness of native New Zealand bush and early Maori and Colonial history, the area promised us some exciting opportunities to play in a very different landscape from our normal haunts as Hawke's Bay wedding photographers.

Ben and Ruth are a chilled out Kiwi couple who believe in keeping it real. They wanted a wedding that reflected that, with a focus on friends, family and the things that matter rather than the complicated trimmings. A country wedding at the chocolate-box-cute church down the road from Ruth's parents' home was followed by a reception at the local hall of small Hawke's Bay settlement, Maraekakaho.

Graeme and Lasi have a big love, and so it went without saying their wedding would reflect that, with 400 guests and 42 in the bridal party creating a unique and truly awesome challenge for us...

As a Hawke's Bay photographer who adores storytelling and emotional connections between people, it doesn't get much better than having one of my couples get in touch a few years after their wedding to ask me to spend some time with them documenting the next big milestone in their lives, the arrival of children.

Hawke's Bay native, Laura, describes herself and new hubby, Rob, as 'truly laid back humans' and so it went without saying that was the vibe they wanted on their wedding day. Under the stars and beside the slow-moving Tukituki at Black Barn Winery's riverside wedding venue, roving canapés replaced a formal sit-down dinner and guests sat down on large vintage rugs strewn amid lanterns and flowers to enjoy the speeches. 

As parents, many of us recognise the importance of professional photography at the exquisite ages when children are newborns or cheeky young pre-schoolers. But there is something very cool about capturing the independent spirit that shines through in older children.

There's a wish-list most couples have when it comes to the perfect wedding. But dreams are sometimes hard to transform to reality, so I was absolutely stoked with the way Sam and Gareth's Black Barn Market wedding finally came together.

Anyone planning a wedding knows they can be complicated. That's why we adore engagement sessions. They are, quite simply, about two people in love. There's no dress to fuss over, no bridal party looking on, no timelines to stick to beyond those set by Mother Nature and there aren't 100 people waiting for us to hurry up and be creative so the party can get started.

Rochelle and Mark imagined a wedding that was 'a bit traditional but with pops of fun and colour and a spash of glam'. The Mission provided the perfect backdrop for that when we all came together for their spring wedding day.

Every time I've had an email from a bride asking me to shoot their wedding at Oruawharo in Central Hawke's Bay, I've rushed to my diary in a fever of excitement and always been gutted to discover I'm already booked. When Kate got in touch almost 18 months ago, I was like a kid in a candy story to discover I was free as a bird on her date. When we met at the grand old homestead for High Tea and a planning session, my excitement levels blew out entirely...

Photography is important for so many reasons but mostly because it presses pause on a passing (and precious!) moment in time. I feel so lucky to have been part of a number of passing moments for the Tod family. Firstly it was to celebrate Matt and Kirsten's engagement, then, of course, the wedding. A newborn session followed with the arrival of their first baby, beautiful little Caitlin. And just last week I got to see her all grown up (well, almost four which is kinda the same when you're almost four, right?).

What are the things you enjoy the most on holiday with the people you love? Do you even remember? Hayden wanted to make sure they never forgot their Grand Tour around Europe, so during dinner one night at the Imperiale Palace in Santa Margherita, he asked Monique to take turns with him writing down all the highlights so far. Of course he had the trump card up his sleeve - "will you marry me?"