A couple of months ago I met the deliriously delightful Courtney (otherwise known as FruzzlePuff by those in the know) at the Bobby Flynn concert. She wore giant flowers in her curls, taught the support band how to play harmonica and made friends with us when she came around offering free giant pizza. I think somehow in our glittered cowgirl hats she recognised us as her tribe.
A few days ago I had the ginormous pleasure of photographing her and her lovely love, Rhys, down by the river. I was so enchanted by their love story ~ they had met in their first class of drama in college, and been together for the three years since. They are tenderly young at nineteen, and they touched me with their warmth, love and play. Courtney is vibrant and bodacious, like a rainbow bunch of gerberas and Rhys' love for her shines through his eyes.
When we rocked up to the river, I said to them "Just how wet do you guys want to go today?", eyeing Courtney's white leggings with silk bows and Rhys' ninja cool boots. "We're up for adventure" they replied. And they were! These pair were the most adventurous, open and beautiful models a girl could hope for. Wade across the rocks just to get to a tiny island? Sure, no worries. Crawl through rapids? We are there! Stand fully clothed in the middle of the river? No problems!
They were.so.precious. Leonie hearts them BIG.
Make yourself a delicious cup of tea (maybe vanilla green tea, or dandelion with mint and ginger, or chamomile) and settle in for some lush soul-eye candy...
Allow yourself to ~breathe~ and be swept gently down the river of love...
my favourite photo of courtney... she looks like an incredible ancient water nymph goddess...
i love the power of this image...
Afterwards we found overselves a rocking stormwater drain for me to crawl down, just to get my stormwater drain kicks (and capture the beautiful light that seeps down them).
so we found this sign...
My greatest hope with my photography is to document the divine in every soul... to show them their own possibilities and beauty. When I look through these photos I see so much of both these things that my heart grows big.
Fruzzle, Rhys ~ you guys are beautiful.
Thank you for the honour of photographing your love and your joyful souls.
Love,
Leonie
~ You can see more photos from the portrait session at Flickr
~ Have a remarkable weekend... trust the beauty and love in you.
I'm off to the farm for three days. Paint, read, drum, bushwalk, riverwalk. Repeat.
