Meeting cousins often involves some drama. Over who shouts louder or jumps higher. Or goes first, or stops last, or decides what comes next, or argues with the decision. Lots of fun and lots of drama.
Once upon a time... This was a fairy tale story running in our house theater. And the prince was missing - what can we do without a prince? Who will be the hero, how should the story go? The villains we had, the beautiful princess too. The performance had to be saved, and puppet master had hard time. So - the princess went for a walk with a pirate, who left her in the middle of the jungle and she was nearly eaten by a tiger. The good monkey and elephant saved her, and they went to play together. The moral of the story? A good princess should not trust a pirate. And also monkey likes to be a hero sometimes :-)
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 ...
Today's post is slightly different. Today it is not about my photos - it is about other photographers who inspire me and whose work I love so much. It's so many things that I love about their photos - candid approach, finding beautiful moments in everyday routine, beautiful details, their work with colours and editing, the way they capture emotions and little expressions that tell so much about the character of their kids. Here are some of my favourites, and links to their Instagram accounts for more inspiration. Laura Elizabeth Wood Megan Loeks Megann Robinson
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.
These portraits were taken in November, but I did not get to post them here earlier. It happened to quite many of the photos I took end of last year actually, so better late than never :-)
This week-end we were discussing, what to do with my summer project, #100momentsofsummer . Calendar was rolling to inevitable end of August, while many of our summer adventures remained unpublished. We also bought a sun dress, stumbling upon it accidentally. And we thought, it cannot be over, if we are not ready. If we still feel like summer, with all its flowers, berries, bugs, fresh Scottish winds and sand between your toes. So we went for a walk, and made a crown. We crowned a queen and a king. Thus, the Queen of Summer declares it is not over, who cares about calendar. It goes on, at least till September equinox. The Forest King in his turn orders to go on with ice-creams, sand castles, barbecues, bike rides and all the boyish summer joys and shenanigans.
The Cathedral, our iconic ruin. Every time we walk by, Matteo wants to visit. It is like one of his playgrounds, along with the beach and the forest. There is plenty of space to explore, climb, jump and other shenanigans. This is a throwback to October when we had Grandpa visiting. I am sure he's got a really good closeup :-)
Always windy and always beautiful West Sands. Especially with moody dramatic sky as we had on this summer evening when we met for family photos with Carolanne and her kids. I suggest evening time for photo-sessions so that we have the best light - strong midday sunshine is not good for portraits. As always on nice days, there were some people around - walking dogs and jumping in the water and playing. West Sands is huge, so we easily have found a spot for ourselves. The family is moving away from St Andrews, so they wanted some nice professional photos to remember their time here, and West Sands is one of their favourite places. It was beautiful warm summer day - perfect combination. Outdoor family photo session is never about posing - it's about doing things you like in your favourite place. So many options and enough space or all of it - walking on the beach, collecting shells, playing in the shallow waves and splashing, playing with sand and making sand clou...