Pieces of our summer / Children photographer in St Andrews




Long walks, strawberries and home-made ice lollies, long days and late dinners.
Pieces of our summer.

This blog is going on holidays for a couple of weeks. See you on the beach!


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.

Piú letti

Family photos in Tentsmuir forest

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Beautiful summer evening in Tentsmuir forest. This family wanted their photos in a green space, not on the beach, so Tentsmuir seemed to be the best option. It is one of my favourite spots around St Andrews and offers a wonderful mix of scenery - forest, dunes and the beach. Plus, plenty of space to run, things to do and explore for two active boys. And this is what we did on a warm summer evening a few weeks ago.  I love to capture families in their element, talking and having fun together, without posing or direction. This was easy to achieve here, as our photo session was about a walk in the forest, with a variety of activities captured - balancing on logs and climbing trees, stick and pinecones fight, piggyback rides, races and who has the biggest stick competitions. Of course, some cuddles, tickles and stories were thrown in the mix, and flowers the youngest boy has found for his mom and put in her hair. The result was a collection of beautiful, natural, at times funny, emotio...
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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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Photo a day - March

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Published on 11th of April 2023   Smell of hyacinths, rain drops on the window, slow lazy mornings basking in spring sunshine outside on the terrace - me with coffee, Mara with watering can which she often turns into a puddle on the floor. Tiny purple bursts of crocuses I planted as bulbs in the pot with an olive tree. Blankets, seasonal bugs, messy curls I am still learning how to tame. Picking last oranges in grandma's garden, finishing her sweater - she was very good with tangling the yarn, multiple times. Rare week-end trips - because, the weather, or the bugs - and missing it dearly, cabin fever is the thing here. These are snippets of March. One place we did manage to visit during these rare week-end outdoor moments, is Bosco dell'amicizia on Monte Pellegrino. We discovered it by accident, it's just a turn from the regular path up to the sanctuary. It's an easy trip as Monte Pellegrinno is close to our home, so in just 15 minutes you have fresh air and nature arou...
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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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Spring photo sessions in St Andrews

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The days are longer, the sun shines brighter and the bluebells are dancing in the wind! Spring, blooms and bluebells mini photo sessions. Timeless and artistic photographs of your family and kids surrounded by spring beauty - something special that will fill your heart with joy. St Andrews, 11th and 12th of May Limited time slots available, message me for more info & to book. Useful - how to select outfits for family photos
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Botanical Gardens. Boys' style

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A walk in Botanical Gardens of St Andrews with a little boy. Forget about appreciating creative landscape design, enjoying alpine terraces and the pond, admiring cacti collection and finding all the spring flowers. This is about run, hide, find something interesting, invent games and more run. Some good finds. What can we do with them? A boat? I am a bit skeptical here. Nope, did not swim the right way. Some major engineering work to do. For some other story :-)
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Reading club

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This is our reading club. Not all members could attend, so the reading plan was adjusted accordingly. Meet the members - as you see, interest, and taste in a good book is encouraged from very young.
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What to wear for family photos (2023, spring and summer)

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Outfits guide and tips   Clothes are.. .well, clothes. They are a daily necessity, they reflect our personality. And clothes are crucial for the photos to turn out great - imagine the two children above wearing say stripy leggings and pink Peppa Pig sweatshirt and green dress with pineapple and banana print. Won't be exactly the same, right? So where do we start when dressing your kids or your whole family for a photo shoot? If you are looking for ideas and inspiration, you've come to the right place! We need clothes which are timeless and classic, because these photos will make a memory for a long time. Let’s start with some simple yes and no. No: Bright neon colors Sport t-shirts and leggings Uncomfortable, stiff clothes that you or your kids cannot comfortably move in Clothes with characters and large printed logos (sorry favourite Frozen dress!) Big bold patterns (floral, stripes etc) Everyone wearing same thing (like jeans and white tshirts) Yes: Muted natural earthy c...
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Photo a day - April

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Published on 12th of May 2023     April has been about enjoying our terrace and sunshine, and week-end trips to explore new places. We made a trip along the coast to visit Aspra, St Elia and some beaches along the way and ended up in Capo Zafferano and its old lighthouse, with picnic and dipping our feet into the nice and fresh sea. It's a great place to visit, just a short walk too, with option to stop on the beach - lido del Carabiniere, which we did. I don't have any lighthouse photos to show, due to damaged fence we had to keep extra close eye on Mara. The lighthouse is no longer operational, but all the buildings are there and in quite decent state, except missing windows and doors - it has an interesting vibe. It has great views too, all blue of sky and sea. I loved it, and it would make a great photo shoot location for a family with older kids! Another one to visit thermal springs, where we found a field of wildflowers. Of that I do have a photo, with Mara sceptically ...
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Outdoor family photos in St Andrews

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This photo-session was about getting some natural and relaxed family photos, portraits of the girls, and some memories of St Andrews. So we went for a short walk around town, and ended up on East Sands where most fun happened. Baby Alex just wanted to be left free and crawl around. And eat sand. She was happily observing rocks and shells we found for her and did not mind some play time with daddy. But mostly she wanted to be free and explore - so we let her, and got beautiful smiles back. Big sister Rowan wanted to run around, play hide and seek, make surprise hugs and be tickled by daddy. So it all worked out really well for what we had in mind. Here are few more from this photo-session. Like what I do? Get in touch, let's chat about photos of your family! Get in touch!
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