school holidays...

yes the school holidays are on us once again and today is our 1st week and 2nd day. i will be the first to admit i love school holidays and spending much needed time with my kids and hubby and so we are. today lance went fishing with a mate and caught 5 fishies, none came home as both guys just like to fish, catch and then let them go which is wonderful. grace obviously went shopping...lol online because i get a knock at the door with the postie bearing gifts...just not for me and totally had no idea what or where they were from of course until i saw the name...yup grace turnbull not anyone else...the joys of a teen with no responsibilities hey!!! steph slept in...till late and think rose sometime this arvo lol then complained about being bored, washed grace's car and tim, grace, steph and isaac all went for a drive leaving me here at home almost by myself (lance was in his unit) and loved every moment of bliss! then of course isaac, online gaming, played with our dog cora and of course went for a drive.

i managed to sort through our lounge and organise a little of the decor as we haven;t had a chance to do that since we painted. however i was restless today and realised just how much i really can multi task...lol uploaded an album on my facebook page with prints for sale so we'll see how that goes over time as i add more images from my personal gallery. i would love for you to take a sticky and check them out and please if you or anyone else you know may be interested in purchasing then let me know and you can do that by messaging me on facebook, leaving a message under the print/s you're after or email me at christurnbullphotography@gmail.com

our vegie area is coming along really well and we will end up with 3...yep!!! one is the compost area, the enclosed area where i am growing the actual vegies and of course tim is yet to create a new pumpkin and spud patch...all 3 need to be cora lee turnbull doggie proof. man that dog is happy creating a mess...we're use to it and will be very grateful when she grows up a little...she's 18 months or so now and there's still a little while before she's out of the puppy stage.

c.j our 13 yr old staffy is still bravely plodding along but we need to seriously look at being kind and put her down. cushings disease is nasty and she's at the end of it but she is not doing so well at all. all 3 cats are still cheeky and mischievous....oh wait is that the kids...all 4 of them....hummmmmm anyway yes all 3 cats bluey (real name is little puss), tilly and mini (real name apparently is winree - however winree is spelt) and talk about them being in charge....my goodness do they rule the house.

although there are no booked photo sessions at the moment i am hoping to get out and about downtown and take some random shots of bendigo. i've been wanting to do that for awhile but with time, commitments and being sick for the past week or more...hasn't been possible. so i'm making sure it is over these school holidays.

before i finish up i thought i would post some images from 2 more recent photo shoots. enjoy!

the images above are carefully edited and fully customised for my families. each family when they book a session with me and then order their prints have the option of a one off image like the above. remember if you would like to book in a photo session...contact me. ciao and hugs, chris xoxo

starting out...

3 months ago due to demand i started chris turnbull photography. offering quality and affordable photo sessions for families and of course children. specialising in those that have additional and special needs such a autism spectrum disorders. i thought i might take some time out and reflect on how things are and of course blog about it. 

i can't believe that 3 months have come and gone in what feels like a very short time and we're heading ever closer to christmas. i come at my photography probably very differently to many others in the 'business'. as a mum of 4 teens - 3 of my own kids have autism, they also have other disorders and the 2 youngest are visually impaired with a progressive blind disease that is incurable and basically means they will lose their sight. it's not a question of if but when!!!

believing that we need to document the negative/challenging/difficult along with the positive/inspirational/easier parts of our journey in life is partly how i approach photography. posed or unposed...i prefer the natural look, the natural environment, the unposed look to that of a child or adult for that matter. the other approach i have is that our lives are a journey we are on, documenting that journey both good and bad and everything inbetween is incredibly important...once again part of my approach to what i bring to photography.

it is not only important to me as a person, wife, mum, carer and photographer to give others the same opportunity to document their journey and be part of that in some way but it needs to be with compassion, understanding, acceptance and acknowledgement that whether you have a child or not with additional or special needs, whether or not you have loved ones with additional or special needs and whether or not you are indeed that wonderful person who has additional or special needs...you are important, your child is important, your loved one is important and you are all valuable human beings.

my own experiences over the years with different professionals, business people etc etc has been interesting. when asked whether they know or understand autism and they answer yes...you delve a little deeper and with a little hope you allow them into your own life giving them all the benefit of the doubt until your appointment or meeting and you realise they know nothing and you have put yourself and your child at risk.

i was determined i would not allow that to come my way again and more importantly i was determined my kids would not have to deal with that kind of attitude as much as possible within this society and culture we live in. i remember all too clearly the times my son would come away from a hairdressers appt after meeting with them and them clearly saying they would be able to look after him because they understood autism and would be able to work with and support him. i also remember the time this happened for the first time and on the way home from the appt my son threw himself out of our moving vehicle because that hairdresser did not get it right, did not understand, did not take into consideration that he had autism. i know, i was there and i knew it would end up in disaster...it almost did!

time and time again this happened with my kids...time and time again we soon learnt that unless that person had a child on the spectrum themselves...they really didn't understand...how could they!

too many times family after family would share their terrible experiences with me with the day to day challenges they faced for some of the most basic things that to the unknown...take us parents, our children and those around us sometimes months to plan, teach, support and help for our child to manage. the act or attitude of one person can make all the difference of whether it can be a success or not. far too many times it is the latter and far too many times the act or attitude or both with one person can bring undone years and years of hard work.

so getting back to the photography side of things...i offer a professional service with a personal touch. i enjoy every part of what i do and every process. it's early days yet and i gave myself 12 months, word of mouth is a great advertising resource and tool and so is facebook and all the social media that it allows. i don't just offer my services to families that have additional and special needs children and loved ones and in fact half of my clients are those that don't have these challenges. 

if you're after a quality yet affordable photo session and live in the bendigo or surrounding areas or a little further out as i am willing to travel, please contact me. you can do so by popping over to my website at www.christurnbullphotography.com or my facebook bus page at chris turnbull photography or email me at christurnbullphotography@gmail.com.

until next we meet...ciao and hugs chris xoxo

life in the fast lane...

amazing how the title of a new blog post can hit you in an instant or leave you pondering and thinking what the heck to title your latest blog post with forever and a day. for me finding that just like facebook...blogger has changed things around a little in here as well all in the name of progress and making things 'simpler'! only thing is before the change i thought things were fine anyway...apparently not! anyhoo enough about updates, progress and simple things in life right? nope not really that's why we bloggers blog...to update, keep our followers up to date with out progress and as hard as we try...try to keep things simple in life because dang it...life is darn hectic as it is!

this week has been fruitful but exhausting, positive but exhausting, moving forward but exhausting and i've decided i need a secretary or better still perhaps a clone. although hubby thinks one of me is enough there are many days i might just agree with him but having 2 of me would be quite useful. the real one of me would do all the things i want to do and the other one of me would do all the things i don't want to do....clear as mud! i thought so!

so i just wanted to say this...on tuesday the 6th of this month (september 2011 for those that are a little unsure ;) ), hubby and i celebrated our silver wedding anniversary. yep we've been married 25 years would you believe and would you believe we've known each other since hubby was 11. that is awhole lot of years because we're both in our 40's i being a tad older then he and he being a tad younger then me. we have overcome obstacles like you wouldn't believe and i can tell you now most couples would have walked out, ended the relationship, separated, divorced and basically opted out with the things we've encountered, been dealt with, been accused of, had our names slandered all over the place, lied about...oh and don't get me started on the rest.

i'm not here to dwell on the negative although it would be easy enough to do, in fact without tim...i'd be nothing, lost, completely insane (i'm pretty much there now) and i don't even wanna think about life without him or the kids. there are times in life we must pick our battles, give priority to what's really important and choose to live according to our values and our beliefs and not particularly those of others. i'm eternally grateful for what i have. i'm forever thankful that god continues to watch over our family and his blessings are there daily. 

life is what we make it, there are obstacles to overcome no matter who we are, no matter where we're from. we come across the most wonderful people ever, some just passing, others who stay awhile and then there are those that are life time soul mates...tim is mine. love ya heaps!!!

hugs chris xoxo