From there to here, from here to there, Funny things are everywhere
Well hallo winter, you’re a bit late this year aren’t you? Came back with a vengeance though, didn’t you? Snow, several hours of freezing rain and then a flash freeze? What a delightful Monday.
I nearly froze my aperture off taking photos in the park on my lunch hour. Ah well, at least it’s pretty.
*whimper*
Is it spring yet?
Wow! 2014 was an amazingly photogenic year. I could easily post 50 favourite photos just from our trip to Prince Edward Island alone (yes, I know, I’m on about PEI again – I never really stop thinking about it!) or 50 favourite photos of fun family adventures with the boys. I probably even have 50 photos of Bella and Willie, and 2014 was my most successful year with Mothership Photography, so I’m sure I have 50 favourite portrait session photos I could post.
I’ll restrain myself, though. Some of these are dear to me because of the moment they captured, or the memory they evoke, or even the fact that I look at them and think to myself, “wow, I made that?” Every single one of them, though, makes me smile. They’re in no particular order.
Happy sigh. Thank you to everyone who was a part of this year, whether that was letting me get you in my viewfinder or letting me interrupt whatever it was we were supposed to be doing so I could take a photograph or letting me share my treasures with you. It’s been a beautiful year, and I cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store!
Happy new year!
I took so many photos over the last few days, and I’ve barely edited any of them – and clearly I’ve shared almost none of them. I decided a while ago that Christmas photos are more for documentary purposes than fine art or even sharing. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when I gave myself permission to simply enjoy Christmas without trying to turn every moment into a perfect piece of art.
Having said all that, when the presents are all open and the kids are playing with their new booty and we’ve entered that zen period of calm late Christmas morning, it’s a perfect time to try to capture a last little bit of Christmas magic. I was trying to get a nice defocused shot of the shapes of the Christmas tree lights when a curious pup stuck her head into my frame. And I remembered – hey, Christmas day is Bella’s birthday, too.
Happy 2nd birthday Bella! Let’s hope this is the year you learn just a wee bit more impulse control. (But we love you anyway!)
Oops, I’m a day late. We were too busy having a low-key, wonderful family Christmas for me to be playing on the computer.
But, I hope it’s not too late to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas season, and a new year filled with magic and joy.
Merry Christmas, with love from DaniGirl, Beloved and the boys!
When your best friend asks you to collaborate on a family portrait project to celebrate her extended, blended family, of course you say yes. And when she has an idea that is equal parts silly, fun and hilarious and perfectly exemplifies a family that prides itself on chaos, humour and love, you know you have to make it work. A little 1970s retro pop culture reference is just the icing on the cake!
And then, you have a little fun.
Pro tip: When you’ve been friends for 30+ years, you cannot make faces like this in front of a camera and not expect them to end up on the Internet.
And if your photographer friend has a truly evil streak, she’ll go one step further and turn them into one of these:
Merry Christmas to my best friends in the whole world. I love you guys and I’m always happy to be a part of your crazy. 🙂
And *this* is what makes my endless curation of family moments worth while.
Christmas 2014:
Christmas 2013:
Christmas 2012:
Christmas 2011:
Christmas 2010 (our first in Manotick and our first with a natural tree):
Christmas 2009 (in the midst of my first Project 365):
It looks like I didn’t take any photos while we decorated the tree in 2006, 2007 or 2008, but I did a genuine little “awwwwww!” of delight when I found this one hiding in the archives on Flickr.
Christmas 2005 – Tristan is three and Simon not quite two.
Oh my goodness, that seems like yesterday — and a million years ago!
Also? Apparently I love to take photos of the back of Lucas’s head!
I don’t know what it is about the light at the Thomas Tree Farm near North Gower, but I always love the portraits I take of the boys there. I can’t believe we resisted getting a natural tree for so many years – getting the tree has turned into one of our favourite family traditions.
Winter portraits are lovely, and now that the crazy autumn season is over, I’ve got lots of free time (well, relatively speaking!) in my schedule. If you’d like to consider an outdoor winter family portrait session, let me know!
Yesterday was so crazy jam-packed with stuff that we didn’t have time to decorate. I’m pretty sure there may be a photo or two of that today. 🙂
This might be one of my favourite Christmas photos of the boys ever. My friend Henry on Flickr gave this one an alternate title that I also really like: we’re going to need a bigger wagon!
Fun, right? The expression on the reindeer slays me. That’s a Donder face if there ever was one.
This one almost went sideways on me right from the start. The idea was to have Bella pulling the wagon, and I was going to put some reindeer antlers on her in the style of Max the dog from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Except as I was getting the boys settled on the wagon, she managed to find a pile of poop in the front yard and roll in it. We don’t actually allow her to poop in the front yard, so I have some other neighbourhood dog to thank for that gift. And we were quickly losing the light, so we had to improvise.
This was the original shot:
I loved the expressions on their faces. The dog was a bit blurred though, and even with a few other poses to choose from, it just wasn’t working out to be what I imaged. The boys had been good sports and adorable, though, so I wanted to make it work.
I started by cloning Bella and Beloved out of the image and editing it for exposure and white balance. I found the perfect reindeer, but he was too big for the canvas, so I extended the edges of it upwards and to the right. I positioned the reindeer and tweaked him a bit so it looked like he was standing in the grass. He was already wearing the red harness, so I took Bella’s leather leash from one of the other poses I hadn’t used and painted it to match the harness, then stretched it to fit into Lucas’s hand. And I painted a bit of a shadow for the reindeer. I had to play a bit with the colour and contrast of the reindeer to look like he was actually standing in the same light as the boys, and then I tweaked it a bit more overall for the bright and contrasty look.
What do you think? It makes me chuckle when I look at it, which makes it a win in my books!
This was originally just a throwaway photo I snapped of Bella while I was getting my camera ready for something else, but I love how it captured the intensity her personality.
She looks at us like that all the time, as if she is hanging on our every word. She may drive me bananas with her shrill barking and the number of FitBits she has destroyed, but it’s impossible not to love a creature who wants nothing more than to understand and obey your every word.
Last week I blogged about the Youth of Manotick spaghetti dinner fundraiser, so I thought it would be fun to share some of the images from the event last night.
I have to admit, I was nervous going in. I’d agreed to take some photos, but had some concerns. For one, I’m much more comfortable taking portraits than event photos. For another, Legion halls are not known for their camera-friendly lighting. I needn’t have worried – the event was a wonderful success. The kids were terrific, the dinner was yummy, the turnout was so great that extra tables were set up on the fly and I think some people got turned away at the door. The challenging lighting was mostly compensated for with a little bit of bounced flash, everyone seemed to have a great time and lots of great photo opportunities were captured. See?
I was super proud of the kids last night, and charmed by how special guest Mayor Jim Watson did not act like a special guest at all as he interacted with all the young people in the room. I’m glad to live in a community that has a heart like this. 🙂