The family that plays together….
Category: Photo of the Day
Photo of the day: Tiger kitty
This beauty is a neighbourhood cat that has loosely adopted friends of ours. She’s easily the most interesting-looking cat I’ve ever seen and I love that you can see her quirky personality in this photo.
We think she’s a bengal cat, which is a pretty fancy breed. Regardless, she’s a beautiful girl, isn’t she?
My favourite photos of 2015
The end of the year is the perfect time to look back and see both what I did well, and what I could have done better, with my camera. Here’s a collection of the photos I most love from all parts of the year: the photos I took to tell a story, the photos I took for business, the photos I took simply to entertain myself. Some of them I love because of the moment they evoke, some because I nailed them from a technical perspective, and some just because when I look at them I can’t help but smile.
In loosely chronological order, my favourite photos of 2015:
I have an inkling that 2016 will be a great year of growth and learning for me, from a photographic perspective. I’ve got new tools, I’m registered for a spring workshop, and the idea of picking up my camera to chase an adventure or idea still makes my heart sing.
Here’s to finding wonder and telling stories and sharing new perspectives in 2016!
Photo of the day: Lucas’ lego
I‘ve fallen badly out of the habit of posting photos, and I haven’t been much better about taking them. Time to get back on track. Hello 2016!
Happy New Year, friends and family. π
Photo(s) of the day: Christmas parades and tree hunting
For weeks, I’d kept an eye on the forecast, hoping for just a wee crust of snow to be on the ground for this weekend. Alas, with sunshine and temperatures well above zero, there was not a flake in sight (heh, except maybe the one behind the camera) as we launched our family Christmas season in the traditional way.
First, the annual Santa Claus parade in Manotick. You can never have too much sunshine for a parade!
Can I just take a moment to say that there is a special place in my heart for people walking in parades who make the effort to ensure that even the tallest, gangliest and peach-fuzzed kids get a piece or two of Christmas candy along the parade route? I was touched by the number of people who offered candy canes and other treats to all three boys, even though one is now as tall as me. He may be big, but he still loves Christmas AND candy. π
And then, lack of snow be damned, we took a lovely autumnal walk through our favourite Christmas tree farm. This year, the saw was handed down to the middlest boy for the first time. It’s the first year we’ve had to worry about mud instead of snow on the ground, but the tree is as lovely as ever.
Jackets unzipped, or carried casually in hands, and nobody thought to bring gloves to protect our hands from sticky sap and picky needles instead of frostnip, but we managed to get by without the snow.
And though I didn’t catch it here, Lucas even took a turn carrying the tree this year. My boys, they’re growing up fast!
Did you catch the reindeer in the background? Shockingly, nobody seemed to notice him lounging in the forest when we were getting our tree. He only became obvious when I was processing the photos. Oh the magic of Christmas!! (I’m sort of like a toddler who learns a new trick and then must repeat it ad nauseum. I promise, I’ll get it out of my system in time for spring 2016’s porch portrait season! Probably.)
Turns out we didn’t really need that snow after all. I’m happy enough if it holds off until December 20 or so, now. You can take plenty of lovely Christmas photos even without a snowy backdrop, and a magical reindeer or two. π
Photos of the day: Reindeers and Christmas Jedi
How do you torture a photographer? Send her two exquisitely cute families for Christmas portraits on the porch, and then make her choose just ONE for the photo of the day. I seriously couldn’t do it!
First, these two dropped by. Little Miss was a little bit shy, and a lot three years old. Sometimes, that can be a disasterous combination, but in just a few minutes I had her warmed up like a fuzzy pair of favourite mittens. You can’t see from this photo, but these children have the most beautiful eyes. Hers are brown and soulful, and her brother’s are the most intriguing green and hazel.
It just so happens that the mom has the most spectacularly pretty eyes I’ve seen since my own mom’s eyes. π
And then, through a most excellent coincidence of timing (also known as the Magic of Photoshop), this wandering reindeer happened to appear just in time for a cameo!
As if that weren’t enough cuteness for the day, I then had the pleasure of working playing with this trio who first appeared on the porch back in my first year of business. They are cuter than ever in their festive finery!
The thing I love about repeat clients is that they know me well enough to know I’m pretty easy going, and no idea is too silly to try at least once. This is how we ended up with another reindeer cameo! (You’ll see this is a considerable refinement of my first attempt at this set-up from last year!)
I got a last-minute email just before this session from their mom, who also happens to be a long-time reader of the blog. “Is it okay if we bring our Jedi robes?” How is that even a question? Of COURSE it’s okay if you bring your Jedi robes. And this happened.
Most! Fun! Christmas! Photo! Day! Ever!!
Photos of the day: Lucas’s baptism
You know how it is when you let something slide, and then you r-e-a-l-l-y let it slide, and then it’s too late and you’re embarrassed about how horribly you’ve let it slide and you’re past the point of redemption, so you lie awake agonizing about it but can’t bring yourself to do anything about it during daylight hours, so suddenly seven years have gone by and you STILL haven’t had your seven year old baptized? Yeah, that.
Once I finally (finally!) confronted my shame and talked to the church, I found them wonderful and welcoming, and not once did anyone scold me for letting Lucas reach the age of seven un-baptized. In fact, the only thing even remotely like castigation was the priest gently patting my cheek and saying, “come back to Church, child” when I confessed to him at our school’s summer picnic.
Since Lucas will be receiving the sacraments of baptism, reconciliation and first communion this year, and Simon will be receiving the sacrament of confirmation, we’ve been going to church a lot this year. You know what has really surprised me? How much I’ve grown to like it. I find attending mass with the boys a time of peace and calm in the week. I like the singing, and the time to reflect, and the sense of community.
Lucas’s baptism was a delightfully low-key and yet spiritual. The people I love most in the world were there, and there were several other families who also missed getting their kids baptized as infants. (Had I only known, I would have agonized a lot less!) And Lucas so loved the idea that he was dressed and ready for church before half the family was up, and took special care to wash his face and comb his hair so he’d be clean for Jesus.
Both our parish priest and my friends and family are quirky and have a healthy sense of humour, and the day was the perfect mix of community, sacred, and joyfulness. There were selfies with his godparents:
But there were also more solemn moments.
And do you know how you’ve chosen the two most perfect people in the universe to be your third child’s godparents? When they gift him with, I kid you not, a Minecraft version of the bible, old and new testament.
In a way, I feel like maybe we were meant to wait, so this lovely day could unfold as it did, because I really can’t think of a more perfect way to celebrate Lucas and our family’s fledgling reacquaintance with the church. Huh, who would have guessed it? π
Photo of the day: Family in the leaves
When this family mentioned they had a beautiful carpet of yellow leaves in their backyard, I wanted to make sure I included them in at least some of the portraits. I love this time of year! The leaves were a gorgeous golden yellow that served as a lovely backdrop for a truly adorable family.
It took a little while to get the girls to warm up to me, but I think in the end I won them over. They both have the most exquisite blue eyes and porcelain doll skin, and they were sweet with just the perfect hint of sass. You can see it in this photo, can’t you?
I never would have guessed that such a big part of getting good photos is getting to know the people you are photographing, and what a delightful part of the job it is. π
Photo of the day: Cousins in a tree!
We had a great time today out at the Lime Kiln Trail with not one, not two, not three but four parts of an extended family for portraits – seventeen people in all. We were all a little worried about the weather, but with a little flexibility, a little luck and a lot of good humour, we managed to squeeze our portrait session into the very best part of the day.
Nine kids between the ages of three and 13? No problem when there is a most excellent climbing tree nearby!
I hope your day was even half as much fun as mine was! π
Watson’s Mill reflected, and a history lesson
There’s been a lot of coverage in the media this week of 24 Sussex Drive, the Prime Minister’s official residence. Did you know that the history of 24 Sussex Drive is linked directly with Watson’s Mill here in Manotick?
The mill was built in 1860 by partners Moss Kent Dickinson and Joseph Currier. Shortly after it was built, Joseph Currier met his second bride-to-be, Anne Crosby, in Lake George, New York. She had never been to Manotick, and after their January 1861 wedding and month-long honeymoon, he brought her home to celebrate the MillΓ’β¬β’s first year of operation. The very day she arrived, tragedy struck: as she was ascending the stairs to the second floor of the mill, her long, hooped crinoline got caught one of the turbines powered by the river, and she was flung against a support post and killed instantly. They say her spirit still haunts the mill.
Currier never set foot in the Mill nor Manotick again. He went on to become a Member of Parliament, and eight years later married his third wife, the granddaughter of Philemon Wright. He commissioned a house be built for her as a wedding gift, and called it Gorffwysfa, Welsh for Γ’β¬Εplace of rest.Γ’β¬Β The address? 24 Sussex Drive.