We are now in the grips of another chilly Melbourne Winter, we have stocked the hot chocolate, cranked the fire, and I think I'm going to try to find my long lost thermal underwear tomorrow! Last Winter I had the absolute pleasure of shooting updated family portraits for this gorgeous Mum and her two boys.  

Taken at Lilydale Lake in Lilydale, in the outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, it's a fantastic spot to get a variety of images, there's wooded areas, grassy spots and wetlands as well.  We chose this area of the Lilydale Park as it had character and gave us a secluded area where the kids could be themselves.  

So the boys ran, jumped, climbed trees and threw stones in the creek, they had a fantastic time, and we captured images Mum will treasure for a very long time.  I think nearly any elderly lady who is a mother of boys could tell stories of them wearing capes and playing superheroes, but not many of them could produce a beautiful album where they are stored ready to be reminisced.

Winter can be a super fun time of year to have portraits taken, it allows us to wear beautiful jackets, scarves, our favourite boots, and if you're game enough to let the kids have a mud fight after the main portraits are taken, then I'm all for that too!

Living at the edge of the Yarra Valley and base of the Dandenongs, we will soon start to see some amazing displays of colourful bulbs, and there are some fabulous local gardens and parks that are just perfect this time of year - next week I'll show you one of my favourite places to photograph, and an exciting garden for the kids to play hide and seek in.  Stay warm everyone! Emx