A bit of sunshine

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 :-)

Piú letti

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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Photo a day - January and February

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Published on 3rd of March 2023 An update on my 'a photo a day project' has been long overdue, so here it is finally. It's covering January and some of February. Winter in Palermo finally came after New Year, the eternal August was finally over, and it was like, poof, suddenly cold and rainy and not anymore nice outside. No slow transition, no gradual change, it just happened almost overnight and then we could see snow from our terrace on the mountains around the city. Slow days, lots of reading, socks and sweaters, movies and hot chocolate, and getting out on the terrace to soak up the sun - this is how we spent the first weeks of the year. I had hard time to keep up with a photo a day project at first - the January blues and all, bad weather, bad light, short days and I think I photographed everything kids do at home so many times already! I missed some days, or took some photos and did not like them after all. There were new things too, Mara's changing fast, how she i...
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Roses, and other portraits

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This one is about portraits of Masha. I photographed a lot more on that day. And then I was not sure what to do with them. Cause when I look at them, something feels off. So much so that even those I liked felt tainted. Usually it is either about the person whose portrait is made. Or about the edit. Or about the mood. Or pose. Or expression. Or some trend which is fashionable now. Or the overall message. Or the photographer. It can be just one or all of these things, it does not matter. The picture does not touch you anymore. I learned my lesson here.
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Fine art motherhood photo sessions, and giveaway! - Family photographer in St Andrews

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I have something to celebrate this week. All women do - it's International Women's Day today, and Mother's Day on Sunday. For me it's also 1 year since I made this giant leap of faith, published my photography web-site and decided to give it a try and make my hobby of last 12 years into something more, and share it with the world. So I am doing something very special to celebrate. It's about bond between mother and her child. It's about love, holding hands and messy hugs. It's about laughing together, exploring together, being together. And remembering what it felt like to hold the small hand of your child in your hand, or to lift up your little one and hug and twirl and laugh together. Photograph is one of the few things that can capture this special connection and love. That can help us to remember it and treasure for many more years to come. This is what my fine art motherhood photo sessions are about. And one of them I'd like t...
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Fife Coastal Path

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Our first walk of the year. Stomping through the mud, and lots of it. Some of us did even manage a bit of mud sliding. The sea had this surreal turquoise color, along with grey moody sky it was beautiful. Lots of dry grass, sticks and bushes, thorns. We did not go down to the beaches, it was too muddy and slippery for it. Next time.
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Summer

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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.
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Forest

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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 :-)
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It begins to look a lot like Christmas!

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Published on 9th of December 2022     It does! We have our big tree up, a small tree that Mara keeps carrying back and forth, a cactus, and an advent calendar.  What does a cactus have to do with Christmas? Once upon a time we had a big cactus. At Christmas time, Matteo has decided that the cactus also deserves some Christmas cheer and decorated it with some small toys. Since then there always was a Christmas cactus in Pagano family. Then it was time to move, the cactus found a new home. And in our new home in Palermo, Pagano family has got a new cactus. It was small, but it was loved well and grew big during the summer, and got its own share of Christmas cheer! This post is going to be quite different from the rest. I wanted to have something festive also on my blog, but I've just started taking photos, so not much to post yet. I've decided that this post will grow and I'll be adding things and little stories as I am adding new photos, and I will wrap up by Christmas. ...
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More Blooms!

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My free photo collection of flowers has been updated with 15 new photos I took during past weeks. Some I missed - like the gorgeous blue hyacinths in my own garden. Daffodils remain a mystery, no matter how many times I photograph them, I am not happy with results. Hope you will find your favourites here - and let me know if you'd like a particular bloom or colour, I'll do my best to add them to this collection. They can be used in any way you'd like. A screensaver on the pho ne, a wallpaper on computer screen or cover for your facebook profile are just some of the possibilities. They can also be printed if you'd like. The photos with 's' in the title are compressed for facebook or phone. The ones without 's' are for computer screen or printing. You can find them here .
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