EXPRESSIONS

..... of the facial kind.

 I had to laugh the other day when a friend commented on my daughters very intense expression.

 We have known each other since our kids were together in first grade

and I wondered how she had missed seeing it before.

 It made me think about it though

 and how I always got that comment when I was spotted in my car driving....

except I get told I look angry.

 So I made a concerted effort to relax my facial muscles so as not to send the wrong signals.

 So here we are with life repeating itself,

except reminding her to relax only makes the frown deeper.....

and in anycase on her I find it interesting.

 It happens when she is miles away in her own thoughts

 and I wish I could tune in.

 Or maybe

 I should be careful what I wish for...

after all she is a teenager!

 

And then she registers my camera

 but only her lips change instantly to tell me to go away:)

Her full thoughts haven't returned to the present yet.

 

 

 

I love the mood of this next pic,

to me it shows the relaxed,

 hazy day we had on fathers day,

 with just a suggestion of hubby with his hands in his pockets

 pretending to stare at the ocean

 but actually listening to

 the conversation of

 his girls and

 having his mind slightly curdled.

DAY OF SUNSHINE

 

 I keep on having to look at these just to prove the sunshine wasn't just

 a figment of our winter weary minds.

Sunshine, warm wonderful sunshine....

 My heart skipped a beat and my hand got camera itch for the first time in weeks.

 Even Miss J couldn't wait to soak up some sun fun

 so we headed up the road to the cherry

 blossoms where we mostly played

 and squished our toes through grass and mud.

 Eventually I was allowed

 to capture a few sweet

moments...

x

 

 The best part of the afternoon for Miss J though was when she made

 a new friend with a girl and her horse,

 happily riding through the orchards till the sun set.

 Needless to say her heart went to sleep happy but

 her mind also kicked into scheming gear

 on how to convince us to buy her

 a horse of her own and

 keep it in our backyard!

 "But mum, I just HAVE to have a horse. I feel it deep in my HEART!"

 And I know she does......

SIBLINGS

I couldn't have asked for more photogenic children to photograph.

 They were so relaxed in front of the camera and up for everything, even sitting in slushy

 mud and wet long grass.

 Thanks guys for a fun afternoon and for being such great sports!!

 On a side note my cameras high ISO capability is now worth its weight in gold.

 Melbourne autumn/winter sun starts setting at 5:00pm and light runs out quickly after 4:00pm so my after school sessions have had to be very quick.

 If winter continues this way, earlier weekend sessions

 might be my only option.

 The photos from this session moved from ISO 500 to ISO 6400 in the space of an hour!



 



Mr J is a budding photographer and already has a very creative eye

and is so tech savvy for such a young age.

 We had some very interesting chats about photography!

Miss M is just herself in front of the lens, just the way I like it.

 Look at her beautiful naturalness!

This is one of my favourites from the session.

 It's unposed,

 just a moment

caught when she spotted the berries.

 I adore

 the colours and

 her

 gentle hand.

 

 

 

 

 

She had brought her umbrella along because of the weather

 but instead of rain,

 we got a stream of sunlight when the clouds parted.

Her favourite thing to do was to chew on sweet,

short stalks of grass.

 

 



Another favourite of mine. The colours are gorgeous and I love how the branches frame her.

Thanks again guys.

 I'll see you again in the summertime:)

♥

FRIENDSHIP

"There are lives I can imagine without children but none of them have the same

laughter & noise."

~StoryPeople 

And then you get those photos that don't work on a technical level but are full of spontaneous fun and laughter...





And then you get moments like these, where their unique individual beauty and gentleness shines so clearly through the most simple of shots.

HIGH ISO

It seems odd to talk about the relationship I have with a particularly weighty lens of mine,

 but it led to a very pleasant discovery.

 It's a good lens, an excellent lens, and I dislike it intensely.

 I should love it, I was hoping to love it, and it was because I was trying to love it again

 that I rediscovered my love for my camera.

 Because this lens is so heavy and because it was darkly overcast,

 to ward off camera shake

I had to set my ISO to 2500!...

.I really was expecting

 to have noise issues with these images,

 after all my previous camera threw in the

 towel at ISO 400,

 but see for yourself.

 Very little noise/grain right?

So two thumbs up for my Canon 5DMark II

and a special thanks to my 24-70L...may I grow in strength to hold you steady!