Category Archives: Lyrebird Images

This P365 is a Hodge Podge

Thomas in the bath. He’s always had very long lashes and he inherited them from me. His father can claim the hair, eyes, nose, skin tone and…well.. everything else. I’m clinging to the eyelashes.

This was inspired by a photo I saw on another blog. I just love the red against the white tile. Of course our house is currently being overrun by dinosaurs so it wasn’t difficult to find a subject to photograph. The hard part was deciding between the triceratops , the anchylosaur or the brontosaurus. I love that Samuel calls them simply “Suarus”.

I just love it when little girls wear fairy princess dresses for no other reason than that they want to be fairy princesses for the evening. This one was also wearing her brand new ballet shoes.

I won an award – Not quite an oscar or a Golden Globe, but nearly as prestigious. This was a Jenny Sizzler Golden Facebook award. A couple of my friends play in a band and we take the kids along to see them once a month at a local pizza place. It’s very family friendly and a great night out – especially since it starts at 6pm and includes an easy dinner. On Friday night the band handed out their inaugural Facebook awards for, I guess, people who spend way too much time on Facebook. I guess that’s why I won third place. It’s a small honor, but I am definitely worthy.

We went to the Portland Japanese gardens today – our first visit in about five years. I forgot how calm and serene it is (apart from the children calling Mummy and Daddy every two seconds – oh wait, they were my children). Every time I see a garden like this, it inspires me to grow bonsai and rake rocks. If only it weren’t so high maintenance…

More Japanese garden photos coming soon. I may use them for my Mosaic Monday post this week.

I just realized how many of my photos in this post were in a vertical format. Very unusual for me, but it shows me that I should tilt the camera more often.

Back To Nature – Portland, OR, Family Photographer

I feel like this photoshoot was a lifetime ago, when it was really only last month. The Christmas and New Year holidays seemed to have put me in some sort of time vortex where a week feels like a year.

Way back in December, I ventured out on one very cold, but very sunny, Portland day to meet up with a wonderful family to take some photos in one of their favourite places. One of the best things about the city I live in is the number of wonderful parks right in the middle of the city and inner suburbs. The park we visited for this shoot was new to me and I will definitely be going back for a visit with my family – although I may wait until the weather is a little warmer.

Another first for me was the opportunity to photograph a family with older children. It was challenging in the beginning, but once we all warmed up they had a great time running through the forest and having leaf races in the creek.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

I guess we know who won the leaf race.

Bye Bye 2009

Kei and I are seeing in the new year with a glass of wine, a DVD and a child who refuses to go to sleep. How’s your party?

I am not a big fan of resolutions. I prefer achievable goals and here are a few that I am aiming for in 2010:

  • Project 365 – embarking on my photo a day project again. I gave it up early in 2009 and I really miss it.
  • Learning more about my camera and overcoming my fear of using flash. Suggestions for courses or workshops in the Portland/Seattle area are welcome.
  • Building my photography business while also continuing to evolve my day job into something that supports my creativity. I love the way Lyrebird Images is taking off and I hope it grows even more in 2009.
  • Getting my US Citizenship. Of course I’ll still be an Aussie. I’m just trying to add one more passport to our complicated travel experience.
  • Finish painting the inside of our house – 18 months after we finished the renovation.

There are others of course but they would fall under the title of resolution so I’m scared to put them in print.

2009 was good to us but I am looking forward to 2010. For now though, as Samuel would say, “Bye Bye 2009”.

Sweet Dreams

My latest photo challenge entry for the I ♥ Faces photo blog.

This week’s challenge is Sweet Dreams

Although I do have to mention that there were not many sweet dreams in this house last night. Samuel is sick and woke up almost every hour. I am sick and took some medication, which made getting up with Samuel difficult – although Kei definitely pulled his weight there. Thomas apparently had a bad dream and so ended up in our bed (ALWAYS my side) at 4am. He slept soundly for a little while and then began kicking and wriggling so I walked him back to his own bed after about an hour.

So I suppose this weeks photo challenge was chosen to torture me and remind me of a time when people actually did sleep around here… 🙂

Pretty in Pink – Portland, OR Family Photographer

Regular readers of this blog will know about how much I covet the color pink. In a house full of boys, I am surrounded by blue and red and brown – no pink.

So when I had the opportunity to photograph our good friends who seem to be single-handedly keeping the female population alive, I was secretly hoping for just a little splash of the good stuff. This is what I got…

Heavenly.

We started the shoot indoors where I managed to get a few photos before a four year old ran out of patience and we decided to take it outside.

After we got there, though, she turned into the perfect little model.

And look at this adorable face.

We headed to the park for a little fun. Late November photo shoots in Portland are risky to say the least. Thankfully we found an hour between rain showers – and even some dry swings.

And then some time for a few family portraits.

And finally this cute moment between two sisters.

Thanks for the pink fix friends. I think I’m good for another couple of months.

And…More Balloons

My latest photo challenge entry for the I ♥ Faces photo blog.

This week’s challenge is balloons and..well…you know how I feel about balloons. I had no shortage of pics to choose from thanks to a recent birthday party. Samuel shares my obsession with balloons. These kept him occupied for a full 30 minutes.

A Glimpse Of My Future

This was such a fun photoshoot – a glimpse of my life in about 4 years. Two boys about three years apart in age with two very different personalities.

We started at the park and lucked out with the weather. Lots of beautiful light to be found.

I made them stand up and switch seats a few times which made for some fun family portraits.

And captured a few photos of the parents while they weren’t looking.

Then on the walk to my new favourite photo location (you’ll recognize it) I caught some of my favourite photos from the day.

I need more of my clients to move close to gelato shops with fabulous plastic yellow couches.

And then apparently I just couldn’t stop taking pictures.

Can you blame me?

The Person Who Invented Infused Sake is a Genius

I have always loved to sing. I was in a few musicals in High School and I loved it – but it was clear that it was never going to a career. I was destined to be in the chorus so the dream didn’t follow me to university.

I think my voice is OK. In fact I have full confidence in it when I sing lullabies to my children at night. And by lullabies, I mean whatever mellow song I can remember the words to – Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds…

And the I moved to Japan for a year and suddenly I became a pretty good singer in a sea of people who loved to sing regardless of their level of talent. There is no such thing as false modesty (or even real modesty) when you are with a group of Japanese people in a Karaoke bar. EVERYONE is expected to sing and everyone marvels at your singing ability. There’s nothing better to boost your confidence level.

That was about 12 years ago. It’s been a long time between Karaoke sessions, but the truth is that I didn’t leave it my love for Karaoke in Japan. I have carried it with me for 12 years – that desire to get in front of a group of friends and belt out classic songs from the 80s.

And then a couple of weeks ago my friend Leeann requested a Karaoke night for her birthday. It may as well have been MY birthday present.

It started off well with my signature Karaoke song, but I’m pretty sure it went downhill from there. Although, admittedly, it was difficult to make an informed judgement after the 4th jalapeno-infused sake.

Two things I was reminded of during the evening:

  • You are really not as good a singer as you think you are, and
  • Karaoke is FUN (especially when you’re drinking jalapeno-infused sake)

Oh, and one more thing. A great evening of Karaoke ends with a very grand finale.

A Quick One

I have been so busy lately that this blog has been a little neglected. So here’s a quick photo so I can say that I blogged today.

I actually really like this photo taken at Thomas’ birthday party. I love how everyone is doing their own thing but the kids are the center of the universe (aren’t they always?).