Wishing everyone a great Christmas & fantastic 2012.

The service was conducted by Father Leslie at the Greek Orthodox Parish & Community of ‘St. Gerasimos’ in Leichhardt. Here is a shot of the first cross & garment Apostole would wear, in the background the oil Apostole would be covered in & Father’s “baptism kit” which includes the scissors for his first offering & Holy Oil.

Apostole has great blue eyes, as captured here outside the church while waiting for guests to arrive.

He looked cute every time he sucked his thumb, more to follow….

but hated being undressed.

Father Leslie applying oil to Apostole, while he & his godmother exchange a serious look.

The godmother applies oil to the entire body, not sure if Apostole is enjoying it or about to break out in tears.

Apostole in the baptismal font, appears to be enjoying it.

Looking cute sucking his thumb between Mum & Godmum.

At the reception, I had an opportunity to pull out my paparazzi lens. I enjoy using this lens to capture candid photographs, here is Apostole with mum.

And a proud dad looking at a cute Apostole sucking his thumb, maybe a bit young to be sitting at the bar.

While taking random photographs before the service, I quite liked this closeup I captured of Lucia.

The service was held at the Greek Orthodox Parish & Community of ‘St. Spyridon’ in Kingsford. It was interesting to note, that the bottle containing the oil which will be used to annoint Lucia had the initials LVM on it.

What makes it interesting is that for Katerina’s christening, her bottle had the initials KdM on it.

Toy boxes used as christening boxes have been popular recently, here are the shoe’s on top of Lucia’s.

Each priest / church, do some things differently to others. The first part of the service which is usually held at entrance, here it was conducted at the front. Some great natural light coming in from the behind, it was a brilliant sunny day in Sydney.

Lucia in the baptismal font.

Then being whisked away by her godmother to get dressed.

The first cross being worn by Lucia.

The Godparent also supplies a large candle that is used during the ceremony, here is Nazario’s.

Nazario on his way to the fun part of the ceremony, excuse the

Here his Godmother is applying the olive oil to his entire body.

Nazario in the baptismal font.

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 fist offering of the new born Christian to God and his church. It is indicative of dedication, offering and sacrifice.

The priest puts on the childs first cross, provided by the Godparent.

A gorgeous cake.

Closeup of Nazario at the reception. Given time, I love to position myself in a corner at a reception, pull out my ‘paparazzi’ lens & take candid photo’s. Lens is sharp as & provides a creamy background as seen here.

What better way to start of the reception, than by cracking open a bottle of blue, proudly provided by Nazario’s grandfather.

The reception had lots of KEFI, dancing, singing, and more dancing. Nazario’s great grandfather got down & danced a Zeibekiko the old fashioned way, around a glass of scotch.

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I rotated 180 degrees from where the previous photograph was taken, and got this family portrait overlooking George’s River in the St George region of Sydney.

If you’re a parent, imagine having three children under five in a studio & trying to get natural & relaxed photographs. I think the photographs speak for themselves.

The blatant plug for my services, a link to my contact page if you’re interested in a Photographer that shoots family portraits in the great outdoors of Sydney.

I digress, today it was Zoe’s day, and at the Greek Orthodox Parish of St Nicholas in Marrickville, she went through the Greek Orthodox ritual of her Christening. The service starts at the front of the church with the service of the Catachumen in which the various prayers of exorcism are read by the priest.

It was during this time that I captured an intimidate moment of Zoe and her Godmother.

I love it when the baby turns and looks directly at me during the service, here Mia is being anointed with Olive Oil by her Godmother.

A close up of Zoe being anointed.

As with every christening I photograph, a black and white photograph of the infant in the baptismal font.

A formal of Zoe and her Godmother.

This isn’t a choke hold, it’s Zoe’s older sister giving her a hug.

As for my blog, shots highlighting my boys.

Hard to win the ball with your eyes closed

Here is what Zac & Maddie look like now, my how they’ve grown from the last time I saw them. Taken outside of the Greek Orthodox Parish of ‘St. Stephanos’ in Hurlstone Park.

As Usual, the service begins at the entrance to the church, here are some candid shots take of John, Sophia, their godmothers & priest.

According to the priest – boys go first…… So here is John being anointed with the oil by his godmother.

Followed by John in the baptismal font.

Then Sophia was anointed by her godmother.

And into the baptismal font.

If you have time between the church and reception, it’s an ideal time to get some family portraits taken. We stopped off at a park on the way to the reception, here’s a couple of formal shots.

Brother & Sister.

And without a doubt my favorite shot of the day – a candid of mum & daughter when the sun was at it’s lowest, minutes before it set.

During the part of the service where the priest is applying the oil onto Mia’s feet.

An old style black & white photograph of Mia in the baptismal font.

Mia’s older cousins entertained her while she was being dressed in her christening dress.

Sadly this image lost a lot of the effect when re-sized to suit the web. I had purposely embedded a grain to give this photograph an antique feel to it…..lost in translation.

Nothing makes a kid feel safer or happier than dads shoulder.

Portrait of mum & Mia.

Now if you think the cake looks good, have a close look at the table behind.

That’s right, a candy bar, with more chocolate and sweets that you could ever want.

At the reception, we also found some time to take some portraits, Mia on her own.

Mia and her mother.

A fun shot, Mia & her grandmother playing in front of the mirror.

I also enjoy it from a photographer perspective, shooting outside in the natural light, no flash, and high speed movement is a huge change from the christenings & baptisms I normally shoot indoors.

Some shots taken of my sons team.



My son just scored his first (of hopefully many) goals for the season. He’s the one getting jumped on

The under 8s now have a goalkeeper, my son’s first time in goals seemed to be getting the hang of it quickly.

This local derby was a non-comp day. All the kids were playing by the small sided football rules. Here’s some shots taken of the U6s & U7s.

More photo’s are available on the Carss Park Football – website.

I was here for the baptism of Marley, who was going to be given the orthodox name Alexander. Just inside the doors is where the candle tray resides, here is Marley in his mums hands getting a little close to the flames.

As usual the service starts at the rear of the church where Satan is denounced.

Marley is covered in oil from head to toe, before being immersed in the Baptismal Font.

Inside the font, a black and white photograph of water being splashed over his head.

He then is anointed.

And his first offering to his faith, a lock of hair cut from four places on his head to resemble a cross.

Mother & son, in front of Mother & Son.

This brings a smile to my face what you looking at !!!!!

Marley is a real cutie, and had a very affectionate snuggle to both mum & dad.

There are a number of items required for an orthodox christening, one of them is the oil that is used to cover the child before being immersed in the baptismal font. I’ve noticed recently that effort is being put into decorating the bottle that contains the oil, as seen here.

The priest will pour the oil into the godparents cupped hands, as the assistant brings the child to the baptismal font. I’ve photographed a lot of christenings, however it’s rare that there is a candle holder attached to the baptismal font as shown in this photograph.

The godparent starts with the child’s head and covers the entire body from tip to toe with the oil.

I usually only include one photograph of the child inside the baptismal font on my Sydney. As I captured two photographs with a bit of water motion in them, couldn’t decide which I preferred, so I’ve included both with different black & white treatment.

The last thing the priest does before the child is dressed, is place the first Cross on the child’s neck.

Mother & child, taken in front of Mother & Child.

Without a doubt, this would have to be the brightest christening cake I’ve had the pleasure to photograph.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” Walt Emerson

The Christening box contained everything required for the ceremony.

The start of the ceremony held at the entrance of the church.

Father Leslie pouring the Olive Oil into the Water.

Daniel held by his grandmother while Father Leslie applies the oil to him.

Daniel enjoying it when the godfather applied the oil all over his body.

Daniel in the baptismal font looking a bit perplexed.

The baptism cake made with love, Daniel’s godmother made it herself.

Everybody got a place-card for their seating position made from a decorated biscuit – even me !!! (thanks, the boys enjoyed it).

The kids were entertained by a magician.

While the adults were entertained by classical acoustic guitar.

The reception was held at the Waterfront - with views from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the Sydney Opera house. Sadly, the day was wet, cold & miserable so instead of taking family shots outside against the stunning background we had to resort to indoors. Daniels parents.

The Baptism box with a few of the items, the hat, the shoes, and an Icon of Jesus.

At some Baptism’s, a little cross is given to everyone attending. A true candid, the godmother pinning the cross on Sophia’s dad.

Some things are done differently at different churches, I think (but may be wrong) that this is the only church in Sydney that starts the service at the front of the church to denounce Satan. Every other church starts the service at the entrance.

This service had two priests, here the water is being blessed.

The godmother holding the bottle of oil which will be used in the ceremony.

The baby in the baptismal font, classic black & white for this photograph.

Out of the baptismal font, and into the waiting arms of the godmother.

The final prayer.

A pretty Baptism Cake

There was also an impressive candle for the service, with a bear tied to it. Take note of the boubouniere later.

The beginning of the service is held at the entrance of the church where Satan is denounced. The godfather holding Labro while the priest reads.

The part of the service I love, where the child is immersed in the baptismal font. Regular followers of my blog know I always show these images in classic black and white, Labro’s Christening is no exception.

A great looking baptism cake, these sloping / off centred seem to be the style lately.

Cute boubouniere that matches the bear on the Christening Candle.

There were a couple of clowns at the reception, face painting was part of the entertainment.

Here is some of their finished work.

John

During the service, love the expression on Danielle’s face.

The actual service where the priest is pouring the water onto Danielle’s head.

A simple yet elegant baptism cake.

Here is a candid of Lucas with his godmother before the service began.

A very proud grandmother holding Lucas before being immersed in the baptismal font.

The godmother anoints Lucas with oil all over the body. Do you the smiley

The priest pouring water of Lucas’ head & body.

All done, about to go into the waiting arms of the godmother.

How Good is This !!!!!! Not only a baptism cake, but a stack of cup cakes to match.

Chrysovalantou’s older brother holding the candle for the service.

I was having a bit of a play with selective colouring on this photo. The Olive Oil was a lot more yellow however with the light it’s come through more of an orange.

Chrysovalantou has stunning blue eyes, this was taken less than a second before they started crying.

Inside the baptismal font.

The first offering – a lock of hair.

A tip for any budding photographers out there, learn how to use the manual settings on your camera. Look at the background of this photograph. There was a huge amount of glare that was coming through the opaque doors and windows at this time of the day. I almost always shoot with manual settings, and compensating for this much glare was a quick flick. No automatic / program modes would be able to handle this much contrast as well.

Chrysovalandou is blessed with four older sisters, here is three of them dressing her after the baptism.

The sun was setting towards the end of the service, I absolutely love the colour generated here – by natural light.

A delicious looking Christening Cake with a lot of attention to detail.

The baptism was held at the same church, the Greek Orthodox Parish & Community of Kogarah. Here the priest is conducting the first part of the service which is held near the the doorway.

Part of the service the godfather (godparent) rubs oil all over the child.

Mikaela in the baptismal font, I love capturing this moment.

Back when I photographed Stevens Christening, his father had a Chrysler Charger, check it out below.

A true Chrysler man, here is the family shot taken with the new car.

The delicious christening cake with the gorgeous backdrop taken at the St George Motor Boat Club.

Here’s a shot of Steven & his cousin taken just as the sun was starting to set. Sydney has some great locations on the water, this is one of them.

During speeches, a candid fun moment captured.

Not in Australia

a bit of architecture

More pretty flowers

If you look carefully, you can see my son on the bridge looking at the fish.

One of the shops we came across.

Only a handful of the photos I took that day. All these were taken at the same location within walking distance of each other.

In Sydney, Australia, the Greek community celebrates it firstly with a remembrance ceremony held at Martin Place. It is then followed by a march down George St to the steps of the Sydney Opera House, where the day is celebrated with singing & dancing.

This photograph I liked because it highlights the contrast of the different uniforms. The ‘Greek Digger’, Army, Navy, Greek National costume.

The NSW State Premier Kristina Keneally, was there as well, very photogenic as usual.

All aspects of the Greek Community were represented, in this photo we have the principal & students from All Saints Grammar.

Many dressed in various interpretations of the Greek National Costume having a great time.

A sea of hats, proudly brought to you by All Saints Grammar

Students from St Euphemia, with the crowd sitting on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on the right, the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background. If you look carefully on arch right next to the Greek flag, you can see the people on top of the bridge doing the ‘bridge climb‘.

Finally, the one that brought a smile to everyone’s face. This kid is so young he could barely walk, yet here he is in the Greek National Costume strutting his stuff.

ZHTO H ELLAS!

Chloe being immersed in the baptismal font.

After the service, Chloe grabbing a power nap on mums shoulder.

A tight portrait with Chloe, Mum & the Godmother.

Soon after, Chloe was snuggled up into her dads shoulder, grabbed this (my favourite shot of the day) using natural light and the aperture wide open.

The reception was at Banjo Patterson’s Cottage Restaurant, and while everyone was enjoying drinks during a beautiful (but humid) Sydney day, I was grabbing candid shots of the family & guests.

A very impressive cake put together by Sweet Art.

And a signature bear for all the guests to sign.

Kids entertainment was provided by “Fairy Star” from FairyCrystal.

While Fairy Star was telling her story, the expression on Chloe’s face was priceless.

Chloe giving me the Robert de Nero “Are you looking at me” look.

Had some time to capture some cute portraits using an off-camera flash.

Happy Valentines Day

It was the biggest crowd of the year, the cove was a sea of blue supporters.

Second half, Sydney was up 1-0 and the action was happening at my end of the field, Brosque making a few moves.

Soon after, Aloisi nailed it, taking the shot.

He soaked in the roar of the crowd

Then was joined in by his team mates.

The cove went crazy.

Final result, 2-0 congratulations.