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The backyard. It is where childhood adventures start. It is where we spread our wings and fly like a fairy. It was where we learn how to practise our wobbly cartwheels so we  look like a gymnast in the school yard . It is where we draw, and create amazing artwork with chalk. It is where we sit and ponder.

The backyard. Is there a better place for a family portrait session? This is where our kids laugh uncontrollably. This is where they wear mix-matched shorts and t-shirts with no shoes. This is where the sun shines, and the grass grows. We  look for the perfect location for family portraits, and often the best place is in our own back yard.

The backyard. We have missed our backyard over winter. Stepping out the backdoor happens less over the colder months, but now that the sun is warmer and the days are longer, we are back outside. And on this day, I took my camera outside, and captured these images as the sun set. I am sure my girls will cherish these days with fondness, as I remember the many adventures I shared with my own brother in our backyard.

The backyard. The next time you are looking for family photo ideas, take a look out the back door.

“[pullquote align=”center”]”life loves the person who dares to live it”  Maya Angelou [/pullquote]

This is my favourite quote at the moment. It resonates with me, and my life. We have dared to live by the beach, in Auckland, by a river in the country, and our last adventure was in Brazil. We lived there for 5 years, and I still pinch myself that it was true. I arrived with a point and shoot camera, and I was busy taking pictures of all of our postcard moments. However, I began to feel frustrated with the images. They were different to what I was seeing, and so I begged for a DLSR. Yes begged, and for my 40th birthday it was gift wrapped with a bow.

I jumped into photography with a passion that I have never felt before! I threw myself into it with my whole soul. Initially, I focused my attention on capturing the street markets. The array of vegetables and fruits were simply amazing. I went online to learn the basics about my camera and photography. I  visited all websites, blogs, forums, and Facebook groups and communities. Then I took a course about portrait photography. It was left of field from food photography, and completely changed my direction. Right before me were my 5 children and  it wasn’t the postcard moments that I filled my frame with. It was the ordinary moments. The details of life that are ever-changing, and the emotions that fill their face, and their connections.

Now, I dare to live in Sydney.  I am happy to be home in Australia with my 5 children, and sweet husband…. who dared to buy me that camera and start this adventure.

“I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.”  Mary Oliver

Often when we go to the beach in Sydney, we travel with enough stuff to fill a few suitcases. The beach toys, the towels, the spare clothes, the drink and food. It is a task to organize. But the beauty of vacation, and being on  holidays, is that we leave our “stuff” behind. We take the essentials, and that is all. And on this day, you played with a sarong, the only toy you could find. The flutter of pink and blue caught my eye as you ran down the beach. It looked “as though you had wings”. I grabbed my camera, but stayed seated. I didn’t want to interrupt your game as you were  being”light and frolicsome” in that moment. You played on the beach, as I captured these beautiful portraits. You were “afraid of nothing” as you played in this imaginary world. I sat mesmerized behind my camera as you were not ” improbable beautiful”, but you were {or are}  beautiful. And I am so grateful that I watched, and saw this beauty unfold. As  our summer is just starting, and we plan to visit the many beautiful beaches in Sydney, I will have to remind myself that less is more. To take less “stuff” so we have these beautiful moments, and portraits, to cherish.

“Instead of wondering when our next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” Seth Godin.

I am going to quietly say that I don”t agree with this. Yep, just quietly.  I just returned from a 2 week vacation, where I disconnected from the internet, and my role as a photographer. I shut shop, and escaped. I love my life. It is crazy busy, filled with noise, chaos, and lots of love. I love my job, but I was feeling uninspired, and bogged down with projects that were going nowhere. The evil little trolls  of social media were filling my head with negative thoughts like “I should be a bigger, better, more creative photographer.”

Stepping away, and turning off was the best thing for me. I think we need to do it more often. No life is perfect. No job is perfect. We all need to escape our everyday routine from time to time. We need to see a new part of the world, and look  with fresh eyes. We need to slow down, and take each day at  the pace of a snail.

I agree that we should not wait for a vacation to enjoy that “vacation feeling” We should attempt to take mini breaks from our routine, and feel the breeze on our face, and the sand on our feet. We should stop to enjoy that cup of coffee and not get takeaway in a paper cup. We should take a different path, and enjoy the pretty sights. And I plan to do this, as well as planing our next vacation.

I have missed a couple of weeks of “And then we snapped”. My plan was to write a big post to catch up, but my plan changed when I realized I needed a complete break. Until today, I have not edited a photo in two weeks, and so there will be no giant post. My camera didn’t take a rest, and I have loads to share but I am going to continue to enjoy this “just back from holiday” feeling. That big old bloggity post can wait until next week.

Now, take a step in Jana’s world by clicking here

Last month, I tentatively pressed “publish” on this post to share this image

It was a personal post, one that I thought about for a while. I was worried that I was being too personal on my business page. But I pushed my fear aside, and hit “publish” (knowing that I could hit also hit “delete” at anytime)

I received many comments and likes for this image. But the one that filled my heart was from Julia of A Rock and a Soft Place Photography. She wrote:

“You inspired me to book a breastfeeding portrait of me and the youngest for next week. I had put it off for all the wrong reasons. Thanks for writing this, I needed reminding.”

Julia was one of the first to comment, so I left my image and blog post up. We just never know who we will inspire when we step outside our comfort zones. Being in front of the camera is never easy, but our family love us just the way we are. We may see the lines, the bags under our eyes, and the extra weight but they see their Mum. By hitting “delete”, we rob our children of images of their Mother.

Last week, Julia shared this image captured by  Martina of The Depth of Now. She wrote ” One of the most wonderful things that happened to me lately is that my dear friend Martina Octavia came round early one morning and photographed me feeding my daughter. I am reaching the end of a breastfeeding journey lasting seven years (through three children) and I am so very happy to have had the beauty of it documented.”

I can honestly say that I had goosebumps. I am so glad that Julia pushed her fear aside, and has this beautiful image to treasure. Be inspired and step in front of the camera.

This month, we celebrated Father’s Day. I could spend time writing about my husband, and what a wonderful Father he is. I could write about how much he loves his children, and how much they adore him. I could write how he  spends one on one time with all of our children, and maintains an executive job. I could write about how he inspires my children to set goals, and achieve them. I could write about his sense of fun, and being spontaneous.

But I won’t. When you look at these portraits taken at a Sydney Beach, you will see that for yourself. You will see they enjoyed milkshakes at the beach to celebrate Father’s Day as a storm brewed out at sea. You will see their connection, and their adoration for their Dad. These portraits are unposed, and captured in the moment. We love this man with all our hearts…and he loves us just the same.

This is 30 minutes in the life on Father’s day.

Now follow the circle on to Amanda Voelker Naples Photography, Italy Lifestyle Photographer. I promise you will love her work.

This week saw the end of Saturday morning winter sports. Our teams played hard, improved their fitness, and made new friends. These were our goals for joining competition sport, so there is a tick next to that box. But just quietly, I am enjoying a slower morning on Saturday. No need to jump up, and run around getting everyone ready and out the door on time. I wish I could say we are a well oiled machine, but there is always the last-minute search for socks, football booths, mouth guards, drink bottle etc. Now that the season is over, we can pause a little, and breathe in that Saturday morning “let’s stay in our pajamas and watch cartoons” feeling. Bliss!

This week we celebrated Father’s day. One of my husband’s favourite things to do is eat out for Breakfast. It is his favourite meal to eat at a restaurant. So we went to a breakfast  buffet, and  celebrated the amazing job he does as a father.  The kids were very excited, as it has been a while since enjoyed a buffet. And afterwards, we walked to the marina, and enjoyed some million dollar views.

Plus, as always, light, flowers, shadows, and connections captured my heart . I have received many comments about the flowers, and still life images that I include in my weekly collage, and I am so grateful. Seeing this beauty in my every day is what feeds my soul, and Dorothea Lange stated it best, “a camera is an instrument that teaches us to see without a camera.”

Now follow the circle to see what the amazingly talented Erin Konrath captured this week. You will love her work.

Recently, my sweet friend Amanda of Amanda Voelker Photography contacted me about a new idea. She wanted to create images inspired by poems and songs. I thought it was a great idea, and she created Poetique. Along with Nicki of  Nicki Bosch Photography, and a guest blogger,  we look to a different poem as our inspiration and  each post our interpretation as a single photo. Our first poem was ” The Summer day” by Mary Oliver.

My favourite lines from this poem are:

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do

 with your one wild and precious life?”

These words inspire me to take a chance, and step outside my comfort zone. To face into my fears,, and embrace each day as life is “wild” and “precious”. I am sure you may read another message from this poem, but that is the beauty of poetry. But how do I capture that in an image; one image only. I wasn’t sure. And where? Where would be the best place to capture the “wild” and  the “precious”. I had a few ideas bouncing around in my mind, but nothing was giving me that glow of “this is it!”. So I waited, and looked around my every day. I knew that glow would be there but I needed to be patient.

Then, as I drove my son to basketball, I found the wild and precious, and I knew instantly I would return later that day. The Australian bush is wild, and untamed. It’s beauty is something that I didn’t appreciate until we lived overseas. It was then that I realised that it’s beauty is it’s uniqueness. Once I was away from it every day, I began to see how precious it is. This beauty is something I appreciate so much more, and know that what we see as ugly can also be seen in a different light with all-seeing eyes. I want to include this landscape in more of my portraits, and knew it was time to step outside my comfort zone.

And although, I only needed one image for our page, I took many. Here are my favourites.

This week was filled with fun with friends, the start of spring, and a haircut that made me cry. Let me explain….

Our dearest family friends visited us in Sydney on the weekend. Their daughter was playing a game at half-time during one of the professional football matches. This is a great way for the kids to play in a big arena, and enjoy a once in a life-time experience. So we all went to cheer her on. It was a first for me, as I don’t follow this game…so I understood very little of what was happening on the field. It was cold, and raining, and I will honest to say that I struggled to enjoy these conditions. But when we saw her run on to the field, and then the huge smile that lit her face when she finished…well it was so worth it.

We celebrated the start of spring. Yippee! Flowers are starting to blossom, the days are a little warmer, and the afternoons are a little longer. I am ready for this season change, and I know I shouldn’t complain. In Sydney, the winter weather is mild compared to other cities. We don’t suffer through snow, or blizzards, and mostly we just need a thick jumper to keep us warm. But I love all of the four seasons, and I am ready to celebrate the arrival of spring.

And then my son went to the hairdressers with my husband. A simple task in an ordinary day. When they arrived back home, he waited at the door. He stood with his hands in his pockets (backlit for my photographer friends), looking like a million dollars in new clothes, and sporting a much shorter haircut. I burst into tears. It was not the reaction he was expecting…or me for that matter. But he is knocking on the door of the teenage years, and has grown and changed in the last few months. Just seeing him looking so grown up was too much for me. I blamed the tears on the onion I was cutting up for dinner, but the reality is that even though I capture my children every day, these changes can knock us over when we least expect it.

Now click on the link to see what captured Erica’s heart this week. Erica E Photography

One of my favourite songs at the moment is by Meghan Trainor, “All about that bass”. Not only is the music original but the words resonate with me:

I know you think you’re fat
But I’m here to tell ya
Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top

Yeah my mama she told me don’t worry about your size
She says, “Boys like a little more booty to hold at night.”
You know I won’t be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll
So if that’s what you’re into then go ahead and move along

I like these words because I have struggled with my weight most of my life. I have never been “no stick figure Barbie doll”. There is a lot of emotional baggage that comes with these feelings. Recently, I came to the conclusion that this is me, and “every inch is perfect from the bottom to the top”. I do need to manage exercise and make healthy choices. But I can’t put my life on hold while I make this happen.

And I say this here because I see many other Mothers doing the same thing. We escape from being in photos, delete those that we don’t like, and use filters in instagram to soften the edges. The number one reason why many delay professional portraits is to lose 5 kilos. “When I lose weight, I want you to take our portraits.” I think I would be a millionaire, well not quite, if I collected a dollar for every time I have heard this statement. Fast forward six months, and they say the same. I am not judging, as I do the same.

But here is the thing. Life doesn’t wait for us. We can delay portraits, escape from photos, or delete those images we don’t like. But while we do this, our children grow. They are six months older…then 12 months. They change, they are different.

This year, I started the “beauty of motherhood project”. My goal for this project is to capture the Mother-Child bond. To show the love we can’t always express in words for our children, and that connection we have with them. Although I have approached many Mums, I sadly hear how they need to make changes first. Our children don’t see our flaws, they only see how beautiful we are.

So one Sunday afternoon, when we spontaneously escaped our house after a week of rain, my eldest daughter captured this image of me with my youngest daughter. I am wearing no make-up, my hair is crazy, and I am dressed for comfort. But, I love this image. I love that my eyes are closed, and I am enjoying her kiss. I love that she is looking out of the corner of her eye, and that light is deliciously gorgeous. I am stepping in front of the camera more, and cherishing who I am as a Mother. And I hope other beautiful Mums will do the same.