My son's eye

I have never taken an image like this before, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. My son and I were having a cuddle and I noticed how long his lashes actually are, so I had to get a picture of them. I was only able to reach my phone, so it came out a bit grainy. That doesn't matter to me though because I love how you can see his eye and the length of his eyelashes clearly. This is my favourite picture of him so far. Please feel free to leave any comments.

An Interesting View

The above images are just a few of my favourite photos that I took on a trip earlier in the year.

Luckily, for the first image, we were on a road in the middle of nowhere, which allowed me lots of time to adjust for lighting. I was happy with the result I got as it allows you to see through the tunnel as well as some of the detail within it.  

Beauty and Make-up

As well as loving photography, I also enjoy make-up and trying out lots of different looks and discovering new and interesting ways to photograph it. As well as being a stay-at-home mum and  an aspiring photographer, I am also a Nutrimetics consultant. I love testing out new products and finding the best way to photograph them, to show how good they are.

Below is just two examples of some photography I did show casing some nail art, foundation powder and other various products. 

I like to try and crop them in interesting ways and focusing different aspects in each photo. As always please feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have.

Some of my favourites

These are two of my favourites photos I have taken of my son recently. The first one was when we went to the city where he loved looking at the fountain. I love this photo especially because of the way the water looks. I think they look about bit like diamonds cascading down a river.

I also love the photo below of my son playing in the dirt. I love how when I take my photos I can capture the moment at hand. This moment, where my son was showing me his hand, only lasted for a moment, but since I was there, and ready. I was able to capture it. I love that you can see the detail of his hand and that his eyes stand out even though his face was not in focus. I think it makes for a more interesting photo.

As always I would love to hear feedback if you would like to leave it, and please let me know if your child has a party coming up or similar and you would like me to take photos for you, so you are able to enjoy the time yourself.

Flowers

I love to photograph nature. I love how I am able to capture its simplicity, and complexity and how it is always changing and can brighten your day. These are just a few images of some flowers I have taken recently that I really like. As always please feel free to leave your comments :)

The Grandis

Recently I went on a holiday to Forster. While I was there, my family and I decided to go on a walk. In  a holiday activity book we found that we could go on a short walk to see 'The Grandis - The tallest tree in NSW'. We thought this would be an interesting thing to see, so off we set. We had my two and a half year old with us so we weren't counting on spending a very long time there.

Unfortunately, our plans changed rather quickly. We had not been there before, so we were not familiar with the roads and were just using our GPS to take us there. We followed the first road for a short while, only to be met with a road block. This resulted in us having to find a different way to get there. Well, long story short, we did eventually find the Grandis! 45 minutes and about 100kms later (all with my two and a half year old in the back seat), but I think it was worth it.

At the end of the photo above you can see the trunk of the tree. It was enormous! I am so glad that we got the opportunity to go and see it.

We were able to see 'The Grandis' from a few different views. Being so large you get a wonderful look of it coming into view as you walk up the walkway. Then you can also see it from different sides as you walk around it. It is just a bit unfortunate that I could not find a place to photograph it without it being obstructed by leaves and branches from other trees. I even tried to find a good place to photograph it by lying down on the boardwalk. I had to do this so as I would be able to get the top of the tree in the photo.

The Beauty of nature - Welcome to 2015

One of my favorite subjects to photograph, besides my family and friends, is nature. I love its beauty. I was so happy to be able to find the beauty of nature, so close, and right outside my door.

These are some flowers that were on my balcony. I love the bright colour of them. They just look stunning.

There were also alot of spiders and webs clinging onto the trees and bushes nearby. Although I am scared of spiders, I love that I was able to capture this image showing the intricacy of the web.

Hopefully this year I will be able to take many more interesting images of nature. What is your favorite thing to photograph in nature? Or what images of nature do you enjoy this best?

Farm Animal Fun

I love to be able to give my son different experiences. A short while ago we went to Golden Ridge Animal Farm in Dural. He loved seeing lots of different animals, feeding them and running off ahead of me as he went off to investigate.

All of the animals we saw were very interested in us. They came over to the fences and tried to get as close to us as they could.We were able to give them some food and they were all very eager to have their share.

There were some animals that were not in paddocks as well. It was lovely to see this and be able to walk around with them.

As well as capturing images of lots of different animals, I also loved to capture close-ups of some of their details that are usually over-looked.

A walk in the rain

Although it had rained in the morning, when the rain stopped I decided to go for a walk to see if I could get any more photos. I went for a walk to the nearby park and was able to catch a few nice shots near the river. 

The above photo of the ducks near the river is my favourite from the day. I love how I was able to catch a photo of the group of ducks spread out near the river. I especially like the duck in the foreground. Unfortunately I was unable to catch him front on, but i like how you can see the colours in his feathers in this picture.

A Rainy Day

Yesterday it was raining... but I decided that this was not going to stop me from taking some more photos. I took quite a few lovely images of trees and flowers that i could see out my windows. I like the way they look it the rain. The colours are more vibrant and the leaves appear to shimmer with the water running over them. My son also loved to be out on our balcony, running up and down as the rain came down.

  

Thomas Play

Before I begin this blog, for those of you who have been wondering what the last two photographs were of, at the end of my previous blog 'A visit to Elizabeth Farm' here are the answers... The first photo was of a door bell. You would pull out the centre button and the bell could be heard in the different rooms throughout the house.  The second photo was of a water purifier. The water would collect in the top and drip down through the stone and get collected in the bowl underneath. Did you guess them correctly?

Today I decided to share some pictures of my son playing. As I'm sure, just like many other little boys, my son LOVES Thomas the tank engine! He plays with his trains everyday and I love to capture his play and see his expressions.

A visit to Elizabeth Farm

A few weeks ago I went to Elizabeth Farm in Rosehill with my son. I love to try and go to different locations to get a variety of images. I especially loved the history and the large gardens they have there that are filled with many beautiful flowers and trees.

The small green plant on the left was actually growing off a larger tree, it looked so interesting because it looks like was growing on the ground.

There were so many beautiful plants and trees that were all intriguing, so I tried to get some pictures from different angles. The photograph below is of some cactus. I took the image this way so I could show the length of the spikes.

There was also a small 'forest' of giant bamboo in the gardens and my son loved to venture in, but only a little way. I think maybe they were a little bit too big for him!

I took these next two pictures at Elizabeth Farm too and thought I would ask you what you thought they might be. I will let you know what they are in my next blog :) 

Play time in the yard

My son, like many other toddlers, loves to play outside. He enjoys getting dirty and taking his little bucket, and filling it up with all of the little treasures he finds in the backyard. I love to watch him as he runs around finding things he thinks are special to place in his bucket for safe keeping.  

When I'm taking photos, I love to take them from different angles and to get a different perspective of the situation. To me, this makes for more interesting photos. It also allows you to see the world from a different point of view, for example a bird's eye view, looking down from above, or a child's view, by getting down to their eye level to see what they see.

In this next image, I love how the foreground and background aren't entirely in focus, so as all your attention is focused on Riley and what he is doing. It almost gives us a glimpse into his world and makes us wonder;b what is in the bucket? and what is he going to do with it? Children are not small for long, so I love it when I can capture his expressions, his concentration and the way he use his hands as he carries on during his play.

An outing to the beach

I love taking photos at the beach as there are so many interesting things to photograph. My family and I recently went to The Basin, opposite Palm Beach and had a wonderful time. My son loved running around, splashing in the water and playing in the sand. We don't often take him to the beach, so I loved seeing him sit and play, making little hills, and just exploring all that he could.

The photos of my son where he was in the water are my favourite as you can see his shadow in the water, and I especially love the ripples moving away from his as jumps and moves.

I love the look children get when they are looking at something, and you just know they are thinking very hard, or trying to figure something out. This next photo shows my son pulling a cart and looking up at a huge tree. To me it seems like he is trying to figure out how he can get to the top, or maybe he is wondering what he would find if he could climb up there.

I find that capturing people's expressions is important as it can help to tell a story or just brighten up someone's day. This next photo is another of my favourites of our day at the beach. It is my son and his grandpa on the boat ride. They both love playing and chatting to each other. A very special moment to capture.

Child's Play

As a mother of a little boy, I am aware of his very short attention span. I also understand that he can find many situations fascinating, even if we as adults may not because we have seen it or experienced it many, many times before. As I watch my child at play I enjoy joining in, as well as just quietly watching him play alone. I love watching him as he creates his own stories in play, as well as discovering new things for the first time, and seeing the wonder, excitement or even the look of concentration on his face as he plays. As adults, I'm sure that we find it hard, or even frustrating that sometimes our children find seemingly easy tasks difficult, but if we try, we can see how our children are figuring things out, right in front of our eyes.

I love to take photos of my child playing, from different angles. The same photo from different angles can show how children see their world differently to us. As his play and concentration may not last very long, I love how the photos I take can be a way that I can return to that moment and remember how he was as he grows. My son also enjoys looking at the photos with me and points to them as if to say, 'that's me' or even 'I remember that'.

If you would like me to take similar photos like this of your child, or even at their birthday party, please email me at penny_85@live.com.au

Also please feel free to comment on any photos from my blog, so I can have opinions from different people.