October sunset



The sun sits low on the sky, creating gorgeous long shadows. Which I like. A lot.



So here we are on a warm October evening. Playing rock-paper-scissors, carrying around first golden leaves, stumbling but still running in the sun patches, and having some serious sister-brother conversations.

Piú letti

Botanical Garden

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I was not planning to photograph today. I've counted yesterday, there are 16 sessions I have to edit. But it was a lovely sunny day, which was a major point because I've started recently experimenting with direction of light in my photos, and I need sun for it. So I was looking for a nice place where I could take some pictures and have sun behind the children. We ended up in Botanical Garden after school. The good point, I found this place. The bad point, we were too late, the sun was behind the trees already. Another bad point, these children run away and always in different directions, and never listen, and I had nothing to bribe them with (Matteo at least :-). Another bad point, the battery in the camera was dying. So all the major disaster factors present and accounted for :-) And then I come home and upload the photos and whoa. I am the only one who knows how dirty her knees are on the picture at the top :-)
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Beach fun photo session in St Andrews

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Beach Fun Mini sessions - for all the lovers of dancing on the beach and jumping in the waves, flying kites and climbing rocks and playing with sand! Let's have some beach fun and create beautiful unposed photos of your family or your little ones! Maximum 5 slots available in the evenings between 3-6 of July. St Andrews, East Sands or West Sands. 30 min shot, min 15 photos to choose from, 3 digital images with print rights or 10 printed photos. Photo-session cost - £100, option to upgrade. Please get in touch for more details, and to book.
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Tentsmuir forest

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We do not roam the woods oft enough. We like beaches, true - all year around. We live 10 min walk away from one. Still it's not an excuse enough to ignore the woods, something to work on. We finally made it to Tentsmuir on a crisp October day. We roamed the dunes, ended up on the beach (again :-), and made our way back to the trees. It was full of autumn smells, yellow leaves, mushrooms, golden trees and the quiet.   It was full of tree climbing, treasure hunting, stick collecting and stick walking, mushroom watching, path running, log walking and all the fun.  To be continued - for I made too many nice photos to squeeze in one post :-)
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Family portraits on West Sands, St Andrews

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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...
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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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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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