Rembrandt Light

When I studied fine art at University I never imagined that I would one day see many of the images I'd seen in books and projected on screens in real life. Museums and galleries featured heavily on our six months of travels through Europe pre-children. Most notable perhaps the Mona Lisa in Paris, the Klimts in Vienna, the Van Goghs in Amsterdam and the happy accident of stumbling upon a Rembrandt and Carravagio exhibition showing in Amsterdam during our stay. 

I also never imagined that one day I would be inspired by that exhibition to use a DSLR to capture a similar style of light to those old masters. But oh, the light. The beautiful light.

-

Teacup brought from White Pepper on our recent trip to the Sunshine Coast

Ceramic spoon Maxwell Williams

Vase thrifted, numbered and embossed on base, West Germany 

Wooden hand carved spoon Sapling Spoons

Frogmouth

At 6:20 yesterday morning you would have seen me running down the street in my pyjamas with a towel in my hand, then returning home with a gently wrapped bird. A neighbour had been walking her dog and noticed a tawny frogmouth beside the footpath and messaged me with concern as she was running late for work. 

I found an empty box and set the bird in it on the table. It hopped up and sat on the edge of the box while I called 1300ANIMAL. While on hold I grabbed my camera and got this shot as they morning sun came through the window. I was advised that tawny frogmouths will often go to ground when attacked by other birds and stay there until they feel safe enough to fly, and that if I put it on my back deck it should fly away within half an hour. If it didn't I was to take it to the vet. It looked a little ruffled, but I couldn't see any injuries, so we hoped for the best.

The children and I watched as the tawny frogmouth gazed at the garden from it's cardboard box perch. Eventually, it flapped its wings and attempted to fly, but nosedived onto the table. It sat there and fell asleep for an hour before we tucked it up with a tea towel and placed it in the box, handing it over to our local 24 hour vet who will locate a carer to rehabilitate it.

Despite the colouring and the fact that they are nocturnal, frogmouths aren't owls. But they are incredibly striking owls and I do hope this little fellow will be back in the wild soon. 

Sneak Peek - Foolhouse

 Client: Foolhouse

Models: Freya, Emerson, Oscar & Jonas

Location: My Bespoke Cabin, Mount Crosby

Recently, I had the joy of creating a photo shoot for Sarah at Foolhouse to capture lifestyle images of her sweet Door Jamb height charts. I had a really specific look in mind for the shoot and put a call out on Instagram for a location. I was rewarded with a link to My Bespoke Cabin. Swoon! (You may remember that I shared some photos of another one of Skye's cabins a few posts ago.)

I love how these shots turned out, and today I received the most lovely testimonial from Sarah -

 “I met Christina whilst doing Finders Keepers in Brisbane. We are both small artisan businesses doing what we love and it was not surprising that she nailed my brief with ease. I am based in Sydney but geography was no problem as I sent my product to her. She understood the look and feel that I wanted my product to instil and chose the perfect location in which to shoot. It is hard to do everything yourself when running your own business, but goodness knows you try! I realised that I needed to concentrate on what I do well and hand over the jobs that I am not trained for, to someone who is. Photographs of my product in its’ natural habitat was one thing I had not given time to and one thing that was imperative to showcase so that I was not only showing my product but telling a story about it through pictures. Christina perfectly matched my product to the lifestyle visuals i had in my head, which is no mean feat! She managed to capture photos that explain my product to my chosen target audience and now I have a palette to choose from for social media and editorials. The photos tell a charming story across a continuum instead of my disparate unconnected iPhone snaps and for a very reasonable budget I look a whole lot more professional and wonder why I didn’t do it sooner!” - Sarah Lamond, Foolhouse

 Thanks Sarah! xx

-

Interested in your own collection of lifestyle images? Get in touch!

Recording our learning

I keep a 'Natural Learning Diary' to 'plan from behind' what my children have been doing, as a way to unschool and satisfy our state homeschooling requirements. It lists the subject areas on one page and child-initiated activities on the other page - like craft, hobbies & interests, reading. It made me wonder about keeping a learning diary of my own, if I had the diligence. Wouldn't that be interesting to look back upon? A way to track the rabbit holes one falls down. To try to discern how one topic evolves into another, and how old passions reawaken and new interests fade? I've never thought to record my own learning before. Have you?

-

Experimenting with light and dark in my photography.

Dried berries, tiny Shakespeare books, eggs and parsley seed heads.

If you are looking for a photographer for your next project, please get in touch. xx

There is no one right way

Thinking today about homeschooling and really ‘feeling’ that there is no one right way. Each child is different. Each parent and family culture is different. There is no need for a one size fits all.

Finding what ‘works’ for one child may take time, but you have that time. Finding what works for a parent who is very organised and needs structure will look different to a parent who needs spontaneity and space. But that is the gift of homeschooling, you can tailor it to suit your child, your family and yourself.

That is also the curse of homeschooling when you first begin. What could that look like? The options are overwhelming. We turn back to a school model. We turn to more experienced homeschoolers, we turn to curriculums and distance education. And along the way, we find our own way that works for us with some or none of those things. Just like any other part of our life, if a part stops working we change it. If we have a season of change we make room by letting something go and choosing later to pick it up again or move on.

I hope you feel it too - there is no one right way. Celebrate the uniqueness of you, your children and your path. xx

Screen Detox Fail

How is it that my children come down with a tummy bug, throw up a few times, eat hydrolite iceblocks and then they are fine again? Meanwhile, I come down with the same bug, spend an entire night in the bathroom and two days in bed feeling like pummeled playdough? Not that I would wish my horrid level of the illness upon them, rather I wish I had gotten off a little lighter! Our 'screen detox' had been going quite well until that point. Emergency measures needed to be taken. "Watch tv, play iPad, play PlayStation, just please let Mama rest!" Interestingly enough by the second day, they were getting quite bored of the unlimited screen time. Back to the detox now until the end of the month and then time for a family meeting to discuss how we all felt about the time off and how we wish to go forward.

Before Emerson and I were hit by the bug took a wander with my camera. The boys had come down sick that morning and we had been tending to them, so when Dada came home from work we escaped for a girls camera date. In the dying afternoon light, we visited this bougainvillaea I have been admiring. Last week it was covered in an even greater profusion of purple flowers. I must remember to seek it out again next year. I loved these two shots of my soon to be seven year old, with her blonde mermaid hair, and the flower she picked for herself.

The children are now back to normal. I'm still feeling frayed around the edges, but inspired by the amount of Pinterest I scrolled through whist resting. My brain was too foggy to read anything from the pile on my nightstand. Thank goodness for podcasts, Pinterest and PlayStation... in moderation.