Shane & Jai

I was in Melbourne in August for a Free the Bird Photography workshop and thought I would make the most of my trip, having flown over from Margaret River WA, and do a creative photoshoot. I felt so inspired walking the suburban streets, marvelling at all the character homes and buildings, different coloured doors, fences and Victorian architecture.

The day after the workshop I did a one on one mentor session with Jai Long who runs and owns Free the Bird Photography. After the session I was absolutely buzzing. I walked out of his backstreet studio in Northcote and it was freezing cold and drizzling.. I could have easily caught an Uber back to my accomodation. But instead I decided to wander the streets of Northcote and came across Candy Street. I was so excited by the cute houses I was coming across. I warmed myself up at a coffee shop and messaged my high school friend Shane and his gorgeous girlfriend Jia who live in Melbourne. The next day we met up and took some photos around the streets, and YES we went back to Candy Street.

We then took a trip out of the city to Cactus Country, a place i’ve been dying to visit. It was a 3 hour drive but well worth it. My eyes lit up as we began roaming the largest collection of Cacti in Australia. It’s a huge 12-acre garden has thousands of varieties of incredible plants that will leave you astonished at how crazy mother nature can be.

Wondering around.. sneaky Shane pulled me aside to tell me he was going to pop the question. I was trying to keep my cool until we found a good backdrop and I gave him the thumbs up. He pretended to tie his shoe and Jia was surprised and over the moon. You can see below - she said yes! These two met at Uni and have been together for 5 years.

Wow! What a special moment to be apart of. Thanks for letting me capture this beautiful day. I will treasure this forever!