Category Archives: Photography

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: Five Minutes Before He Disappeared

Meet Wicket, Thomas’ beetle that he grew from a meal worm for a school project. You can imagine my joy when they sent him home so we could continue his upbringing.

This photo was taken just before Thomas decided to let Wicket explore his toy castle.

How a black beetle disappeared so quickly in the space of five minutes left us all stumped. Despite a thorough search, it seems Wicket is now roaming free somewhere in our house. I wish him the best in new life and hope he doesn’t fall victim to the suction of the vacuum when the cleaners come tomorrow.

 

A shocking turn of events

My boy is about to commence his last two days of Pre-K. OK, so maybe I’m more shocked than anyone else, but I can’t believe that my baby is on the verge of beginning Kindergarten, which is called Prep where I come from. You see, in Australia, prep marks the beginning of elementary school (primary school) and I CAN STILL REMEMBER PRIMARY SCHOOL! (Thank you, Miss Fraser).

How did my child get so old? How did I get so old? Why is this happening to me?

Before I know it he’ll be six, and then seven…and then nineteen! It just doesn’t seem right.

And I am completely unprepared. Not only because I am in (a little) denial about the fact that my child is going to be an adult one day (too soon!), but also because his experience of school is going to be so completely removed from mine and I am going to be learning right along with him. I went to Primary school and High School. That was it. There was no middle school, no cafeteria lunches, no fraternities and sororities (ok, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself). My point is that it’s all foreign to me from here on out. I may as well be living in a different country (wait…).

So I have about three months to get used to the idea that I am soon to be the mother of a KINDERGARTNER. Rest assured, I’ll be taking lots of deep breaths and drinking a few glasses of wine to get used to the idea.

Oh, and here’s my photo entry for this week’s I heart faces challenge – bright and vivid. A photo of Thomas (my soon-to-be-kindergartner) taken on the last day of Samuel’s baby daycare before he moves into the pre-pre-K class.

June is really not a good time for mothers…

5 Things Friday: Street Photography

Welcome to my new Friday blog feature – a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks will be themed, while I anticipate others to be a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.

For my first 5 things Friday blog post I decided to post a few sources of inspiration under the topic of Street photography.I am so incredibly inspired by photographers who capture the world around them. I love the questions that street photography can evoke and that one simple image can tell an incredible story. Here are a few sites/blogs that I visit regularly for a little inspiration.

1. Vivian Maier
I’ve mentioned Vivian Maier on this blog before but she deserves an encore. Amazing historical collection of photos and a wonderful story about how they were discovered.

2. Shoot Tokyo
I came across this blog in my search for on-the-ground experiences following the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. Now it acts as a daily visit to one of my favorite places in the world.

3. The Frame from The Sacramento Bee
A daily download of photos from around the world – some posts highlight a specific topic while others share a series of photos taken on the same day from around the world. Bonus points for allowing their full feed to display in my RSS reader.

4. Urban Weeds
Love this ode to real-life style on the streets of Portland. Although I am far from a fashionista, I find people’s individual styles fascinating and love the pairing of close up headshots with the full body photos on this blog. (Bonus points for the fact that I can identify most of the locations). I am really looking forward to seeing more in the uniforms series – example of hipster letter carrier below.

5. Markus Hartel street photography blog
A new discovery for me. I just love the way he describes street photography on his About Me page “What is street photography? A reflection of every day life – real, unaltered impressions of public places, places that everybody visits every day, the street where you live, the parking lot of your favorite grocery store, the subway. Street photographers document the truth – take candid pictures of things that you don’t notice in your daily grind. Street photography involves attention to detail. The photographer pays attention to scenes, moments that you only recognize subconsciously. The camera is an unobtrusive extension of the eye in any given situation. Oftentimes, street photographers take pictures they feel; the photographer happens to be there and captures the mood in a fraction of a second. He freezes a moment that you will forget in the same amount of time…”

So, there you have it. Just a few of the thousands of street photography blogs out there, but a few that inspire me. I’m always looking for new inspiration so feel free to share your own favorite street photography blogs in the comments.

Just Hanging

This weekend was the first 80 plus degree day in Portland for over 7 months.

Let me give you a moment to think about that – 7 MONTH!

Can you even contemplate the pressure that puts on a person to have a great weekend and  to soak up every single second of sunshine and warmth?

I didn’t quite soak up every second but we got outside for the most part. Kei and Thomas went canoeing on Saturday morning and then headed to T-ball in the afternoon. Samuel and I spent the morning at the park with a “progressive snack” which is just like a progressive dinner except it involves snacks consumed in a variety of park locations that are chosen at a three-year-old’s whim. It took a long time to get from one end of the park to the other but we eventually made it to the playground before I took Samuel home for a nap.

After nap and T-ball, we rode our bikes to Mississippi Ave for some ice cream. The perfect pass time for, what turned out to be, a very warm spring day.

I didn’t take this photo on the weekend – it’s about a week old – but I think it summarizes my Saturday with Samuel perfectly – just hanging out.

It’s also my entry for the latest I heart faces challenge, “From a distance”.

Happy Monday!

A Sad Goodbye to a Wiggly Shirt

This is the story of one very much loved shirt/singlet/tanktop and it’s sad, sad demise.

You see a few years ago before our household developed obsessions with Star Wars, Fireman Sam, Yo Gabba Gabba and every other childhood pop culture phenomenon from a seemingly endless list, we were DEEP into the Wiggles. So deep in fact that I walked hundreds of precarious steps from the top of the Rose Garden Arena right down to the floor level while 6 months pregnant, just so we could see the Wiggles do their thing LIVE, right here in Portland.

And I encouraged this obsession for the following reasons:

  • The Wiggles are Australian
  • The music is not too annoying (sometimes even catchy)
  • They were one of the reasons I once heard my child say car with an Aussie accent (as in, Toot toot chugga chucca big red “CA”).
  • Grandparents in Australia = lots of access to Wiggles-related paraphernalia that we can’t buy here (and easy suggestions for birthday gifts)
  • The Wiggles are Australian.

Alas, the obsession came to an end at about the same time that Star Wars started taking over our lives (and our house).

But one little thing remained – an obnoxious little Wiggles tank top.

While I cursed the shirt’s existence every time I had to bribe my child to take it off so I could wash it, I admit that I appreciated this one small constant in the ever-changing world of toddler pop culture.

Of course there did come a time when, inevitably, Thomas outgrew the shirt and it was ceremoniously passed down to Curious George. He then enjoyed wearing it for a couple of years, including during at least one trip to Australia – a “coming home” of sorts for the shirt.

But then a couple of months ago the shirt began to show signs of impending retirement. First a small rip led to a bigger rip, and then this…

Even George couldn’t wear it any more. I thought Thomas would be devastated and, to be honest, he was a little sad when he realized that he would have to say goodbye, but after a couple of days I put the shirt aside and, like most things out of immediate sight for a five year old, it was quickly forgotten.

I held on to it for a while though, mostly because I wanted to take one last photo but, if I’m honest, it was partly because I was going to have a tougher time saying goodbye.

Last week I took a final photo and threw the shirt away (buried in the rubbish so a curious five year wouldn’t drag it out again). There were no tears, just a few small pangs of sadness from a mother who had to say goodbye to something more than just a shirt. (OK – I admit that was a little dramatic).

But now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure Samuel hasn’t yet seen every Wiggles episode that we have on DVD. I see a family movie night in our immediate future. I’ll have him saying “CA” in no time… “Beaudy Mates.”

Have a great weekend. I’ll be enjoying some sunshine and holding on to a little childhood.

Just Beacuse (Best Face of May)…

Because he’s featured so rarely here on the blog and this photo was a little buried in my last bog post and, well, this was my favorite face photo of the month.

Because I think it deserved another post for the I Heart Faces best face photo.

But really, who needs a reason?

Quite possibly the most fabulously perfect day off… ever!

A couple of weeks ago I took a day off just for me. It was nothing like the disastrous waste of a couple of days when I attempted to celebrate my birthday.

No, this one was illness free, perfectly planned and executed AND the sun came out in Portland. Perfect!

And I may have taken just a few photographs to document this practically perfect day…

My morning began at Peets, my favorite coffee place. A quiet, peaceful moment of alone time with my mocha was interrupted by a crazy man who decided to sit at my table. At first he tricked me by looking normal but then he started talking to me. Something about the Olson twins and a fire in the Chrysler building that lead, naturally, to a comment on  the dilemmas of a conjoined twin (one wants to move one way and one wants to go the other – what do they do?). After feigning interest for a while I managed to politely excuse myself and headed off to…

Powells!! Where I spent one full hour browsing photography books by myself . Bliss! And I only bought one book, as tempted as I was to walk away with about 10 pieces of fresh inspiration.

 

Next on the agenda was cashing in a gift certificate for a spa treatment that I was given nearly a year ago. Two wonderful hours of pampering with a foot rub and hot stone massage within, quite possibly, the most relaxing place in downtown Portland. When I left, my whole body felt like Jelly – which is a good thing…

Having finished my only appointment for the day I found myself with NO PLANS. And for a photographer, that means photo walk.

 

And then just when I thought my day was pretty perfect just the way it was, my husband called and suggested we meet for lunch.

I took a quick self portrait while I waited for him to arrive.

And tried to find the meaning in some public art.

Then Kei turned up and, after lunch, I took one of my favorite photos of him.

After saying goodbye to Kei, I decided to take the scenic route back to the Pearl (and my car) with a walk through the park blocks.

Blue Sky!!

A quick stop for some Frozen Yogurt which may become my summer addiction (if summer ever arrives, that is).

 

And more blue skies… I spent a lot of time looking up and soaking it all in.

Next up was a visit to Finnegan’s to pick up some birthday presents for my baby. I looked longingly at these dolls but walked away with this dragon instead – just one of the sacrifices for a mother with two boys. I also picked up some beginner colorforms and a harmonica, which turned out to be the biggest hit with both boys. Think I’ll have to go back and buy another one, if only for a little germ containment.

Finally, one more quick stop at Powell’s for a couple of children’s books, and my day was complete in more ways than one. As Mary Poppins would say, it was “Practically perfect in every way.”