Spring


More sun, but still cold wind. First bulbs under bright sun rays, running noses, occasional flu and random snow drops, both flowery and icy kinds. The spring is moving on, there is no stopping it.

I am starting a personal spring photo adventure, 20 stories of spring. About adventures, mess, favourite and not only pastime of Pagano household, and of course about spring.

Piú letti

Socks special

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What to say. They always fly around, these baby socks. Yet they can never be found when they are needed. They are played with, eaten, hidden... and sometimes worn too.
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3 reasons to have your family photos in Villa Giulia park

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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...
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First spring story - discovery

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Discovery it was, of spring at its very beginning. New bright colours appearing in the midst of still brown forest, and smells, trees and young leaves to touch. And run, run and feel the wind and sun in your face. Still cold, but undeniably brighter and well, springier :-).
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Garden project

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This project has been planned, postponed, amended - and finally implemented. Lots of serious work - weeding, cleaning some winter leftover mess, planting new flowers, as well as rake dancing and broom-guitar playing.
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Beach fun / Family photographer in St-Andrews

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Beach is fun all year around. And we had the cutest little explorer. We went to Maiden rock beach for this family session, just a short walk from East Sands. And we had lots of rocks to explore, shells to collect and sand to play, and driftwood tree to climb. This girl and her flyaway hair!  Here are some more of my favourites from this session. Her face says it all, it was a good fun!   Photographs are copyright of Julia Pagano Photography. Julia Pagano specializes in candid natural light photography of babies, toddlers, children and families, as well as children portraiture in St Andrews and Fife, as well as Dundee.
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Tentsmuir forest, continued

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This is second part of our adventures in Tentsmuir fores t. I do not have much to say, I loved it and pictures tell it all much better than words :-) I thought that I've included about half of the photos in the first post. How wrong I was! This one is interesting, because it shows the face Masha makes, when she does not want to be photographed. This time I did it though. With Grandpa. This boy, making faces and running away. Then coming back :-) This girl, with messy bun. She is a modern version of Little Red Riding Hood, in red converse instead of the hat. It was good. We should come back.
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5 fun games for natural family photos on the beach / family photo shoot on West Sands

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I'm often asked, what do we do during our photo shoot, and what do we need to bring with us?  The answer to the first one is - do you have a favourite activity, or something you usually do when outside? No worries if not, or if every walk is a new adventure (our family walks are often like this, so I understand!).  Here's a list of 5 simple activities and games for the beach that kids love (and adults too!), and that result in great natural photos. We did most of it during this family photo session on West Sands with little Noah and his baby brother. Most of these activities don't require any additional toys or equipment, which is great if you plan to walk and move around, and don't feel like dragging with you bags of toys and stuff. The few things I always have for a walk on the beach, and suggest to my clients are water, wipes and change of clothes. Treasure hunting Shells, rocks and sea glass are the obvious choice for this. Can also be funny-looking seaweed, sticks ...
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Clothes, colours, choices / Family photographer in St Andrews

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Clothes are.. .well, clothes. They are a daily necessity, they reflect our personality. And clothes are crucial for the photos to turn out great - imagine the two children above wearing say stripy leggins and pink Peppa Pig dress and orange skirt with pink polka dot shorts. Won't be exactly the same, right? I've put together some tips and ideas here to make it easier for you to decide on your wardrobe for the photo session. Choose colours that you like looking at, because they will remain on the photos for a long time. Pick up to 4 main colours which coordinate. Everybody should not wear same colours, but the colours should look good together. Colours should not be bright - it is distracting in the photos, we want the focus to be you and your beautiful smiles! Try to pick clothes which are smart and look classic, again because the photos will make a memory for a long time. Avoid too many patterns, big patterns, characters and printed logos on t-shi...
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Botanical Gardens. Boys' style

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A walk in Botanical Gardens of St Andrews with a little boy. Forget about appreciating creative landscape design, enjoying alpine terraces and the pond, admiring cacti collection and finding all the spring flowers. This is about run, hide, find something interesting, invent games and more run. Some good finds. What can we do with them? A boat? I am a bit skeptical here. Nope, did not swim the right way. Some major engineering work to do. For some other story :-)
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