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

Mondello

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 Another throwback to our Sicilian holidays for Christmas. We went to Mondello to take family photos. And photos we took. Well, I was taking photos. The others were playing with the ball, digging sand, walking along the sea, talking, having clothes malfunction and doing other fun things. I am convinced that the easiest way to photograph more than two children together is to pile them one on top of the other. Cause this way they cannot escape :-) As you can see, the family photo session was quite productive. The sunset also did not disappoint.
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100 moments of summer

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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...
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Splash

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It was the first official summer splash, starting with the innocent "I just want to try the water" and ending with full-body jump-dive. For some of us more used to warmer climates and seas, it was quite questionable pleasure. Still not to be denied. Rolling in the sand to warm up resulted in kilograms of sand stuck in all the clothes. The game was called cotoletta, for similarity of prepping method of the dish. Kids liked it. The sand we brought home.
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9 essential tips for taking great photos of your kids on the beach

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A lot of Sicilian summer is about the sea - it's a place to escape the heat, to relax and have fun on the beach with your kids, be it splashing, swimming, collecting shells or digging in the sand, reading or even napping! As parents, we often find ourselves reaching for our cameras or smartphones, eager to capture these moments and memories of the summer.  However, there are quite some challenges when it comes to getting beautiful photos on the beach - the biggest are strong sunlight, crowded space, kids moving all the time. During my 7+ years as a family photographer, I took hundreds of photos of clients and my own kids on the beaches in both Scotland and in Sicily. I've learnt and discovered a lot, what to do, and what not to do, to get beautiful kids' photos on the beach. Here are my top 9 tips and tricks, that will help you to elevate your beach snapshots to beautiful photographs. It's about essentials, nothing technical, and will work both for your phone and camera...
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Autumn and Christmas mini sessions - outdoor family photos in St Andrews

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Seasons greetings! Too early? Sorry :-) But, considering that mince pies are in the stores since the end of September, it does not seem so early anymore. Everything is twisted out of its normal flow this year. Some things remain the same - the beauty of autumn among them, and I am very glad for I love autumn. Traditionally, Autumn and Christmas mini sessions. I have a few remaining dates for the year and I'd love for us to get together and capture the beauty of your family. Not the buttoned-up and perfectly posed version with forced smiles. But the real, playful and beautifully messy picture of your family. It's fun for the kids, and adults too. The photo sessions are outside, you can choose between East Sands, West Sands, or Botanic Gardens and Lade Braes for beautiful fall colours. Details Offer available between 5-15th of November, outdoor location in St Andrews 30 min.+ shoot at an outdoor location in St Andrews  max 2 adults and 3 children private online gallery with 15+ i...
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Sand castles on East Sands

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First barefoot beach day (we do not really count those short runs on the sand in February, right :-) Really and seriously, with feet dipping and running on the water - this one is the first. First sand castle of the season. First sand fight of the season and first hand full of sand - this, and sand in the pockets, will stay with us well till November. And I truly do not mind, I love my barefoot beach days as much as these two. Matteo is building a bunker - tunnel covered with sticks and sea-weed, then with sand. Good camouflage, it was hardly different from the rest of the surface around the castle. He tested it after completing the construction - the structure resisted his weight and survived. One very proud engineer. We tried to build the moat too - it did not really work, water was too far. So it was abandoned after a short while. Maya was collecting small rocks and shells to decorate the walls and the big tower. They both carried big rocks to reinforce the wall...
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In the park

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An interesting playground equipment was discovered by our crew in Regent Park in London this summer. Everybody enjoyed a climb, everybody at their own pace, and height. And risk :-)
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7 reasons for having your family photoshoot outdoors

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Sometimes my kids pull out family albums, and I hear their happy chatter, remembering what happened in that photo, what kind of adventure they were having, who did the most silly thing - splashing each other in the sea, Maya putting sand on her brother's head, jumping on hay bales, having picnic on a hill watching sunset. I love hearing this, because I loved those moments. And as a family photographer, this is the kind of photos I want to take for you. Just imagine. Instead of dressing everyone nicely, driving to a studio and sitting still for 15-30 minutes while lights and reflectors are adjusted, posing is corrected and photos are taken, you are going outside to play, explore and have fun. You will share this experience as a family, and you will have natural and unique photos as a result. In all my years as a family photographer in Scotland and here in Sicily I've done dozens and dozens of shoots outdoors, parents and kids both love them, and here's why. 1. Photo sessions...
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