Category Archives: Photography

GLOW – FEBRUARY 19TH, 2009

The weather warmed up just enough for us to take a rare nighttime walk after dinner. It was a tease – we have a sprinkling of snow again this week.

I used the opportunity to experiment with the camera.

MUSICAL – FEBRUARY 17TH, 2009

There is nothing cuter than a baby who loves to dance. We enjoyed it so much with Thomas and now I am excited to share that Samuel also loves to groove. We don’t often have music playing in our house – well not recorded music. In fact we don’t even have a CD player. We use the DVD player/TV and occasionally Kei’s ipod with some tiny computer speakers.

What we do have is a daddy who enjoys playing the guitar, a mummy who likes to sing her boys to sleep and a leap frog music toy that is now enjoying a revival. Seriously one of the best toys we ever bought.

Creative Ventures

I have been feeling very creative lately when it comes to scrapping. I seriously think it’s all about Jen Wilson’s challenges. They just inspire me to write my feelings down on paper, even though I’ve been more focused on photography more than ever.

And speaking of photography – did I mention I have my first paid photo gig this coming Saturday? Eeeck! I’m taking photos of my friend’s family but I am still incredibly nervous. I just hope the Portland weather is kind to me. Of course I will give her a full refund if it doesn’t work out, but I’m really hoping I get at least 20 good photos. She has two adorable children – they’re nearly the same age as my kids, both boys and part Asian. I really couldn’t ask for a more comfortable setting for my first shoot but the paid part of it adds some pressure.

Back to the scrapping. Here are some of my latest pages. Click on images for a closer view and credits.


This is my absolute favourite.


And a girly one for fun

THE CHEESE FACE – FEBRUARY 4TH 2009

The cheese face is back. And here begins the problem with photographing toddlers – wanting something candid and fun, but getting something forced and, in this case, as trade for a little TV watching. As soon as Thomas realizes how important it is to me to take his photo, I will be in trouble. I anticipate a lot of bribes and promises in my future.

BEETS, NOT BEATS – JANUARY 31ST 2009

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No, he hasn’t been in a bar fight. This is what happens when we feed Samuel Beets (or Beetroot as they call them in Australia). They’re really not a baby-friendly food. The clean up is horrendous.

The upside? We can actually see where the food goes. With the amount this kid eats, it’s almost comforting to know it doesn’t all end up in his mouth.

TESTING – JANUARY 30TH 2009

I’m still practicing the manual mode on my camera and it’s very frustrating. There’s quite a learning curve and I haven’t yet experienced that click that people talk about when they just get it.

So this was one of a bunch of bad photos but for some reason it speaks to me. I like that Kei is the central point of the photo and I like the stairs in the foreground. The only thing I hate is the 6 or 7 photos I missed because I didn’t have the camera on the right settings. But I hear it’s all about practice…

SPRING IN THE AIR – JANUARY 29TH 2009

We’ve been experiencing just a teeny tiny little bit of Spring over the past couple of weeks and I am loving it. I don’t know what it is about a little bit of sunshine that makes me feel so invigorated. Almost like I want to spring clean the house – almost.

Speaking of weather, have to feel for my poor family back in Australia who are suffering through an incredibly hot summer. 10 days over 40 degrees (104F) and even a day of 45 (114F).

PIRATES – JANUARY 25TH 2009

I’m not sure when Pirates became such an important part of our lives. This is the very favourite Christmas gift from Christmas 2008.

And now that Samuel is mobile, it doubles as a baby magnet.

MORE SNOW – JANUARY 24TH 2009

Another couple of inches of snow, but thankfully this time it only lasted a few hours before it melted. Now that’s the type of snow I can handle – enough to take some fun photos and not too much that it becomes an enormous pain.

Thomas guided us through the park with the help of his treasure map.

Kei was getting some things done around the house so I carried Samuel in the backpack. Check out those laugh lines. It’s a sign of deep wisdom, not mid thirties.

The backpack freed up my hands to take more photos – including this one of a teeny tiny bit of spring. It gives me hope that warm weather is on the way.

Of course this gets me right back where we started – winter.

And then I played around with reflections in water – something I was inspired to do after my photography class. Did you know that water reflections are two stops darker that the actual light source? No, me either. I have to refer to my notes to remember exactly what that means.

And this one’s my favourite.