Kapa’s Blog

Today at the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in Marrickville, I was fortunate enough to photograph the christening of a gorgeous little doll called Kleopatra.

The godmother was from Mexico Melbourne, you know what I mean, south of the border. Anyway, she was lovely and one of my favourite pics of the day was this candid just before the service started.

The timing of the christening was late afternoon, right about the time she should have been napping. Moments after I took this picture she had fallen asleep.

The oil used in the service was special, all the way from Greece.

Of course, the one shot I always try to get, the baby immersed in the baptismal font.

Finish of with proof she’s a little doll, one grandma holding her, the other putting the final touches to her outfit before being returned to the godmother for the remaining of the service.

Today I arrived early at the Annunciation of our Lady Greek Orthodox church so I grabbed the opportunity while no-one was there to takes a few images of the architecture. I really love sandstone cathedrals with the exposed timber rafters, black and white is the only way to show this image.

I was there for the baptism of Zayle Pavlos, and I even tried something different, I stepped outside the doorway during the service of the Catechumen grabbing the architectural lines of the cathedrals doorway.

Zayle gave me some great eye contact, taken just before he was going to be baptised.

Of course my mandatory shot of the child in the baptismal font, as usual, black and white.

At the reception was a great looking Christmas tree, it is that time of year after all. Great backdrop to take a pic of Zayle & his mum.

The symmetry and colours of the bombomniere boxes makes an interesting picture. For those that have been following my blog, I used the remote flash triggers to take this image and the ones of the cake. The flash was sitting on a table about 2 metres away from me pointing straight to the ceiling on 1/8 power. Note how there is no shadows, no bright spots from the flash, beautiful soft light. If I hadn’t told you, would you have thought I used a flash ?

Finally the delicious cake.

Check out the detail, they obviously had some kind of stamp to get this done.

That’s it for 2007. Interesting fact or co-incidence? My last entry in 2006 was also a Christening at the Annunciation of our Lady, I’ve got goosebumps down my spine just typing this

Everyone out there, may God bless you & your family with a safe and happy Christmas, and may 2008 bring you everything you desire.

Kapa

Today Laura got baptised at St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church at Gladesville. The traditions starts at home, this is when the godparents dress the baby in preparation for its baptism. I love this candid / photo journalistic style image. The godmother is looking at the baptismal dress that Laura is going to wear and if you look in the mirror you can see Laura’s mum holding it out showing it to her. If case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a set up shot.

Laura dressed in her outfit and laid out on her parents bed, she sat there like a little princess.

I grabbed a bunch of close ups, and I really wanted to show off her lovely big brown eyes. Decisions, decisions, couldn’t decide which photo I liked the most, couldn’t decide which treatment suited her best, so here is a combination of all.

Laura held by mum and dad standing right next to her during the baptism.

Outside as everyone was leaving, I grabbed Nadia (godmother) for an idea I got. It was a pearler of a day, sunshine, clouds to add perspective, an old sandstone church, what more could I ask for.

The beauty of a good flash, I manually pushed the output by two full stops to balance the very bright background with Nadia in the shadows.

At the reception, this little feller was being passed around for everyone to sign. A really cool outfit and a fine momemto for Laura to treasure.

Today at the St George Greek Orthodox Church in Rose Bay, Connie (Konstantina) was baptised. Right from the start I knew I was going to have a very photogenic child. Here she is with both her godparents, I took a shot before this one and as soon as she saw the flash the little model started posing for the camera.

As always, a black and white image of the baby in the baptismal font.

The following paragraph I have copied from New York / Long Island photographer and mate Christos, make sure you check out his site as well.

The child is then tonsured, cutting the hair in the form of a cross, in the name of the Holy trinity, for the hair is the symbol of strength. This also represents the very first offering of the new born Christian to God and his church. It is indicative of dedication, offering and sacrifice.

While the parents & godparents were in the office sorting out the paperwork, Connie was playing amongst the woodwork, my favourite pic amongst several I took.

Once again, fantastic eye contact from such a young child. She really loved the camera, or is it the camera loved her? Either way, some great expressions & looks.

Technically, nothing special about this image however it does happen to be one of my favourites for the day. I just love the expression on the faces of Connie & both her grandmothers, a photo I’m sure will be hanging on a wall or three.

One of the key ceremony’s during the Orthodox Baptism, is when the child is immersed in the baptismal font. If you have been following my blog, you will know that I have been focusing on capturing this moment, if you haven’t check out Anna, Steve and James. The feedback I get from the parents when they see these photographs is always positive, and here’s a couple more from recent events, Anastasios & Daphne.


Both these photo’s seem to be taken from the same position & angle, probably because they were both taken at St Catherine at Mascot. Looking at the hands it’s easy to see that different priests performed the ceremony, I just hope the first one was wearing a waterproof watch.

Anna got Christened today at the Greek Orthodox Parish of ‘St. Sophia’ . She is definitely one of those calm kids that nothing bothers, she seemed relaxed and uncaring throughout the entire ceremony, making it easy for both her godmother & parents.

These were taken after she was undressed by her grandparents, thought I’d play around a bit with monotone tinting.

Now the following is beginning to become a trademark image from me, I love taking it and parents love it as well. Anna immersed in the baptismal font, black & white works a treat with these images, as you can see here and here.

After the christening, Anna was zonked out for the formals. Held by her godmother with the proud parents on either side.

The reception was held at the Athenian, great Greek cuisine. I like this image, it appears it was taken near a window, however I bounced the flash hard of the wall softening the light making it appear that way.

Gorgeous baby blues

The restaurant has these huge photos / paintings on the walls with images from Greece, nothing wrong making it look like you’re somewhere else