McKee Family Portraits ~ Riversdale, Southland

This is the most difficult blog post I have ever written and one I have thought about whether to share for quite some time.

On that basis its important I say I have Bex's blessing in sharing this story and these images with you.  I have thought long and hard about writing this post and what I should say, so I will just share the story as it unfolded.

A little over 18 months ago, I travelled to photograph the McKee Family. Matt, Bex, and their three gorgeous children Hannah, Harry & Murphy.  We had an amazing hour or so on their farm capturing these images in the yard, by the woolshed then up on top of the hill at the back of the farm with the house and flats below.  The first date we had booked in for the photos it rained and we were all happy to have rescheduled and got such a gorgeous Southland afternoon for it.  

On the face of it these images look like that of any session I have taken, and on the face of it they are.  But these images are now priceless.

A few weeks after taking these, on a Saturday morning I was lying in bed and the thought came to me that I must really get these images completed and ready for Matt & Bex to come and view.  Soon after the phone rang, it was my mother in law who said their had been a terrible accident - my heart sank, as it does as I write these words.  I braced myself for what was coming and that was when she told me Matt had been killed in an accident. The rest of that day I spent at my computer, looking through teary eyes as I prepared these photos for Bex so I could deliver them that day. It was a difficult job, but it was one I was honoured to be able to do and something I was able to give at a time when people struggle to find purpose.  

These images reflect the essence of this beautiful family. In sharing these photographs I don't want anyone to be sad, I think in a tragic circumstance like this, instead I look at them and see the love and connection between this gorgeous family.  These are moments that happen every day in our lives as parents and family members but its important to capture them.

If you take anything from this blog please let it be this ~ we need to exist in photographs for our children and grandchildren, then print them as it truly is the only way to preserve them.

Rochelle x