Helena Santi Photography & Videography

What is the real happiness?

I think everything in our life is dedicated to reaching happiness. I became a photographer because it makes me happy. I chose to live in Sydney because this city is filling me with tingling happiness. I chose my partner cause I feel happy around him.

But I can't stop but wonder what happiness is for other people. Some of them find themselves in pursuing a fascinating career, some of them – in hobbies, some – in traveling. But I have never seen that much happiness in anyone else than in Tanya, Stas, and Nika. Being together as a family lightened their faces with stunningly beautiful smiles, filled their hearts with kindness and joy and made them glow with tenderness.

To highlight this fascinating relationship we walked down the Gold Coast main beach making beautiful family portraits. Tanya, Stas, and Nika were playing in the sand, hugging, kissing, enjoying their time with each other.

This family photo shoot on Gold Coast will stay in my heart forever. I honestly feel so blessed that I was able to tell your story, guys. Everything about you is amazing, no joke! Thank you for letting me capture that!

The story of this incredible family is below.

A couple of words about how I LO-O-OVE multicultural Australia

One of my greatest pleasures as the photographer is to capture a great deal of different people, faces, emotions, ideas, occasions. I really enjoy the diversity, every shoot for me is an adventure!

That is why Australia - and Sydney in particular - is the best place for me to be right now. The country is full of people who come here from all around the globe. That is why I witness a whole scope of traditions, different ways of showing emotions, different families and different ways of thinking. Being a family photographer here, in Sydney – is all I could have asked for!

Anyway, I will stop yammering on about myself and get straight to the heroes of this insanely lovely family photo shoot in Sydney that I made recently. This Asian family was absolutely incredible – loving, honest, open and intimate. When I write intimate I mean that I literally felt how close they are to each other, how tender and attached. Their kids are kind-hearted, smiley and happy – as the whole family is.

Guys, thank you for going along with my ideas and prompt!

I need to finish this post by saying a massive thank you for allowing me to capture this amazing atmosphere and closeness of your family. You are the best!!

Ever wondered what drives your child’s behavior? makes them feel worried or excited, sad or happy? sure, there are a lot of possible reasons, but the main one that forms their core behavior is YOUR OWN BEHAVIOR. Exciting, isn't it?

I remember how I met Yuna and Vitaliy for the first time. Straight away you feel surrounded by the positive energy of this family. They are both calm, happy, enjoy spending time with each other and with their little one - baby Lia. She takes after them – calm and absolutely lovely. She stayed patient during the photo shoot, always smiling naturally and enjoying the process. Looking at her parents, I understand why she behaves like that. These kind of kids are very easy to work with.

We have worked with a lot of kids, all with their different characters - ones that are super shy, the ones that can't sit still for even one moment and so on. We have special treats and know how to make them laugh and look natural on camera - you can totally rely on us. But I would like to share some advice, based on my experience working with kids during photo shoots and attentively catching the pieces of wisdom from their parents.

Your reaction when the kid is acting up is a great parenting tool because no matter how strong the connection is between you and your child, they are learning from you – about relationship, emotions, reactions and how to be happy. So, the best way to prepare your child for a photo session is not to make a big deal about it. Treat it as a family fun day with games, dress-ups and sweets. Photographers are not just a strangers with a cameras, we are part of the fun program.

Honestly, we don't need your kids to be well behaved during the session, we need them to be themselves. Relaxed and enjoying the process. The same goes for you too.
Easier said than done, right? Most of people feel a little bit tense in front of the camera. You are not alone. For that reason we have the first 15 minutes of the photo shoot, so you can relax and be shy for all 15 minutes. And then..... time to shine! Or actually time to forget that there is a camera around and just enjoy yourself and your family.

Remember that even the camera can see if you are worried, and also your baby. So let's enjoy a family day photo session in Sydney. And I can guarantee your images will be exactly how you want them. Unique, candid, real.

I sincerely admire those moms who manage to spend fruitful time with their kids, work and look beautiful all at the same time. That must be the result of their strong and loving personality which overcomes all life difficulties and brings the most amazing results to their lives.

The stunningly beautiful woman that you see on these photos is one of them. Natalia managed to raise two smart, funny and handsome boys – Peter and Dominick – with whom I totally fell in love with during the photo shoot. They have opened and kind smiles, infectious laughter, they helped and supported each other, showed themselves as loving brothers and sons. I can't imagine this unbelievable wisdom of Natalia who helped her kids to develop the best sides of their characters.

My clients always inspire me. And I hope that one day I will be able to become one of such moms myself – to balance raising the kids, continue my work as a photographer in Sydney.

The location for this family photo shoot was Centennial Park. It is one of the greatest spots in Sydney for baby and family photography. If you feel like enjoying this place, we will be happy to suggest you inspiring photo ideas and organize a photo shoot for you and your family.

Every mom has been a girl and a daughter herself. That is why she understands her baby girl`s needs, wishes, the way she thinks and behaves. But understanding does not ensure the confidence in how to raise a kid to be assertive, well-rounded self even through the tricky years of being a teenager.

Recently we have made a photo shoot of a beautiful family with girls in three generations - Rosa, Natalia, Milana, Emilia. All four of them are incredible and absolutely charming. Inspired by these four great women I decided to share with you the pieces of advice that I gathered - through more than 10-years experience of photo shooting families - from admirable moms who have raised confident and happy girls themselves:

Encourage your kid to stand for herself and her opinion. If another kid is being mean to her she should know that she should express her position about that and do not swallow the offense. The best way to do that is by telling about that: “I don't like how you are talking to me”.

A lot of parents know how important it is to compliment a child. But not all of them understand that general compliments don't work. Instead of “You are smart” tell “You read this book really quickly!” or “Your memory is unbelievable!”. And please, make the praise real - notice her personal progress and improvements instead of comparing her with other kids. For example, “Wow, you are running faster than in previous month”.

Encourage responsibility and competence. If your daughter asks for help with chores or homework encourage her to work on it herself a little bit more. Inspire her to face the obstacles and move forward.

These are three great pieces of advice that would really help you to raise your daughter happy and confident.

We are family photographers in Sydney and would really enjoy making a great photo shoot for you and your family. The location where we shot these pictures is Centennial Park which highlights the natural beauty of Rosa, Natalia, Milana, Emilia. Gorgeous headpieces were created by Rosella Floral Designs. And all the dresses were handmade by Rosa.