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As our summer holidays came to an end, I invited my girls to one last adventure into the city before school started. They hoped we would visit the cinemas and the shopping malls, but I had other plans. I was taking them to some of my favourite places in the city. At first they were a little less than enthusiastic. I had to sell my idea and added a bribe of  lunch . They agreed and I was as excited as Christmas morning.

We caught the train into the city and our first stop was the Museum of Contemporary Arts. I love this museum as it sits in the perfect spot. It looks over the Sydney Harbour on one side and the Rocks on the other. It is free to walk in and look around. We explored from top to bottom, and stopping in the middle for the promised lunch.  We then caught the train to the other end of the city and visited the Queen Victoria Building. This is a historic building which was converted into  upmarket shops.  The architecture is stunning and the shops are great for a bit of window shopping. I always feel like I am in another world when I visit the QVB. We then planned to meet my sons and we were a little early. So we sat outside in deck chairs and watched the world go by.

At the end of the day, we were all tired yet happy. My girls loved the places we visited and I was so happy to introduce them to a few of my favourite places in this gorgeous city. Now, I know I am totally breaking the 30 minutes rule but I couldn’t pick images from one of the places we visited. So I am sharing it all. Our day in the city.

{Valentine} Last weekend, we celebrated Valentine’s Day. I must admit, I am not a huge fan of this day. Of course, I love flowers and chocolates as much as the next person, but it always feels forced here in Australia. I don’t think we do it as well as the US, with the kids sending card to their friends at school. We have a burst of tacky teddy bears and fake flowers that grace our shelves for a couple of weeks. It is hardly inspiring, especially for a still life. I struggled this week until I reflected on the love letters and cards that I have received from my husband over the years. I thought about a time when receiving a letter was the height of romance. Usually a print of a posed portrait was included along with lines from their favourite poet. I decided to recreate this sense of nostalgia and capture the tangible of a past era.  Once I made this decision, it was amazing the items that I found around the house to include, like the “Sonnets’ by Shakespeare, black and white images of my grand parents, blank cards and envelopes, plus stamps to wrote out real reason we celebrate this day.

Angie Marie Photographer

This morning, I stood over a basket full of odd socks. As I sorted through the mismatched socks, I reflected on how many hours I have stood in the laundry trying to match up pairs. It is a thankless task; one you don’t’ appreciate until you are in a desperate need of a matched pair. However, my children have moved past the matched pair and they have embraced odd socks. Yes, they wear socks that are similar but may not always match. At first, I was horrified. It was a reflection of  my poor laundry skills. But my children saw clean socks and they grabbed the closest pair. They quickly moved on to the next task. It was practical and not emotional. They went off into the world wearing their odd socks and the world continued to spin. Life happened in odd socks. No “bad mother” committee knocked on my door and judged me. My children are my best teachers. The teach me lessons that I need to learn. They teach me to let go of emotions  and the idea of perfection. They taught me to embrace the odd sock and move on. As I stood looking at the huge pile of odd socks, I wondered  how this idea of perfection was controlling other parts of my life. What else am I trying to fit into a box?

I couldn’t think of anything at first. I matched up  many pairs but left a huge pile in the basket. I went about my day and later found myself editing photos that I captured on the weekend. I was excited to share these images and they jumped to the front of the editing queue. These images capture my youngest daughter with paper hearts. The paper hearts were for a project to raise awareness for Congenital Heart Defects*. When I told her about babies being born with heart problems, she instantly wanted to create with me. We made brown paper and newspaper hearts. I asked her to take some photos with the hearts and we decided  on a dress and styled her hair.

We haven’t shot a styled session for ages. Mostly, I have been capturing our life with lifestyle images. I love lifestyle but I  realized as I shot that I like these styled sessions as well. I love creating with my daughters and we enjoy this creative time together. I felt the buzz  you get from a session when you feel inspired. It is a contagious high and I uploaded the files instantly. Something  I haven’t done in a while as I have been uploading once a week or when my card is full. I haven’t felt this kind of creative joy for a while.

As I sat editing the photos,  I realized I have put myself in a box. I am trying to match my socks in my photography world. I am trying to achieve the idea of perfection. I have attached my art to lifestyle images rather than embracing it all. I am a photographer who captures lifestyle, still life, and styled portraits. I am a photographer who captures beauty and whatever inspires me. I do not need to fit into a self imposed box. I can let go of the emotion and just be practical. I am an artist. I do not define my art by wearing matching socks.

I am embracing my odds socks, creating with paper hearts, and my world will keep spinning. This I know for sure!

*February is Heart Month and a group of photographers are  spreading awareness for Congenital Heart Defects with their art.  The more awareness we can get will eventually help fund more research. CHD’s touch 1 out of 110 babies……What if your baby was that 1? Let’s support our heart heroes by spreading more awareness.

{sunshine yellow} Yellow was calling my name this week. I wanted to capture it’s brightness and happiness. I have seen the frangipani flowers in the gardens as I drive around my neighborhood. I knew I needed to my  flower thief  on to include them in this series. The rest just fell together. I really wanted the feeling of summer and nothing says summer more than melted ice-cream. Enjoy! At the bottom of the post, you will find Angie’s creation. It is stunning as always. Scroll on down!

Angie Marie Photographer

Often when Grandparents come to visit, we have the camera out to document the smiles. We ask our family to stop what they are doing and pose for the camera. I love these photos as much as the next Mum but these images don’t always capture the connection. During a recent visit, we went to the beach for a dinner picnic. We swam and enjoyed playing on the beach. My Mum and my daughter collected shells as the sun went down. This is something that I remember doing with my Mum, and my love of shells stems from these moments. I watched as they chattered and compared shells. It was a sweet moment and I didn’t want to interrupt them to ask them to smile. I stayed back and watched the moment evolve. This is 30 minutes at the beach, collecting  shells with Grandma.

Now pop on  over to Joni Burtt’s page to see 30 minutes in the life.

{season of blues} I loved this theme that Angie picked. I had a million ideas and zero time as we celebrate our season of Summer. My kids are at home from school and my window of opportunity was small. I knew that I wanted the hero of this series to be my famous Blueberry and Cinnamon Crumble Cake. Well, it is not my recipe but one of my all time favourites. Whenever I bake it, it is applauded. I love it’s rustic nature and no fuss presentation. It is loaded with taste and you can find the recipe by clicking here.

So with such a big hero, I needed props to match. I focused on the colors, and the hues of blue. My goal was to have a feel of Summer and to reflect this beautiful season.

Angie Marie Photographer

Time stands still

best in moments

that look

suspiciously

like

ordinary life.

I found this quote on pinterest and thought it would be a great theme for our wonder of the oddments project. I decided to be inspired by the ordinary in our home and ended up finding a basket of lemons, magnolia blooms from the front yard, and a summer towel. All simple, nothing spectacular. But put them together and they look beautiful and not so ordinary. Oh well, I love that about still life. The ordinary is beyond beautiful.

Angie Marie Photographer 

You sat watching the movie “Elf” and you were inspired to create your own paper snowflakes. It is the only snow we will see this Christmas. Our Christmas’s are filled with flowers and warm days. Later we talked about a white Christmas and dreaming on the day we get to see it. Until then we will play outside to capture the “snow’

Now follow on to Stacey Markel Photography | Maryland Family, Child & Senior Photographer and see her Festive 5.

Angie Marie Photographer