Here is a small part of our photographic adventures with my daughter. One could think there are just so many ways to photograph the same face - yet, every time something new appears.
Villa Giulia is a park in historic center of Palermo. It has its origins in 18th century and is remarkable for its perfect square shape with diagonal alleys dividing the park in different sections. Marble statues and fountains, a sundial, shady alleys and open spaces, and wide variety of trees and shrubbery make it a popular spot both with locals and tourists. If you'd like your family photos to have lush green background with a touch of special Sicilian atmosphere, this park definitely should be considered. It ticks all the boxes - plenty of space, nice surroundings, easy access, lots of options for things to do during your photo shoot to get natural and emotional images (anyway we don't do posed photos on the benches or next to flowering shrubs!). Here are my top 3 reasons why villa Giulia is a great location for family photo sessions. Reason 1 Lots of space and diversity. The park has an alley with Ficus trees, a little bamboo forest, a hill with cacti and succulen...
Farewell spring! Our photography adventure for spring, the 20 stories, has come to its end as well. Here's what our 20 stories were about. We made walks - to the Botanical Gardens, Lade Braes and East Sands beach . We baked cakes . Produced art in paintings and sculpture . Played with lego , dinosaurs , rabbits and all the stripy creatures . Tidied up the garden and tried on the summer dresses . We made music and theater . Read books and made picnics . Did gymnastics and ran races , with real medals to win. We also had lazy mornings and healthy naps . Some stories did not work, some just did not happen. Some are being postponed. Some just happened to be random snapshots - hence the mosaics above. It was interesting. Definitely creative and differently creative. Mostly enjoyable, sometimes frustrating (who's to blame for closed eyes, full memory card, not running fast enough or squinting against the sun :-) So, the summer photo challenge is on - 100 mo...
Preparation As both parents are history lovers and always try to visit and explore historic places when travelling, St Andrews Cathedral seemed to be an obvious location choice, followed by a quick trip to East Sands beach and the pier, so that we had more diversity in the scenery. We spoke on the phone to sort out all the details to plan the session so that it's also enjoyable for them and manageable with their little baby girl. I was a bit worried to have an outdoor photo session in winter with such a young baby (she was about 2 months old when we did the photos), but she did so well! She liked our time on the beach much more than the Cathedral ruins, probably because we walked more there and she could sleep cuddled in her mommy's or daddy's arms. The weather's been a gift too, we had a lovely warm day which did not feel like winter at all and beautiful golden sunlight. The photoshoot We started with a little walk around the Cathedral ruins, followed by a short nursin...
This project has been brewing since a while. We even wanted to write down the ideas, cause Matteo had more of them than fingers on one hand :-) Finally the combination of sunset, being at the right location at the right time, plus the mood was all in place. So yeah, the force is strong with this one. We were rewarded with golden light and pretty sky. The playground nearby destroyed our plans for more silhouette photos. So more might come, if Matteo wants to implement his ideas. For now, this is what we have, plus lots of pretty sky, and sea, and golden cowlick :-)
Our first walk of the year. Stomping through the mud, and lots of it. Some of us did even manage a bit of mud sliding. The sea had this surreal turquoise color, along with grey moody sky it was beautiful. Lots of dry grass, sticks and bushes, thorns. We did not go down to the beaches, it was too muddy and slippery for it. Next time.
I realized that it is my first post in 2016. With holidays, travels, settling back, school and all the daily routine there was no time, or no energy, or not enough coffee (and never enough excuses :-) I am reconsidering my photo editing process, which is part of the reason too why I've been reluctant to process the whole sessions I was photographing, and post them. Once they are posted, it is done and I am still not happy and still searching for some little something to improve my editing. On the other hand, till something is out - it is like not yet finished and blocks me from doing something new. Instagram is easier in this regard, as it goes one photo at a time. I am posting more regularly there - @yuliapagano , should you be curious :-) Some sunset races and football, taken during a walk to the beach shortly after we came back home. Matteo became a fan of silhouette photos, so we might produce more :-)
I have a secret. It is about magic, so do not tell anybody! It is a very magical trick! We got this idea with Matteo to fill a hat with autumn leaves and play around. This is what we've got :-)