Evocative, timeless, romantic photography. I am Anastasia, a Sydney-based wedding, engagement, children, family, portrait photographer. Available for destination weddings.

May 05 2018

Tuscany

Oh, Tuscany. It was a dream come true and an absolute highlight of our trip. It was also a strange mix of exactly what I imagined and also the complete opposite in so many ways. We stayed in the Chianti region, in a tiny village called Castello di Volpaia that was first mentioned in the 12th century. It stands tall right on top of a hill, surrounded by the ancient walls and rows and rows of grape vines and olive trees. There were hardly any other people around except for the family who owns the place and those who work in the winery and the restaurants there. The apartment we stayed in was located in a 16th-century building, and it felt like a fairytale to wake up to the sounds of the birds and to the soft Tuscan light streaming gently through the tiny window in our bedroom.

We explored quite a bit around Chianti, driving up and down those never ending hills, stopping at little villages and grand old castles, finding our way through the maze of the narrow cobbled streets. We ate gelato and drank Chianti (gelato for Daniel, wine for us). We admired the ancient buildings and the old churches. We pretty much did all the touristy things while being successful in avoiding the crowds (like in San Gimignano that was so full that we couldn’t find parking so we just kept on driving and ended up at the most charming, quiet, and much more real Colle di Val d’Elsa).

But the best memories are of the quiet moments spent simply wandering around Volpaia, climbing up the hill with the sweeping views of the village and the surrounds that took our breath away, tasting the cheese at the village restaurants, making friends with the chickens and the rooster, and also with the local cats. The simplest things often bring the purest joy. Olive leaves covered by the raindrops, sunflowers turning their happy faces up to the sun. The abundance of rosemary growing along the fence near our apartment. Foggy hills after the rain. That rocky earth. That light.

We hope to find our way back to Tuscany one day, to feel it all again.

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The link to Castello di Volpaia, where we stayed.

May 04 2018

April

On the first day of April, well before dawn, I stood outside in the cold air (hello autumn!) throwing generous handfuls of little chocolate eggs across the lawn. Our own little Easter Bunny woke up a short while later with the words “eggs, eggs, need to go, where is the basket!!!”. I don’t know how many more years of this wide-eyed wonder we still have ahead of us, while the Easter Bunny and Santa are very much real, and magic is everywhere, so I make sure I capture every moment because there is nothing more precious than the innocence of childhood.

The rest of the month was filled with revisiting our favourite local spots (The Reptile Park, Mt Penang Gardens, Warrah Lookout walk), spending time recuperating at home (Lego and wooden railroad on repeat with some arts and crafts thrown in) and not much more. Which is sometimes is exactly what you need. Oh, and I took him to the movies for the first time ever, and he loved it so much that he sobbed uncontrollably when we got back home, just because it was all over.

April is my favourite month. It didn’t feel like it this year though as everyone in our little family was sick with various types of viruses since the beginning of the month and pretty much until the end. It seemed as if I hardly picked up the camera but going through these images now I see that I still managed to capture so many beautiful moments, and I am so grateful.

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A cheeky visitor to our garden.

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These emus look innocent. But they stole Daniel’s muffin and threw it on the ground. He was heartbroken. I was happy they preferred the much healthier salad leaves though.

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He made my artist’s heart flutter when he suddenly requested to set up a still life with three apples just like in the book about Georgia O’Keeffe that he (himself!!!) picked up from the library.

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Apr 18 2018

Verona

As soon as we crossed the border on a sunny September morning there was no mistake that we were no longer in Switzerland. The highway traffic was everything we thought Italian traffic would be, and more. We were driving past Milan surrounded by crowds of trucks from seemingly every single country on the European continent, trying to figure out why the lanes merge without much warning, why everyone is driving way past the speed limit, and how to get to Verona in one piece. It was all rather chaotic. We passed so many minor accidents where people just stood there, waiting for help, with absolutely neutral facial expressions as if having someone merge into you was just a part of daily life. But I must admit the drive was exhilarating and not boring at all, not one bit. Noone felt sleepy, not even Daniel in his child seat. I also enjoyed reading traffic warnings on those giant electronic billboards because even a warning of an accident or roadworks ahead sounds like pure poetry in Italian. A few hours of very focused driving we ended up in Verona, where we quickly got lost one street away from our hotel, and even the GPS was not too sure how to get us there. We did reach it eventually, but parking our rental Mazda 3 station wagon on level three of underground parking designed to fit only tiny little European cars and not our shiny red behemoth, all while being shouted at in Italian by an old lady in a dainty white BMW whose garage door we were blocking while trying to reverse into the most narrow parking spot on Earth called for a glass of red wine immediately after getting the keys to our room.

The hotel was spectacularly located – just a few minutes walk from Verona Arena, where we found ourselves shortly after arrival. I was immediately blown away by the light – it was soft and golden and exactly how I would imagine the famous light of Northern Italy would be. And that was where I fell in love with Verona.

All we did for the next two days was simply wander the streets, visit those beautiful churches, eat amazing food, listen to the sweet music of Italian language and throw pebbles into Adige. I took thousands of photos. Daniel played with local kids at Arco dei Gavi. The weather was perfect. Everything was perfect and peaceful in that enchanting light of Verona.

And here is this story told in images (except for the driving on the highway story as words do describe it way better):
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this photo above perfectly captures the feeling of our whole trip – the magic of sharing new places with Daniel

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Beautiful colours everywhere you look

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if you want to see Juliet’s balcony, go when it’s still really early as it gets extremely crowded. It is a typical tourist trap but we did enjoy it. You don’t need much time there and there is something so touching in those heart-shaped padlocks and love notes scribbled on various surfaces (including band-aids)

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this gelato came with a bib which was greatly appreciated

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at the end of our last day there, while trying to find snacks for our drive to Tuscany the next day

We stayed in Hotel Verona which was very conveniently located, quite reasonably priced (especially after coming from Switzerland), and we got a spacious room on the ground floor in an apartment building next door, and we loved it because we felt less like tourists somehow. But if you drive there and have a large car parking can be rather challenging.

Apr 14 2018

Switzerland

It feels like a dream already. Sometimes I catch myself thinking “Did it really happen?” when looking at the photos from our first big European holiday. I keep coming back to these images because all the stress and chaos of travelling so far away with a 3.5 year old for almost six weeks is now all but faded in the distance, and all is left are these beautiful memories.

So I thought I’d blog them, these memories, so I have something to come back to again and again. I hope you enjoy these photos too.

I am starting with Switzerland, the country where our trip started. We flew into Zurich, and it felt like a fairy tale from the moment we found ourselves in the middle of the old town, all jet lagged and wide-eyed. We only had one night there at the start of the trip, but we explored a little bit more a few weeks later when we were ready to fly home.

We also spent two nights in the village of Grindelwald in the Alps (a dream come true for sure). The weather gods were not overly kind during our stay there but the mountains are spectacular and magical and powerful in absolutely any weather, so no complaints here. After we left Grindelwald and started driving towards Italy we stayed in Locarno for one night which is still Switzerland but I kept getting confused because everybody spoke Italian and it felt like Italy and it looked like Italy but no, it was Switzerland. The history of Europe fascinates me.

So I will let the photos tell you more. I wouldn’t be able to express the magic of it all in words anyway.

Here they are, our perfect little Swiss moments.

Switzerland-01 This little person is a very good traveller, and I am so proud of him.

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Zurich welcomed us by grey skies and dry warm weather, and we were so thankful.

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Hello, Swiss Alps!

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As I sat on the lush green grass, my hiking boots off, face up to the sun, on our second day in Europe, recovering from the jet lag and the weeks of stress and sickness that struck our whole family right before we were due to leave Australia, I was looking at that breathtaking landscape thinking that there are some moments in life that you want to etch into your memory forever, and this was one of those moments. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that feeling.

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Hands down the most spectacular playground we have ever been to.

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We went up to Mannlichen on our second day in Grindelwald, and the weather was not so good. Not good at all. But the clouds parted for a few short minutes, and I took these photos, and I think they are some of my favourites from the whole trip.

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The view is supposed to be absolutely jaw-dropping hence the royal crown. Just not on that particular morning.

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So this gingerbread house half way up the mountain is actually someone’s home.

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The main street of Grindelwald.

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Madonna Del Sasso, a beautiful monastery nestled above the city.

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And so it began, the daily consumption of gelato.

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The pretty colours of Locarno.

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More photos of Zurich on our way back a few weeks later. It was rainy, cold, and so very beautiful.

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Some information on where we stayed in Switzerland:

Novotel Zurich City West – it is a bit further from the city, but our car rental company was right across the road, and, also, I will be forever grateful that the room was ready when we arrived in the morning quite a few hours before the check-in time, and it meant the world after travelling from Sydney with a child who was recovering from a horrible tonsillitis.

Hotel Tschuggen Grindelwald – it was cosy and quite basic but much more affordable comparing to other hotels along the main street, plus the family who run it are so lovely, and their breakfast was so good (those Swiss cheeses from the pastures just up the mountain from the village – oh my!).

Hotel City Locarno – very close to everything, very clean and modern. We loved it.

Hotel Du Theatre by Fassbind Zurich – I absolutely loved this hotel. It is VERY central and close to everything – the main train station is across the bridge, the tram stop is right next to it, and it is right on the edge of the old town so step right onto these beautiful little streets of old Zurich.

Apr 07 2018

March

Since Daniel was born my camera has never left my side. I take photos almost daily because:

a) blink and you will miss it and b) every single moment is so precious and c) there is so much quiet beauty in the mundane.

I think it’s time to start doing monthly posts filled with our family photos. Here are a few fleeting moments captured in March (and how come it’s April already?? It has only just been Christmas!)

This little chef set from Hape is used a few times weekly and I think it looks absolutely adorable, plus Daniel has been helping me cook so much lately

Going for a bushwalk was Daddy’s birthday wish:

The aftermath of very enthusiastic blowing:

There is nothing sweeter in the whole world than watching a child sleep

Another brilliant find is this train driver’s hat set for my train obsessed boy:

Walking back to the car after a photo session in the city. This view will never fail take my breath away.

He asked Santa for a train set. He got it. He keeps playing with it daily. He also got a few other things Santa thought he would quite like but honestly all he wanted was just the train set and he couldn’t care less about the rest of the presents (a good lesson for Santa).

Another short bushwalk that is just a few minutes away from our house:

I feel endlessly grateful he is growing up surrounded by this:

Tassie devil from Cradle Mountain is a good friend

A recent discovery. Seriously one of the most breathtaking places we’ve been to, and it’s only fifteen minutes away:

So that’s our March. I am looking forward to the cooler weather and the crisper air that April is supposed to bless us with at some stage. It is still hot and sticky but I can see the light is already different and the nights are cool – exciting!