Monthly Archives: May 2010

Motherhood

This week’s I ♥ Faces photo blog challenge is all about celebrating motherhood. So of course I went back through my photos to find one of me with the kids and, sadly, there weren’t many to choose from. Ok, there were a few, but I didn’t like the way I looked in them. It’s tragic that when I look at a photo of me with the kids, I find it so hard to get past the “me” part. It’s the curse of the photographer – never wanting to be in front of the camera.

So I am determined to take more pics of myself – with the kids, with my husband and by myself. I bought a remote for my camera a while ago and I have barely used it. Consider this my wake up call.

Thankfully I did find one photo that I love. It’s not perfect by any means, but I love how it shows the fun part of being a mother. I so often get bogged down by the frustrations and the arguments and the terrible two’s (which we are knee-deep in by the way), that I forget how much fun we have together.

An Ode to Uncle Jono: Monday Mosaic

Yes, I am still going through photos from Australia. I took so many that it feels as though I need to post ten for each day that we were there (don’t worry, I won’t). Of course I HAD to post more than one as my ode to Uncle Jono. I was so grateful for the short time that my brother was able to spend with us at my parent’s house so that my boys could really get to know (and by “know”, I mean endlessly climb on) their uncle. It’s photos like these that make me sad to be living so far away, but thankful that my children have such a wonderful extended family.

Happy Mothers’ Day

I just returned home after spending an evening with a few of my fabulous friends, who also happen to be fabulous mothers. On this Mothers’ Day eve, it seems fitting that we spent our time discussing the constant juggle of our family lives, our work live and ourselves. I feel truly blessed to know so many wonderful women who make it look easy to everyone else, but who work so hard every day to find that elusive balance between calm and insanity.

I leave you with a couple of recent photos that remind me why I work so hard to try and be the best mother I can be.

And of course the man who obviously supplied about 75% of the genes, and who helps me stay sane on those days when it all seems so hard.

2 Years in 4 Minutes

Kei has been studying a variety of film classes for a couple of years now. It’s related to his job, but sometimes the results of his class assignments have a personal benefit.

Check out his latest editing class project below for a look back at the first two years of Thomas. Home videos would lose their bad reputation if they were all made like this.

P.S. Now Kei’s on the hook to make a Samuel version – if he can find enough footage of course. Video of the second child is harder to find.

Outside: P365

A few more photos of my favourite photos from Aus. This is one of my favourites because it so clearly represents how we spent a great deal of our first couple of weeks while we were there – watching the sun dip below the horizon as we sipped wine and watched the children wrestle each other to the ground. The final week was a whirlwind of wedding prep and not quite as relaxing, and this photo doesn’t show the mosquitos that left us scratching our legs for the next few days, but I think it tells a story. A true vacation shot.

By way of introduction, that’s my new sister-in-law Emma looking at the camera. My brother Ben (Emma’s husband) is standing behind her and that’s Danny, one of the best men, standing off to the left and smoking a pipe. Yes, a pipe.

I am primarily a portrait photographer but I like to work on my landscape photography in the hope that I might one day be able to catch the sort of image that I want to hang on my wall (or someone else’s. One can dream). Australia provided me with numerous landscapes to practice my skills. Of course now I have the desire to invest thousands of dollars in prime wide-angle lenses… It’s a side effect of this little obsession.

Taken by the side of the road as the men changed a flat tyre. The sky really is that blue.

Rays from behind the clouds on Easter eve.

A very calm St. Kilda Beach.

One last sunset.

There HAD To Be A Kangaroo: More Aussie P365

Now you know I couldn’t possibly post all of my Aussie photos without at least one picture of a Kangaroo. Once again we found ourselves at a small farm near my parent’s house where we could feed the rabbits and guinea pigs, collect a few still-warm eggs from the chickens and throw some bread at a couple of emus.

Sadly the kangaroo population has dropped somewhat since our first visit and this little guy was the only one who came to see us when we shook the can of food. Well, him and a few extremely-aggressive deer. I was afraid to pull put the camera without a fence to protect me, although we were able to get behind the fence and pet the animals.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, we had a great time and definitely had our fix of animals. A few of the Australian variety…

and some of your general, run-of-the-mill farm animals…

It was a fun day for my city kids, even if Samuel was a little traumatized by the experience of being surrounded by animals that towered above him, one of which stole a can of food right out of his hand.

Thankfully he’s young enough that he’ll recover and I’m sure we’ll visit the farm again on our next trip to Australia. It’s become something of a tradition, although admittedly a very smelly and dirty one. Yes, I’m a city girl too.

The Moon

I took this photo of the full moon shining on the lake during our Aussie visit. Yes, the moon, not the sun. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a moon that big or that bright and I am surprised that it translated so well through the camera lens. I didn’t have a tripod so I sat on the ground, resting my elbows on my legs to try and hold the camera steady. The result was a lot less blurry than I feared and almost as beautiful as the real thing.

35.

Thirty-five. No longer in my early thirties. A whole new survey check box. (35-39? Check.) Past the prime fertility age, but not quite in the Oprah-sanctioned “confident forties”. Right where I thought I would be in some areas of my life (family), not quite there in others (um, would like to be paid more).

Older? Definitely

Wiser? Maybe…

Happier? Most days.

Excited to see what’s next? No doubt.

Easter A Few Weeks Late: Mosaic Monday

Thomas was relieved to hear that the Easter Bunny would find us all the way across the other side of the world in Australia. Until he thought about it a little and  worried that E.B. might not make it to The States in time to deliver eggs to his friends. Of course the Easter Bunny has the same magical powers as Santa Claus, so when he understood this he was comforted enough that he could relax and enjoy the feeling that comes with the promise of chocolate.

On Easter morning, the boys woke up to dusty bunny footprints peppered around the kitchen and living room. The Easter bunny was kind enough to leave a chocolate wombat for each of the boys in a basket, but they were expected to work for the rest of the booty by searching for eggs around the house.

After a quick chocolate breakfast, It was Mummy and Auntie Emma’s turn to hide some eggs in the backyard. Thomas showed his competitive side by running around and grabbing as many as possible while Samuel had to be encouraged. I’m not sure he was fully aware of what lay inside the shiny foil wrappers.

It was so wonderful that my children were able to experience an Aussie Easter, complete with sunny skies (although I remember rainy camping trips at Easter in my childhood – must be the drought), chocolate Aussie animals (instead of bunnies) and, most of all, their Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle.

Side Note: I am aware that Easter was over and done about a month ago. It’s just taking me that long to get caught up on the photos I took during our vacation. And don’t get me started on my mother’s pleas to see the pictures I took of my brother’s wedding. They’re coming soon, I promise. It’s just that with work and pre-school and daycare and Kei’s school and everything that goes in to making sure my children are fed and clothed and in a (reasonably) clean house, I haven’t had time to sit and edit photos. Or even take many, for that matter. Yes, my P365 project has skipped a few days but I figure that, with the thousands of pics I took in Australia, I am more than making up for it.