Second grade started today with new faces and a change of uniform.

It is so hard to leave the friends we had at her ex-school, but this is the right thing for Gemma. We thought we needed structure, but now we need to let her spirit grow free!

Photos taken with my gorgeous little side-kick Minxie. She is the adorable little digital camera I found on the Photojojo website. My friends at Photojojo seem to find THE best and coolest photo stuff for their online store. I kind of want everything in there. More photos and a review of the new Minox camera coming up on the 10th as I shot my February 10 on 10 exclusively with it!

I think this camera needs a name…I am leaning towards Minx. Or Trixie. Not sure yet.

Our morning looked like this through her eyes…

The camera arrived with the mail yesterday so I have not had a chance to give it a proper play beyond charging the battery and adding my own SD card, but I must say that it happens to be the most darling little thing I have ever seen. I am going to get her a tiny strap and wear her as much as possible, treating this little digital gem like an instant camera. I am going to embrace her grain and give her the light she craves.

Come on, Minx/Trixie, we have places to go…

A proper review will be coming on the 10th of Feb when I post my next 10 on 10 series that I plan to shoot with this little Minox tomorrow. You can get your own on the Photojojo webstore.

It is true, I have an Android phone and still post some of my “phone-tos” to Instagram.
The reason I do this is, for over a year now the majority of my phone shots went into a Facebook album where no one but friends could see them and no prints or magnets or books or fun things of any sort could easily be made from them. I wanted a place just for my phone shots that was not Flickr (the community aspect has gone from there like a pack of lemmings over the proverbial cliff) nor Facebook (everything looks terrible on there). I also did not want to start a tumblr or what-have-you… I think I am pretty close to my maximum maintainable web home limit. I was, however, craving the interaction that I used to have when sharing and browsing images on Flickr. Oh, the good old days of 2005-2008.
Basically I was missing my photo-based photo community. Apparently they have all gone to Instagram and who could blame them?  Instagram is the perfect spot…well perfect if you are lucky enough to have an iPhone.

I just HAD to join.
Now, I wish I had some simple hack for you, but I don’t. This is just my workaround and it requires and iPod.

I shoot all of my phone-tography on my Android based HTC Desire with the AWESOME Vignette app. I have tried so many of the Android photography apps and ended up deleting most of them for Vignette. It is a simple app that enhances the in-phone camera, but without much of that hip filter stuff. For that photo/filter play, I sometimes use the pixlr-o-matic app and web based editing program.  I have created my standard square shot format on Vignette and it takes pretty good photos. I can even add and adjust a faux tilt shift to those shots. The black and whites are all done in Vignette as well. I have always loved square format film (one of my first cameras being a Hasselblad) and especially love the aspect for phone camera shots as to me it adds a little bit of interest and harkens back to lo-fi film days. You know, when we did not expect plastic perfection and thought grain was gritty, not ugly.

I come home and upload the ones that I want to share to my iPod Touch. It is a first generation touch with no camera. Despite upgrading my OS, the version of Instagram app that I am stuck with is one of the first versions. I can’t do much and am missing some of the better filters. The only reason I have the iPod is because I listen to music on it. Well, I used to listen to music on it before the battery up and died and can now only stand to be disconnected for about 2 hours. Hello, Android phones that have replaceable batteries and sd cards for storage, I love you!

I understand that the Instagram developers want to keep the quality of the imagery on their program high and avoid spammers…at least that is their listed reason for not opening the API to upload capability, but I want to play. I promise no crap shots (on purpose) and I can’t figure out how to spam on there anyway. I am happy to have this little workaround, but really it takes away from the life on the go aspect that I adore about camera phone shots.

I may begin transferring all of my favorite phone shots from their lonely Facebook album over to Instagram…it will take a while as I don’t want to be one of those spammers they talk about. I am going to do this though as there are so very many adorable tiny products you can make from your adorable tiny Instagram photos. Magnets, itty-bitty books and stickers! We love stickers!

Here are my top web vieweers for Instagram so I can easily look at all the lovely photos of the people I follow…even if Instagram doesn’t actually want me to play along.

INK361

Statigram

Webstagram 

Followgram

Now Instagram if you are reading, I hear those rumors of your pending Android app AND I am happy to beta test that for you!

In December I got an email from another Rachel, but that Rachel goes by Ray.
Ray told me about a little sock monkey named Alfie.
Alfie took lots of trips, but his last was a very important one.
It was filled with lots of adventures and it was also the final voyage Alfie would take with Paul.
Paul was Ray’s fiance.
Last January, Paul passed away.
Stupid cancer.
Alfie is set to take some more adventures, but this time they will be with Paul in spirit.
These very special jaunts are submitted by readers for (a minimum of) $1 each and will be illustrated by some truly amazing artists.
This illustrated odyssey will come to life in an eBook that will be sold to raise money to help others.
Those others who helped Paul take his last road trip with Ray and Alfie continue to help people in need.

Ray, you live up to your name by being a beam of light and carrying on this project in Paul’s memory.

Alfie, we think you have done a lot for being only a 6″ tall little monkey that you need to have a vacation sipping a banana smoothie on a beach somewhere warm and sunny.

Read their story in their words on Alfie’s Adventures webpage and send in your own idea for a fantastic journey.

Cradle Rock (Australian) Winter 2012 featuring multiple designers!
Test your Australian kid fashion designer knowledge with a great contest to guess which ones are which on the Cradle Rock Facebook Page soon!

Full shoot released in the coming weeks.

People often ask me about the kid fashion and advertising campaigns that I shoot and why it rarely ends up on the blog. There are a few reasons that there is so much daily family life here on the blog. The main explanation for (at least) this commercial side of the business is that the images are shot with sample designs long before the actual garments are sent to retail stores. We get a really early look at the clothes when we use these manufacturer samples for the shoot and by the time the actual line is released, I am on to other projects. When I get a handle on my blog’s slight tidy-up/redesign, I will consider doing some scheduled posts to go live live at a later date so that I don’t forget. It is when people message me on Facebook with images they have taken of my work out in the world that I remember the things I forgot to post!

I have to say though, these might just be my favorite kids of shoots!

Peta Mazey and I are creating our photo workshops this year around the commercial/advertising field within kid photography. Protecting designers from the quick turnaround ripoffs in chain stores is just one rationale for holding shoots from publication and we will be talking about the details of the business with a kid fashion rep, kid retailer and more industry insiders! There is a lot to consider from bidding jobs, translating client briefs, casting and scouting, shoot production, labor laws, turnaround time and licensing of the images for a start. All of the information we will provide can be used from jobs ranging from small Etsy lines on through editorial spreads and even creating lookbooks for kid fashion lines. It is a lot of fun and something that we both love, so we are excited to share with you.  The three locations we have planned are Melbourne, Los Angeles and New York City. Melbourne dates have been pushed back due to various work conflicts, but the new dates will be released soon. The information on the actual workshop remains the same though and you can read about it on the Camera Therapy page. We do have a waiting list started for the other cities, so if you are interested, email and we will notify you of the developing details!

Now to take an evening off to celebrate my 8th wedding anniversary!

Summer vacation mornings of slow breakfasts and extended jammie wearing is almost over. School starts up again in just over a week. I am ready and also not ready. This year I feel like I got to the edge of acceptance that hot weather playtime means January, but I still hesitated. I have not planned any beach days. It does not occur to me because as hard as I try, my first thought it that those are for July.

We are not wasting our summer time though. I love the feeling of absolute exhaustion after a good swim. I had that yesterday when we came home from our friends’ place all rubber arms and prune fingers from hours in their pool. We even had to drag Clover out of bed an hour later than normal.

Today the twins started their first ever swimming lessons. We waited so long because the twins were not old enough to go in the water for lessons without an adult. It is really hard on parents of twins because unless you go on a weekend, usually both parents are not available to attend the class. I am disappointed that there are not better programs out there to help people with young twins. Water safety is so important and I would have had them in classes at 12 months (like we started Gemma) if I could have. We looked around for options for the last 2+ years and the best anyone could offer was bring a nanny with you. I am so surprised that with the sheer number of sets of twins (and more!) these days that places have not come up with a way to help us out. As predicted, the twins LOVED it.  Kieran cried when it was over. I bought a swim pass for the kids and I am going to make an effort to get us out of the house and use it.

I started the day with a phone call to my mom which always makes me feel like I might as well be living on the moon. There was the inevitable lag that threw our rhythm of conversation off and the wind made the connection practically useless anyway. Desperate to just be able to catch up with my mom when I hang up, I curse the distance and frankly…just want to be closer to “home.”

But then Alec and I gathered our little family and headed out by train to the city. On our way we passed the flags announcing the Australian Open tennis tournament that is currently taking place and we saw all the people headed out to watch the great players. You can see the Melbourne high-rises from the station by the tennis arenas. It never fails to thrill me to think that such a big city is just a 20 minute train ride from my home.
On a whim, we decided to head to something we had only heard about the day before…some outdoor full scale art experience for kids. Just by chance, we were second in line for the noon performance. With 15 minutes to wait, we busied ourselves  with the bits of elastic string that were all over the ground. There was a small sign of “Don’ts”, but no actual instruction on what to do. We were intrigued. The exhibit is called Tangle and it involves kilometers of this stretchy ribbon being wrapped around and around an arrangement of poles. Hopelessly tangleing up everyone in the stunning result. Once the web grows the whole experience transforms into a swinging, bouncing, crazed adventure set to live music.
We really had no idea what we were in for.

At one point I lost a shoe and while trying to extract myself completely, found that someone had laced the ribbon through the straps of my backpack (while it was still on my back). Luckily, I could un-clip the straps and free myself, otherwise I would have had to be cut free. For the most part, we clung to the edge as a family. The middle part was a technicolor jungle and even I felt a bit like going in would be a gamble on actually ever coming out again. Clover took to the experience quite naturally and I am pretty sure that if I had squeezed her into the heart of the Tangle web, she would have been quite happy. The kid has a calling for the bright and messy. She IS colorful disarray.

Alec even got a shot of me in the fantastic mess.

After over an hour, the music wraps up and the crowd helps push the giant fabric nest back up the poles so they can begin to make the next layer. As we left, each child was given a ball made of ribbon remnants from previous performances. The massive canopy has to eventually be cut down as the strings can never be untangled. It is a beautiful way to celebrate the abandon with which we must approach our lives…finding beauty in the chaos and learning to live with never being able to rewind.

The rest of the day involved free ice cream cones being handed out by the Cornetto folks (Lunch! Are we great parents or what?) and a visit to a kid festival of crafts and imagination at the Immigration Museum.

None of this is written to say I would take a day out in Melbourne over one spent with my mother, but it does remind me why we chose this city to raise kids. We make sacrifices to live here, but the city rewards us greatly.  Like with the most amazing balloon man ever, but that is for another post, soon…

PHOTO NOTES :: I took the D200 out (tape covering the battery door and the CF card door as neither stays shut any longer) as the D3 is all set up for some studio stuff I am doing this weekend. I have to say, I can’t really imagine going back. While I love the imperfections of my camera phone and the point and shoots, I expect more from my DSLR than the D200 gave me. I was hoping I could use it as a backup while I had my D3 cleaned, but that is out now for sure. The amount of digital noise even at ISO 320 was crazy. I sure do still love that Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens though.

Let me come right out and say it…I blame The Secret.

I am all for the power of positive thinking, but only when there is some honest work attached. Sitting on my couch mentally emitting fabulous photography thoughts is not going to get me anywhere. It is not going to get me a new camera and it is not going to earn me the respect of people whose respect I value. I do have a vision board though as I think it is often hard to remember what I am working so hard to achieve. Especially since the good stuff usually takes a long time. The board is not just covered with material goods, but also words that represent more intangible goals I have.

As far as the material stuff goes, I want the Nikon D4. I will allow myself to desire it, but I don’t expect anyone to hand it to me for free. I am also not going to just go out and drop a cool SIX GRAND on it because I think it is AWESOME. I have a camera and four years on, it still works well. Sometimes companies do contact me to work with their gear. If that happens it is because I have been working my shutter finger off at photography since I first picked up a camera in 1984. That’s right, overnight success (officially called myself a pro in 1995 when I took my first paying  jobs) has taken me years. And I still have to earn my way. Daily. I am all for that though and I am doing something I love so I enjoy the process.

The thing is, I am finding it very hard to raise kids in this climate of ask and ye shall receive for-not-a-whole-lot-of-effort-on-your-part-other-than-the-asking-bit. See, Gemma wants an iPod Touch. She has plenty of things…toys, electronics, circus class, vacations, daily meals, education, health, etc… We are very fortunate and Alec and I are aware of that. But there is always something new…something more. So, we have decided that if she saves enough money she can buy an iPod touch for herself. It will cost her about $200.00 and that is A LOT of money to save when you are seven. Sure we could just buy one and share it or give it to her for a Christmas present, but we have decided that would not help Gemma learn the value of all these things she wants or already has. Plus we don’t think she needs an iPod Touch, but if it is her money, she can have control over how she spends it. It is tough not to blow the cash on little bits and pieces along the way. Also, it is really hard to keep the faith when you can’t see the goal or how far you have come in the journey. To that end, we made her a wish jar as she is nearly to the finish line. Hiding her money away in a opaque piggy bank was not enough of a reminder that she was making progress.

Here is what you will need and a few photos of the process.
Clean jar. We used a pasta sauce one, but you can buy them from the craft store as well. This was more fun to recycle something we had on hand. A slit can be cut in the lid to deposit coins, but we did not bother with that.
Picture of what you want. Gemma cut the iPod Touch and price out of the store circular. (We glued it to white paper so it would look neater from the back.)
Contact paper or packing tape. Aussies LOVE to cover books with contact paper so we had some in the house. You can easily use thick clear packing tape. The image is going on the outside of the jar (facing in) so you can see it when looking at the money collected.
Gemma likes to keep track of her money the old fashioned way with a pen and paper, but I also keep a log of her earnings in an app on my phone. Otherwise, we would be counting it daily.

Despite saving for nearly a year now, Gemma still wants to buy the iPod. Waiting has just deepened her desire and I am hoping will extend her time using it once she actually has one. It is harder to lose interest in something that is so hard won. It is how we are getting the kids to try different vegetables. We are growing them in the yard. Something that is difficult to obtain has more value to them and since they grew those veggies, they are proud and excited to eat them. Everything comes with a snap of the fingers today, but the best still comes to those who wait.

Next up, my D4 jar.

It really is kind of hard to ride the momentum of the New Year’s great intentions and get back to work with a bang when there are three children not-so-silently staring me down from the other side of my desk as I try to type this. While I might really be eager to knock things off my multiple to do lists, my kids are on school holidays…for summer time. This means that they need at the very least guidance and more likely some entertainment. If left to their own devices, they can be quite creative if you consider making thousands of pieces of confetti out of the left over Christmas cracker crowns a really awesome idea. Yes, I thought it was pretty clever use of their time and leftover things too until they spilled the box and somehow emptied the entire contents over two floors of the house. I am not sure how it got there, but I even found some confetti in my underwear drawer a few days later.

If I ever see another flake of confetti it will be too soon.

Now the other problem I have is that all three of my children think that they are in charge when I leave the room. As you can imagine, that never turns out well for anyone.

I get that they need to play, but I just can’t take 2 months off of work while it is school holidays. We do have special days though where after my morning coffee and email/internet session, we have some fun together. Here are the 5 top things that get my little family through the summer months of no school.

Crafting :: Woah, what? Didn’t I just lament my children’s adventures with scissors at the start of this post? You are right, but this is controlled crafting. From a box. While I have Pinterest boards full of ideas and would love to be a hipster Martha Stewart whipping up all sorts of fun stuff from bits and pieces I happen to have lying around my perfectly organized crafting closet, I am me. I need a box, pre-measured supplies and detailed directions. That crafting closet exists in my dreams. Luckily Gemma has a lot of kits that she has received as birthday presents. Our favorites have moved from the artsty crafts to the science based activities. The latest endeavor was lip gloss making!

Water Play :: It is summer and we don’t have a pool, so I call the plastic sand box on the back deck filled with rain water from our tanks our personal pond. We fish for plastic carp with toy fishing rods, we take Barbie and her troop of buddy Barbies to “the tropics” and we even add weeds from the garden to create a Jurassic spa for all the plastic dinosaurs. The kids love to play in water and when we make it interesting, they tend to forget that their pool is too small for swimming.

What? No photos of the dancing? Well, there does not need to be any image of me dancing posted on the interent. You will just have to use your imaginations…it can’t be worse than the reality.

Dance Par-tay :: If the kids are going to invade my office anyway we might as well have some fun. I load up their requests on iTunes or find it on Spotify and we can easily spend an hour in fits of laughter and veiled exercise while showing off our moves. The best part, the kids think I am a great dancer. I like to take control as DJ to reduce the number of songs covered by The Chipmunks on the playlist. Seriously, did you know The Chipmunks have pretty much covered every song. Ever? On top rotation now are some great 80′s pop bands, the ever present ABBA and of course, the Bruno Mars record.

E-activities :: We are a wired household and that includes the twins. When I absolutely have to sit down and get work done, sometimes I must plop the kids in front of something that plugs in. I do try to limit the screen time and have it as something that they earn the privilege of playing. The twins are really excited to lie on the floor and read books with their Storio or learn phonics on my Asus Transformer Android Tablet with a few different really great apps. Gemma goes straight to her Moshi Monsters, Mathletics or plays with her own digital photos on her laptop. I can have all the kids in the (home) office with me and we can all get a bit of work done.

Museum :: We do love to get out of the house though. That is really what keeps us all happiest during the school holidays. As I mentioned earlier this month, The Melbourne Museum is one of our favorite spots. I love that there are inside and outdoor places for the kids to play and learn all in one stop. I don’t need to tell them to “stop touching”, “settle down” or “shuuuuuuush!” There is so much for me to see and learn there as well. We can never do the whole collection of exhibits in one day so it provides a few trips out during the long school holidays.

Second part in a series of posts sponsored by Nuffnang. As always, sponsored posts are my true feelings, my images and my own words. I only accept what my family is interested in and therefore keep the content relevant to my readers. 

This year I am joining some wonderful photographers in a blog series that is all about photographing life as it happens on one day. The project is called 10 on 10 and this post is my first go.

10 lines of images posted on the 10th of the month.

Every month.

These were from camping over New Years. I loved the challenge of taking images over a ten hour period. It was wonderful to work in such different lighting situations from bright sun to campfire. The hardest part…only picking ten to show here!*
Good thing diptychs count as one line!

Explore the whole series and maybe even find some new photographers for inspiration by following the links. Next in line is Gretchen Davis | Portland Lifestyle Photographer

*The rest of the camping images are going into an album on the Facebook fan page!