Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

24. December 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Christmas Photo 2022

24. December 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

As per tradition we again did a family Christmas photo this year.

We were running out of time, so it was a bit rushed getting it done.

We also tried to make one with a Karate theme. It is a nice photo, it just wasn't christmassy enough.

23. December 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Christmas Show - State Theatre

23. December 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Kim had booked a Christmas show in the State Theatre. It was an okay show, but as she said, it was more for the 'dads' than for the kids due to the costumes.

20. December 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Awards 2022

20. December 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

A couple of the awards received by Aiden and Lucas

18. December 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas Cooking

18. December 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

We have been trying to encourage Aiden and Lucas to once in a while do the cooking. This is so that they know how to cook when they become older and adults.

Lucas is really loving it and Aiden doesn't really have the patience.

17. December 2022 18:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Karate - Black Belt

17. December 2022 18:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

2022 was also the year where I finally got my Black belt in Karate (Sho-Dan - first belt).

I had to fly up to Brisbane for the grading/exam with the head of the Australian organisation.

17. December 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Aidens Confirmation and Graduation from Primary school

17. December 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This year Aiden was in the last year of primary school (year 6). This means that this was the year of his confirmation and also his graduation before he next year starts in high school.

30. November 2022 16:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Moulin Rouge

30. November 2022 16:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Kim and I went to see Moulin Rouge at the Capitol Theatre. It was a beautiful production.

29. November 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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NSW Art Gallery

29. November 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

One day we made a daytrip into the city to see the NSW art gallery.

12. November 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Denmark - Other photos

12. November 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My dads backyard

Crashing after a busy day

Nisse/Hvids Oel

My dads house

The house in Vaeggerloese where I grew up.

Cooking and eating Eel.

Some of the old houses in Nykoebing F (probably 3-400 hundred years)

Love the hotdogs

Eating Pheasant (Fasan) that Bedstefar made.

Bye-Bye Bedstefar - See you soon again.

12. November 2022 17:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Denmark - Other photos

12. November 2022 17:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My dads backyard

Crashing after a busy day

Nisse/Hvids Oel

My dads house

The house in Vaeggerloese where I grew up.

Cooking and eating Eel.

Some of the old houses in Nykoebing F (probably 3-400 hundred years)

Love the hotdogs

Eating Pheasant (Fasan) that Bedstefar made.

Bye-Bye Bedstefar - See you soon again.

17. April 2014 06:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Open day photoshoot - Valerie Peovska

17. April 2014 06:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I did a couple of different sets with Valerie. Depending on the makeup she would look totally different and unrecognisable.

I call this my 'Get Lost' photo...bit of attitude.

Model: Valerie Peovska
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
Makeup: Melisa Tomic
Set: Studio 1A Sydney

16. April 2014 16:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Open day photoshoot - Edyta Jedrzejowska

16. April 2014 16:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The last of the girls that I shot at the window set was Edyta.

She has got a bit more of a rough look to her...a bit like Geena Davis in 'Long Kiss Goodnight'.

Being at the window with soft light everywhere the tough look didn't work for me, but I did manage to get this photo which emotionally is a bit more on the lighter side.

Model: Edyta Jedrzejowska
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
Makeup: Melisa Tomic
Set: Studio 1A Sydney

16. April 2014 08:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Open Day photoshoot - Britney Williams

16. April 2014 08:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Another Natural Light shoot that I did was with a girl called Britney.

She has a very photogenic face if done right. I also did a couple of shots in one of the sets but I just couldn't make it work as well as with soft natural light.

Again I was shooting with the Samyang but it was a bit later in the day so it was easier to control the light.

Photographer: Rene Pallesen
Model: Britney Williams
Hair: Cara Leupuscek
Makeup: Melisa Tomic
Sets: Studio 1A Sydney

15. April 2014 16:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Open day photoshoot - Sarah Lucien

15. April 2014 16:04 by Rene Pallesen | 1 Comments

One of the model was a more mature girl by the name of Sarah.

I had the pleasure of shooting her using natural light next to one of the windows in the upstairs studio.

The Look I was going for was a more soft Boudoir type look and I think I managed to capture that in this photo.

I found it really hard shooting using natural light. I was using a new Samyang 85mm f/1.4 lens that I bought. The look I wanted required me to shoot it at 1.4 but the light at the window was fairly bright so I was constantly hitting the ceiling of how low the ISO could go and how high shutter speed I had.

Model: Sarah Lucien
Hair and Makeup: Carla Vallelonga
Lights: Natural

15. April 2014 10:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Open day photoshoot - Taylia Lopez

15. April 2014 10:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I had a blast of a day this Sunday participating in a modelling workshop with Studio 1A...22 models, 10 makeup artists, 20 sets and lots of opportunity to take great photos.

I was totally buggered after shooting for 5 hours but it was great for building experience.

This was one of my favorite photos (many more to come) from the day.

Model: Taylia Lopez
Lighting & Set: Studio 1A
Hair & Make-up: Kabuki Mee Designs

10. April 2014 10:05
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas with a snotty nose

10. April 2014 10:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

A cute moment of Lucas attempting to draw and with a very snotty nose.

This is a test shot using a new Samyang 85mm f/1.4 lens that I recently bought.

It is a manual focus lens so it is harder to use (especially with the kids), but this shot shows what beautiful results I am getting when shooting wide open.

10. April 2014 10:04
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Aiden toilet training

10. April 2014 10:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

We are training Aiden at the moment. The other day he did a big one on the toilet and as a reward we gave him the dinosaur that we had promised him.

2. April 2014 12:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Aunty Irene in town

2. April 2014 12:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My Aunty and her husband arrived to Australia a couple of days ago and will be traveling around the country for the next 5 weeks.
They asked if they could come over for dinner one evening to see where/how we live, so Saturday night we hosted them at our place.
It is not often that I have relatives in this part of the world, so when it does happen then it is nice even if it is just for a short visit.

The menu was Kims lemon pepper prawns for starters, Duck breast with home made bearnaise and raspberry creme brulee for desert (plus a lot of other goodies such as dips and cheese and wine).

They were supposed to have arrived the night before but their flight was delayed so they arrived 6am in the morning going straight to their hotel and then straight onto a bicycle tour around Sydney. From there they went straight to our place...they must have been buggered...

1. April 2014 10:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Family Photo at La Perouse

1. April 2014 10:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last weekend we went down to La Perouse to do some family photos as we needed some new ones. We decided to do some on the lawn in front of the tower.
Lucas was not in the mood to have his photo taken and wanted to be held all the time so we decided to stick to using the picture frame that I had brought along.

Aiden on the other hand was having a blast of a time running, climbing and playing.

21. March 2014 15:03
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St Patricks Day Spike Hair

21. March 2014 15:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Monday it was St Patricks day (an Irish thing) and at daycare they were celebrating it by putting colour and hairspray in the kids hair (Green is the Irish National colour).

Aiden came back with very spiky hair and was his own cheeky self about it...

10. September 2015 16:09
by Rene Pallesen
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Fathers Day

10. September 2015 16:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Sunday it was fathers day.

It was celebrated with a game of Bowling with the kids in the morning and then family dinner in the evening (with yummi chocolate cake).

This photo is the only family photo I have with the entire Kims family (including little Mia).

7. September 2015 10:09
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Anything Goes - Sydney Opera House

7. September 2015 10:09 by Admin | 0 Comments

This weekend Kim and I joined a couple of friends at the opera house to see the show Anything Goes.

This is a great musical which I believe is based on a book and it was first shown on Broadway all the way back in 1934.

I love the old costumes from back...

27. August 2015 12:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas Moment

27. August 2015 12:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Lucas doesn't like me taking photos of him.

Here I caught him having a moment after I picked him up at daycare.

21. August 2015 08:08
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Aiden Birthday

21. August 2015 08:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I realised that I hadn't posted anything from Aidens birthday.

On the weekend we had a bowling birthday party with all the kids (and mum and dad) dressed up as super heroes.

We also had a family dinner where we celebrated both his, Kayla's and Adams (his cousins) birthdays.

21. August 2015 07:08
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Morning of Frost

21. August 2015 07:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Although we have had a beautiful winter with lots of sunny days and mild daytime temperatures, we have also had some cold mornings.

One morning the car had frost on it and it was only 5 degrees outside (most winter mornings it is 8-10 degrees with 18-22 degree daytime temps).

21. August 2015 07:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden graduating to Turtle

21. August 2015 07:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last weekend Aiden graduated in his swim class from being a Crab to being a turtle.

He's been in the swim class for a couple of years now and never graduated. He would swim fine with me, but would cry and be scared with the swim teacher.

After our trip to Thailand in June he gained a lot of confidence and was very happy to swim by himself, but the swim teacher was too careful so he was unable to show what a good swimmer he really is. So, last weekend I asked the swim teacher to let him swim with the result that she by the end of the lesson graduated him and moved him to the next class.

He was so proud (and so was his dad).

18. August 2015 16:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Steam train day

18. August 2015 16:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Sunday we took the boys to Thirlmere trainworks. This is a large train museum with lots of old steam trains.

Here we learned that steam trains in NSW were running up until 1973 which means that we were born in the era of steam trains...makes me feel really old.

We went for a ride on one of the old steam trains (I think I was more excited than the kids).

As usual Aiden and Lucas were monkeying around being best mates. This is a bus on rails.

This is an instruction carriage used to teach how to operate the brakes on a steam train.

18. August 2015 16:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Coastal walk with the boys

18. August 2015 16:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

In the spirit of trying to keep the boys active Kim and I took them of a coastal walk from Coogee to Clovelly on a beautiful winters day.

The water in the little bays were calm and clear.

Half way we sat down and had a snack.

Kim braved it with the aerial yoga.

And the boys were being themselves...best mates.

They loved being outside and they managed to walk the whole way (bribed by ice cream) even though Lucas on the last stretch was asking to be picked up.

10. July 2015 09:07
by Rene Pallesen
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Phuket - Kims Birthday

10. July 2015 09:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the day we were flying out it was Kims birthday.

I had arranged a cake for her in the morning ordered through one of the local cafes a couple of days earlier.

The hotel provided a fairly average cream and jam pile that no one ate.

9. July 2015 15:07
by Rene Pallesen
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Phuket - Kims Birthday show

9. July 2015 15:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

To celebrate Kims birthday she organised for the family to go and see a show called Siam Niramit.

This show was about a 45 minutes drive from the hotel but transport was as usual included (as it is in pretty much all activities you organise).

Unfortunately Kims dad couldn't join us as he had been severely dehydrated from not drinking enough water and wearing too many clothes in the heat.

We were greeted at the show by actors in their beautiful costumes.

We then proceeded into the venue where we had a large buffet style dinner. KC organised for the staff to come and sign birthday song for Kim.

After dinner there were some pre-show activities such as kick boxing, tug of war with elephants as well as an elephant parade. More actors were dressed in their costumes.

After this was the show. The staging and props were absolutely amazing. Everything was big, and very well made. They even had a small river flowing through the stage in which actors rowed their canoos and swam in. They also had a massive monsoon rainfall in one of the acts.

The various acts despicted important historical chapters of the Thai history and mythology.

The had fabled creatures and real elephants, water buffaloes as part of the acting. Actors went flying across the stage with more that 100 actors as part of the show.

Below are some of the photos I could find to 'borrow' as I didn't take any photos during the show itself (not allowed).

26. August 2013 10:35
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden in Fiji

26. August 2013 10:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Aiden is a bit of a worry...although he is a social kid he is quite scared of a lot of things and requires a lot of help doing things.

Because he has been delayed on a lot of fronts including his comprehension he would like to play with the other kids but doesn't understand the games they are playing.

This means that he in a lot of cases finds comfort just playing by himself rather than with the other kids.

It does mean that whenever they have group games then he will require someone who can give him step by step instructions until he understands the game.

Mind you when he does find someone who is interested in playing the games he does understand then it is great to see.

26. August 2013 09:54
by Rene Pallesen
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Fiji 2013

26. August 2013 09:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last week we made the trip to Fiji with the kids.

Kim is just about to finish her maternity leave and my work asked me to reduce my accumulated annual leave days by taking some time off so we decided to go away for a week.

We stayed at the Hilton close to Nadi (we found it too far to travel with the kids to the coral coast). This is the view from our room.

Aiden and Lucas had lots of fun playing on the balcony (Lucas enjoyed throwing toys off the balcony).

And we did spend some time in the sand as well.

And trying to teach Lucas to walk (he can almost stand by himself now).

But all the swimming was done in the swimming pool at the hotel.

We didn't venture out much, but on most of the evenings we would walk over to the local Marina to eat (the food was better and cheaper).

One day we hired a nanny to look after Lucas (with little success as they were unable to feed him and settle him, so we still had to be there).

16. August 2013 07:57
by Rene Pallesen
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Centenial Park memorial

16. August 2013 07:57 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day I went for a walk in Centenial Park. For the first time I ventured into the memorial (normally there are lots of dogs and poo in this area so I generally avoid it).

The ceiling of the memorial is quite pretty and I can see myself coming back to do some more photos at some stage.

16. August 2013 07:54
by Rene Pallesen
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Harbour walk with friends

16. August 2013 07:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last weekend I went for a walk along the harbour with a couple of friends and Aiden (in my backpack).

It was a beautiful winters day being sunny and 25 degrees.

We started out at Waverton and walked almost across to Greenwich. It wasn't a long walk but very pleasant (especially since I also had Aiden to carry).

5. August 2013 09:17
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden and Lucas at the Beach

5. August 2013 09:17 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day we went to Maroubra beach to let the boys play in the sand and also to try and get some photos of them together.

It is currently winter here in Sydney which sometimes provides this beautiful cool light.

Lucas and Aiden are now really good at playing together...Lucas is doing his best to copy everything that Aiden does and at the same time tried to keep up, whic is difficult when you cant walk yet.

...And Aiden is good at sharing his toys and make sure that Lucas has something to play with.

5. August 2013 09:13
by Rene Pallesen
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Test Portrait shot

5. August 2013 09:13 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day I did a couple of test portrait shots...I wanted a portrait that was a bit more moody than usual.

It is not easy getting the low key lighting right...much easier to do high key where you can pretty much blast the subject with light.

I haven't had the time to experiment further to accomplish what I wanted...but here is what I did get after 10-15 minutes experimenting.

31. July 2013 06:53
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Clever boy

31. July 2013 06:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Yesterday Kim caught Lucas grabbing her car keys and the trying to use the keys to unlock the front door...with a bit of practice and some extra height me might succeed one day.

I think he just wanted to take the big red car outside for a spin...

30. July 2013 08:36
by Rene Pallesen
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Family picnic at the beach

30. July 2013 08:36 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the weekend we went to the beach for a little family picnic...ham and cheese sandwiches.

we also wanted to get some photos of Lucas and Aiden playing together in the sand.

We especially wanted to get one of them sitting together look at the waves. Normally Aiden is terrified of the waves, but because Lucas was there we were able to get him to sit still.

It wasn't the best light in the middle of a sunny day but I love the cool winter light this time of the year. It is hard to describe...but the light has a less warm feel the during the summertime.

Aiden and Lucas are now best of mates and having a lot of fun. Once Lucas learns to walk they will be big trouble and we will constantly have to chase after them. Aiden can sometimes get a bit rough, but Lucas is a tough little bundle of muscles and loves copying him.

30. July 2013 07:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Climbing on my birthday

30. July 2013 07:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On my birthday this year I went climbing at Barrenjoey with some friends. It was the first time for over a year that I have done any climbing...let alone outdoors, but fortunately it was all top ropes.

Barrenjoey is one of the most beautiful spots in Sydney.

I am totally out of shape but still managed to get through the climbs we set up.

We were supposed to have had a dinner the night before but most people were busy so we decided to cancel the dinner and the let me go climbing instead. I was supposed to have been taking Aiden with me (Barrenjoey is relatively safe for kids), but he was still a bit unwell from his hospital visit. I think I will start looking for a good climbing helmet for him so that we have it for next time.

I had a great day out with friends and it was great to get back on the rock.

27. July 2013 05:02
by Rene Pallesen
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A bit of a scare

27. July 2013 05:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last night we had a bit of a scare when we suddenly had to rush Aiden to the hospital in an ambulance...

He was over at grandads place most of the day playing and when he came back we noticed that he had a bit of a temperature and didn't want to eat, but otherwise ok and playful. We decided to give him a quick shower before giving him some panadol and then bedtime.

In the shower he was playing as usual with water and his plastic cups when I left him to get dressed. When I came back a few minutes later to turn off the water and get him dressed I could tell that he was not his normal self and was shaking a bit. Thinking that he was cold I quickly took him out to get him dressed but could then tell that he was pretty bad...I couldn't get in contact with him and his breathing was irregular and shallow.

I quickly called Kim and had her call an ambulance. While we were waiting he started having some muscle spasms and started throwing up. Fortunately we are close to the ambulance station so they arrived pretty quickly and took myself and Aiden to the children's hospital which is also close by.

At the hospital he started responding again and the doctors there think that a spike in his fever caused it. They kept him there for most of the evening until his temperature had dropped and they were sure he was well hydrated which was around midnight.

Good that all turned out ok...Aiden has been pretty happy today even though he hasn't eaten much and slept much of the day.

18. December 2012 08:11
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas first Christmas

18. December 2012 08:11 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The first Christmas for Lucas is approaching. This also means that he is being subjected to all kinds of Christmas rituals such as posing for his Dads Christmas photos.

12. December 2012 08:12
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Kims Dads Birthday 2012

12. December 2012 08:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This year we celebrated Kims Dads birthday with a big lunch for the whole family where everyone brough along something to eat.

Afterwards we did some family photos with Kim and all the grans children as well as my Dad and his two grand children Aiden and Lucas.

Click here for more photos

5. December 2012 06:34
by Rene Pallesen
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Glasses - Feeling old

5. December 2012 06:34 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I finally had to bite the bullet and get my eyes checked out for glasses.

I had started developing a headache if sitting in front of the computer or reading for extended periods of time

So I now have some reading glasses that I can use...makes me feel old.

3. December 2012 11:19
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Aiden playing with water

3. December 2012 11:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Needless to say that our lives currently revolve around looking after Lucas and Aiden.

This Saturday I took Aiden swimming in the morning and I must say that he is getting more and more confident in the water. We reached another milestone with him being happy to just swim around (in circles mostly) wearing his floaties without holding onto me.

In the afternoon it was really hot...36 degrees in the shade, so we decided to let him have some more waterfun at home in the inflatable pool.

3. December 2012 11:15
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Aiden playing with Playdough

3. December 2012 11:15 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we bought some playdough for Aiden to play with.

Initially he wasn't sure what to do with it, but after a while with a bit of guidance he started getting a bit more creative.

3. December 2012 01:25
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First December 2012

3. December 2012 01:25 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is now the first of december and the Christmas shopping has started in the shopping centres.

The other day the mall has a big sale and with that sale they has different characters walk the floor...in this case a Teddy with a girlie Santa.

Aiden was very excited but a lille scared of the big teddy bear.

25. November 2012 11:07
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Lucas two and a half months

25. November 2012 11:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last week Kim asked me to bring the camera an take some photos of Lucas on the bed.

He is now two and an half months old and is now able to smile and get excited when he sees you and when you talk to him.

He is still keeping mummy up at night although we think he is getting a bit better on that front.

24. November 2012 01:21
by Rene Pallesen
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An Oldie, but a goodie

24. November 2012 01:21 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This photo was actually taken more than 6 months ago, but going through some old photos I found it too good not to post.

I was setting up for a pregnancy shoot (then Kim was 4 months due) and Aiden was trying to assist me with the setup. He happened to sit down it the perfect spot and give me a pose that tells so much about his character at that time...sucking his fingers and everything.

...and by pure coincidence it happened that the photo was perfectly lit.

20. November 2012 12:56
by Rene Pallesen
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Lucas Foot

20. November 2012 12:56 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I took this photo a couple of months ago, but haven't come around to finishing it until now.

It is a photo of Lucas' foot in my hands.

12. November 2012 11:44
by Rene Pallesen
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Old Photo - Aiden/Daddy looks the same?

12. November 2012 11:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I found this old photo of myself that my dad took of me when I was about 3 years old (I think).

Looking at Aiden today there is a strong resemblance in the facial features.

The photo was badly damaged and requires a fair bit of restoration, but at least I now have a digital copy of the photo.

23. August 2023 20:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Driving and Various

23. August 2023 20:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The trip in New Zealand first landed us in Christchurch where we picked up our rental car and stayed the first night.

Next day we drove through Arthurs Pass to Franz Josef (a long drive) where we stayed for three nights. This was mainly so that we had a spare day in case the weather closed in and we couldn't fly to the glacier.

From there we drove to Queenstown via Wanaka and the Crowns Range (another long drive). We were lucky that this was open and that snow chains weren't required.

Here we stayed for 5 nights whereafter we went to Twizel near Mount Cook for two night.

Lastly we drive back to Christchurch to fly out.

Queenstown is a scenic place, but lost of other scenic places along the way.

23. August 2023 19:08
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New Zealand 2023 - Lake Pukaki chapel

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

At Lake Pukaki there is this little beautiful chapel at the lake.

Again this is a really photographed location and much more busy than I remember it.

23. August 2023 19:08
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New Zealand 2023 - Skiing

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

At Queenstown we did 4 days of skiing at the Remarkables.

The boys did two days of lessons and were with me the other two days. Some friends of our joined us in Queenstown, so for the other days I had Tod to go with, who is a very decent snowboarder.

Aiden and Lucas are both becoming good skiers, but especially Lucas is getting really good to the point where I can bring him onto black runs.

Although Kim is still very much a beginner she still did two days of skiing sticking to the beginner slope where there is a 'magic carpet' lift. I did see some improvement to last year, but she is still too scared to go on the proper lifts.

I bought my own ski boots last year and brought them along (my feet are not compatible with rental ski boots).

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - West coast

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The west coast of New Zealand is really beautiful.

It is not very populated and there are not a lot of tourists either as it is hard to get to.

We did a lot of walks in the area both around beautiful lakes and also at the beach outside Fox Glacier and Franz Josef villages.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lake Wanaka and the famous most photographed tree.

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Driving back towards Queenstown we had to go through Wanaka. Boy, has it changed! It used to be a small place with maybe fifty houses, but now it is a proper town with lots of cars and traffic.

It is very scenic approaching Lake Wanaka, and the lake itself has this tree growing in the water that photographers from all around the world come here to take photos of.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lindis Pass

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

A place that I have always found really magical is driving through the Lindis Pass.

Kim doesn't think much of it, but since I visited it the first time, I've alwas found the rolling hills and the colours absolutely stunning.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Glacier Tour

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Kims highlight on the trip was to go up on a real glacier.

She had booked a helicopter tour that would take up up on a section of the glacier between the two major ice falls.

This is a section of the glacier that Andy and I dreaded having to walk through 20 years ago when we were climbing higher up on the glacier. Mind you, back then there was probably another 100 metres of ice on top of where we landed on this day.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Castle Hill Boulders

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Driving from Christchurch toward the west coast we passed the Castle Hills boulders.

This is a phenomenal place to go climbing if you are a good boulderer. It is also quite scenic to just go for a walk.

We saw lots of people with their bouldering mats (a soft mat to land on when you are climbing).

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Mount Cook

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

At Mount Cook we did a long 10km walk to the start of the Hooker glacier.

It is a beautiful walk where you walk past the Tasman Glacier and Muller Glacier before you eventually come to the Hooker Glacier lake.

The lake was frozen with an iceberg floating around in it.

25. December 2022 18:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Christmas Day - 2022

25. December 2022 18:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

As usual, we did a family thing at Kims sisters house.

At home I had Aiden make Havregryns Kugler (oat balls).

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4. June 2011 01:26
by Rene Pallesen
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Vivid Sydney 2011

4. June 2011 01:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Again this year I went into the city to have a look at Vivid Sydney. This is a festival of light and music in the city around Circular Quay, The Rocks and the Opera House.

On the first few days of the festival it was raining a bit, but one evening when there was a clear night I went into the city leaving Kim and Aiden at home.

I managed to get a couple of good photos I think although I spent way too much time on photos of the opera house and therefore ran out of time.

This was the third year of the festival and I found this years festival much more creative than the previous years.

Anyway, here are some of the more interesting photos from the evening.

1. June 2011 10:36
by Rene Pallesen
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Another trip to Centenial Park

1. June 2011 10:36 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we made another trip to Centennial Park to go for a walk, have lunch & coffee and take some photos. Is it becoming a regular event so expect some more post in the future.

This Sunday the park was car free, meaning that everyone had to park outside the gates rather then drive into the park. It meant that there was a lot less people in the park which made it even more enjoyable. The trees as beautiful with their golden yellow and red leaves.

It is currently Autumn in Sydney and lately the weather had been fairly miserable and even this Sunday when we went to the park it looked a bit dark and gloomy at first. Fortunately the grass and leaves were fairly dry so I could do our 11 Month photos of Aiden. At first he didn't like the leaves at all, but after a few minutes he warmed up to the idea and started having fun playing with them (and eating them).

He is very funny at the moment, he is starting to crawl a lot faster and would try and get to the camera so I had to keep crawling backwards to keep the distance between us.

1. June 2011 10:17
by Rene Pallesen
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ABBA Cruise

1. June 2011 10:17 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Friday night Kim, Dylan and I joined a number of Kims friends on the Abba cruise on the Sydney Harbour.

Dylan had completed a writing assignment we gave him a couple of weeks earlier (to write a 500 word essay about our easter holiday) and as a reward we took him along on the cruise.

The boat was a fairly small boat (almost house boat sized) and probably fitted around 80 people onboard. The Abba band was pretty good. The singing wasn't brilliant, but still very good entertainment and they managed to get the boat rocking. We even managed to get Dylan up dancing (even though we didn't give him much choice).

^{(oh...this photo is intentionally blurred...I tried to create a cool effect by zooming while I took the photo with a rear-curtain sync).}

It was a beautiful calm night, so it was nice to once in a while go up on deck to enjoy the view of the city line. Vivid Sydney had just started so Circular Quay, The opera house and The Rocks was all lit up. I will be heading in there one of the next few nights to take some more photos (I tried to take a couple of photos from the boat but Abba was rocking it too much ;-) ).

I hope Nikon will soon announce the D800...my old D50 was really strugling this evening with the low light conditions and I didn't bring a Tripod along.

17. May 2011 10:01
by Rene Pallesen
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James Blunt Concert

17. May 2011 10:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last night Kim and I went to the James Blunt concert in the State Theatre in Sydney. Kim (and to some degree myself) is a big fan of James Blunt so when we heard that he was coming to Sydney we had to get tickets.

The concert was brilliant and it had a lot of energy to it. He played both some of his old songs as well as some of his new ones.

The stage was set up with all these LED panels so that they could project videos, images, colours and patterns onto them to change the mood depending on the songs played.

16. May 2011 10:27
by Rene Pallesen
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Centennial Park (again)

16. May 2011 10:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the weekend we again went to Centennial Park to go for a walk enjoying a gorgeous Autumn day.

Aiden was a bit tired and wasn't really in the mood to have his picture taken.

This time we brough Dylan along for him to get some exercise (watching too much TV otherwise):

11. May 2011 03:53
by Rene Pallesen
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Autumn 2011

11. May 2011 03:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is getting cooler here in Sydney...the last 2-3 days have been freezing with temperatures at 16 degree during the day (cooler at night). We have turned on the heater in Aidens room as he kicks off his blanket.

One advantage is that there are some beautiful leaves in Centennial Park...

Autumn Leaves

5. May 2011 09:43
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden's Mothers day present

5. May 2011 09:43 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Monday Aiden went to the day care centre (we send him to daycare once a week for him to learn to interact with other kids and more structured play) and the teacher there helped him create a painted "Mum" sign as a Mothers day gift (It is Mothers day on Sunday).

Kim was very proud and asked me to take a photo of it for her to post on facebook. My response was "Sure, I'll go and grap the compact camera"...to which she responded that she wanted a good picture using good lighting so I should go and get my big camera.

So I went ahead and took the following photo of the mum sign using some of Aidens toys as a backdrop.

...but Kim said that she can't use it because it is too good and isn't realistic enough...back to the pocket camera ;-) !

26. April 2011 04:02
by Rene Pallesen
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Easter at Lake Conjola

26. April 2011 04:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Easter holiday the family rented a house at Lake Conjola 220 Km south of Sydney (past Jervis Bay). We drove down there Friday morning (about 3 hours) with all our clothes, food etc.It was a four bedroom house for 8 adults and 5 kids, so always something happening somewhere in the house. Aiden was a bit shell shocked on the first day until he got used to the surroundings etc. We had brought our travel cot (a tent) for him to sleep in, in our bedroom and this made it a bit easier for us to put him to sleep.

Every morning the boys went out fishing in Chong's tinny (aussie word for boat). I went along on the first and last day (the other days I valued my morning sleep) and on the first day I caught a 25cm bream...one of the two legal catches during the week. Chong caught a fairly large flathead on one of the other days.

The beach was about a 15 minute walk away from the house walking through the caravan park (On the first morning there was a coffee van parked there and much to Kims dissapointment it was gone all the following days). It it fairly cool this time of the year so none of us went swimming, but it was fun to run around and take some photos. Aiden is getting used to go to the beach and is now quite comfortable sitting looking at things (He has now finally started commando crawling after 10.5 months).

And at the beach we also had some fun with some 'silly' time.

In the evenings we were playing blackjack...always interesting as we play for money and some days you can be really lucky and others really unlucky. We also played charade where each team should guess movie titles by only showing gestures...which to a large part ought to be X-rated (or as least KC's turns should be).

One of the days I did a bit of creative photography. I showed KC how she could make window blinds look like a nice sunset even though it was grey and overcast outside.

The place had a pool table and this inspired me to the following photo of Kim playing pool.

And I played with the kids colour pencils.

I also did one night photograph on the only clear night we had. I should have spent more time out there, but it was late and I though I'd have a couple of nights ahead where it would be possible.

This year we had agreed that each of us would cook one meal. My meal was Saturday lunch time and I was doing pasta and I has pre-cooked it from Sydney the day before so it was nice and easy. Kim was doing an Indian curry in the evening.

When we ended our stay Kims dad said that this is the best food he's ever had on our holidays together.

17. April 2011 11:27
by Rene Pallesen
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Tall Ships cruise onboard 'Svanen'

17. April 2011 11:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we went with the Heng's onboard one of the last Tall Ships of Sydney harbour called 'Svanen. The day before it had been pouring with rain but we were lucky that the day we had booked was dry and sunny most of the day.

'Svanen' was built in 1922 in Denmark in Fredrikssund of danish oak frames, where she traded as a grain carrier between Denmark and Greenland for the tuborg beer company until 1969. She and James Craig are now the last tall ships in Sydney (The Bounty was sold to china some years ago).

She ain't a big ship, but large enough to carry about 90 passengers.

The interior of the ship is almost in its original state. It is still possible to see all the hand chiseled timer in the cabins.

The ship itself is pretty much still operated as it was back then (although she now has a motor...not sure if she would have had that originally).

And all the rope work is still the way it should be as well.

The cruise lasted a couple of hours and during the trip we were served lunch, beer and wine. This was one of the special deals that Kim had found us so it ended up being a great day.

15. April 2011 11:04
by Rene Pallesen
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