River

Last pieces of summer to go.
It was rolling slowly under the hot summer sun, serene and calm, surrounded by green meadows and endless blue sky.

The walk to the small river beach, refreshing coolness of water, the heat, the infecting lazy summer mood - it's all there.

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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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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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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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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A new beginning

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It's spring, everything is coming back to life. It's time of new beginnings. So it will be also a new beginning for this blog. I will be posting my favourites from my customers' sessions, and also some of my personal work. So you can get a better idea what a family, or baby, or newborn session with me would be like. And our families will appreciate me posting more pictures of our children too, win-win! 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, Fife , and around.
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Frozen

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This blog is on hold now. I stopped liking the format of photo stories which I have posted here, and did not come up with anything else. I also started using Instagram and Facebook to share my work, and just repeating things did not seem right. Please check my Instagram for my personal work featuring my three children. And my Facebook photography page , which is a mix between personal and clients' work.
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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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A bit of portraits, and a bit of personal

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I've been exploring fine art portraiture. I am glad I have a model who can be made easily available. Or convinced. Or bribed. With frappuccino in Starbucks, for all that matters.  I have more portraits, still unedited, and something stops me there. The perks of being perfectionist and trying to fix something that you cannot even grasp, you just feel that its wrong or not yet ready. This is part of my creative journey. And I want to leave these words here, that I read recently and they struck a cord. "Very little grows on jagged rock. Be ground. Be crumbled. So wildflowers will come up where you are. You have been stony for too many years. Surrender". There is a lesson here that I am still learning, the light I am still searching. 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 D...
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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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