Forest

Back from holidays. There was a city, a forest, a river, and a sea. There were friends and family we did not see for a while. Sun, sand, waves, mosquitoes, barbeques, ice-creams. Shorts, sandals and dresses. 
And some 16 gig of photos to sort through :-)

Piú letti

Autumn in St Andrews - family photos

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 Autumn is solidly settling in, with its gorgeous colours, cosy blankets and sweaters, rains, and this special something in the air. At home, we watch more movies, bake more pies, walk on the leaves and listen to their crunchy-crunch under our boots, and I want to soak in all these colours around us - I love autumn! It can be risky to have a photo session this time of the year, the weather becomes so unpredictable. But it's well worth the risk, because the light in autumn is often golden and magical, and you have all these gorgeous colours around you. I can be more flexible with my schedule so we can work around the sunshine. Favourite spots around St Andrews for autumn family photos. Of course Lade Braes and Botanic Gardens - if you want all these gorgeous colours and nature details! Outdoor walks in autumn are so much fin, kids up to their knees in the leaves, or hunting for autumn treasures together, making piles of leaves for jumping, weaving crowns, hide and seek - you name it...
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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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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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Peter Pan, catch your shadow

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The shadow we've got, in a girly way with a wee bit of pink :-) The sun, sitting low in Scottish sky, invites for all sorts of shadow plays. We already had this , and this a while back. And will have some more probably, with a new twist.
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Her. And my personal photo challenge for 2017.

This was our special photo project for 2017, hers and mine. We were supposed to do a portrait a week. It was interesting, useful and a challenge in more than one way. Some weeks we did more, than we had weeks of doing nothing. Sometimes we both were excited, later we both hated it -  each of us for different reasons. Yet we are proud with results. Here are my favourites, and some of them I am getting printed. Quite large :-) Photographs are copyright of Julia Pagano Photography. Julia Pagano specializes in candid natural light photography of babies, toddlers and families, as well as children portraiture in St Andrews and Fife, as well as Dundee.
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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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A bit of sunshine

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Let's blame Instagram for this one. I was invited to participate to a photo challenge dedicated to the theme of sun flare on one of the communities I follow there. Parallel to it I was trying to bribe, torture, blackmail etc everybody and anybody (read Maya and Masha :-) to do something with the light shining on their back, so that I could experiment with shooting counter light. So it kind of came together. It is an experiment. I am still not quite sure I like it. We'll see at the end of the year, if I include these pics in the photobook. Or what happens with the Instagram challenge :-) And here's my Instagram , that is to blame :-)
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Visiting St Andrews

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Published on 27th of September 2022       The final weeks of school holidays we spent in Scotland - summer break is very long in Sicily, kids go back to school around mid-September. It was great to escape from the heat and mosquitoes, see our friends in St Andrews and visit all our favourite places. West Sands, East Sands, Tentsmuir, Botanic Gardens, Coastal path, Lade Braes, and of course Carnie fruit farm!  We came with quite a bucket list of things we wanted to do during our time in St Andrews, and we planned some of our walks and outings so that we were back by the time school is over and they could see their friends at Canongate. This was one of the downsides, different school schedules and limited time they could be with their school friends, so we tried to squeeze in as many play dates as possible. I think being back showed just how much has changed for us in this year - new country, big city, new language, new schools for everyone, different climate, differe...
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St Andrews by the front door photo project

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I'm starting a little project. It's about us as a community and how we go through this new and uncertain time. We cannot get together with family and friends, but we are together in this as a community. Going through the same feelings and emotions, trying to figure out how to live this new normal, how to make sure everyone is safe and sane. It's a rough time, but there is also so much goodness happening. The idea is to document families by their front door, through a window or in their yard. Reading, talking, playing with bubbles or making chalk drawings by your front door. Just being together at home. I'll spend 5-10 min at each home, using my long lens to be sure there's plenty of distance, and we'll be communicating with our phones. I am not making a charge for these photos. Instead, I am asking that, if you can afford it, please make a donation to North East Fife Community Hub and Cafe , a local St Andrews charity supporting vulnerable people in our c...
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