All in the Eyes

I mentioned last week that I'd fallen in love with the new Tintype pak for Hipstamatic - but it wasn't until I got home over the weekend that I finally got to use it the way it was designed - for portraits. It was created to specifically draw attention to the eyes and mouth while blurring everything else. I took a photo of my niece to see how it worked on portraits. I love how it turned out, but she took one look, decided it was freaky and refused to look at it again.

I'm back in Istanbul (let's not discuss the jet lag that comes from spending last week in Australia, the weekend in the US and now a new week in Europe) and I'm already missing my family.

"Oh and baby, it's so good to see you, how I missed your face."
Josh Rousse - Princess on the Porch


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Playing Photographer: Family Photos

I played real photographer for my sister and her family this summer. Mostly it reminded my of all the reason I'd never make it as a pro. Getting everyone to look the same way, smile and open their eyes - not an easy task. Still I had a lot of fun trying.

Instead of posting the "good" ones - i.e. the ones my sister will have printed and hang on walls, I thought I'd post some of my favorites, mostly outtakes - photos that made me smile and brought out personalities.

M and T weren't particularly in the mood to play model, so we moved fast and used frozen white chocolate chips as bribes - it was the only food I could think of that wouldn't result in messy faces and clothes.

We were attempting to copy a pose we'd seen on pinterest in this photo - let's just say it didn't quite go as planned....

My favorite of T - he looks sweetly mischievous, which is correct.

 

We never did get a good one of Miss M that evening, so the next morning I convinced her to give me another try. This ended up being one of my very favorite shots of the entire experience.

I recently downloaded the newest Josh Radin, the entire album is amazing, but his The Greenest Grass seems to be a great match with this photos.



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Fall Leaves at the Cabin

On my last weekend in the US, my parents too me, my niece and nephew to their cabin to check out the renovations they've been making. It looks amazing and the trip gave me a chance to grab a last few photos of the fall leaves.

The area was nearly carpeted in yellow aspen leaves. It was so beautiful - and peaceful.

I managed to get the kids to slow down just long enough to get a photo of them sitting on the "king/queen's seat" which they thought was pretty cool.

I haven't been away from home for long, but I'm already missing these two like crazy.

Willy Mason - When the Leaves Have Fallen

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Slumber Party Fun

My weekend was full of these two, my very favorite little ones. Friday afternoon we played together at their house for a few hours. I pulled out my iPad to show them a Cookie Monster parody I thought would make them giggle, which it did. Miss M then pulled out her mom's Kindle Fire and play Carly Rae Jepson's Call Me Maybe (aka Miss M's most recent favorite song). She must have hit repeat at least 20 times, with only a short pause for Tiny T to pull out his mom's iTouch and show us his favorite song Rascal Flatts' Life is a Highway, or as he calls it Car's. As a side note - I'm amazed at the ability of kids today to navigate things like Kindle Fires and iTouches. They can't read, but they can find their favorite songs and play them with no help from me.

Once we got tired of dancing, we loaded the car and headed to Jungle Jim's, a local indoor amusement park. It was non-stop fun for several hours. T hit every ride there, even braved the fast spinning one - once I agreed to ride with him (making me slightly queasy!) They both tried the bumper cars for the first time and LOVED it - Maggie was the best driver of the two, and I had to pull T off to give someone else a turn after his second ride. We finally got to my house just after bedtime a little hyper from the rootbeer I let them have.  I finally coaxed them into their PJs and settled them with some milk. After prayers and a story (Dr Suess' Oh The Places You'll Go, the only kids book I own) we talked to their mom and dad on Facetime. Two minutes after I turned off the light they were out!

The next morning we made cinnamon rolls and while they cooked, we pulled out the bubble guns and filled the neighborhood with bubbles. We eventually ate breakfast, played a game of Candy Land, which I thankfully managed to lose, played both Dora and Strawberry Shortcake Match Games and a little Kid's Dance Revolution on the Wii.

I finally managed to get them dressed and we went back outside to use up the rest of the bubbles. Every time T would set them off he'd tell me they were going to Bubble School - I swear I have no idea how kids come up with this stuff.

She's far more stylish than I'll ever be!

I think being an Aunt is pretty much the best thing ever, I had a blast with them, but I come away wondering how parents do it! I had them less than 24 hours and I was exhausted! They have limitless energy and talk a mile a minutes - and I love them more and more every day. Pin It