finding the right fit

Click Magazine-1While I love taking photos, sometimes I get in a rut and need inspiration or I think everything feels the same so I want to try new things and learn new techniques. But where to go? Often it is Pinterest, or a new online article, or perusing the book store but there is something about magazines that call to me. I don’t know if it is the pictures or the articles or even the advertisements or the combination of all those elements together. Photography magazines have beautiful photos of landscapes, interesting people and exotic animals but they don’t necessarily talk about capturing the story of the everyday. I finally found a magazine that was meant for me – Click Magazine. Click is the perfect combination of narrative, photography techniques, use of light, inspiration and so much more. There are six issues a year and I anxiously await each one. Click Magazine is a great place to start for people looking to tell stories through photos and improve their photography skills.

Advertisement

project life/365 – 12

This last week has been rough as we lost our sweet baby girl – Syberia.

Good-bye princess! I imagine her dancing among the grass chasing butterflies.PM7_6503

And some photos from this week….

The lone Elmo lost on the bench waiting for his home.Week 12-1

Our shadows.Week 12-2

Harry pretending to be grouchy dad. Watch out! Week 12-3

We still seem to be in the rainbow loom dragon phase. Meet Thunderdrom.Week 12-4

My goofy boys at dinner.Week 12-5

Science night at school – testing the laws of physics of force and pressure with a balloon.Week 12-6

On a field trip. Art at UCSD.Week 12-7

Hope you have a good weekend.

week in the life

What does a week in your life look like?

Week in the Life-2-Edit

For years, I have been taking one week of a year and going in depth with what a week looks like for our family, inspired by Ali Edwards. I usually take a week where I know it will be a fairly ordinary, average week (if that actually exists).

The following are examples of what I photograph and document:

  • what we are eating for breakfast
  • what morning hair looks like
  • the drive to school
  • what the pets are doing
  • what each of us is working on
  • what lunch looks like
  • what books we are reading
  • what school looks like
  • what projects my child is working on at school
  • what dinner looks like
  • what the nighttime routine looks like
  • what tv we are each watching
  • what shoes we are wearing
  • what hobbies/projects we are working on
  • what grocery shopping looks like
  • what receipts look like
  • what we are buying
  • what games we are playing
  • favorite toys
  • funny/ interesting facebook posts
  • what is  on our computers
  • laundry
  • the weather
  • friends
  • selfie photos
  • appts.
  • things we like
  • things we are struggling with
  • things that are motivating us
  • workouts
  • sports
  • sports practice
  • outside the window
  • gas prices
  • cleaning
  • lists
  • notes
  • asking questions of my family – what made you happy today? this week? what made you sad? what was your favorite part of the week? favorite moments?etc…

The list goes on and on. You will be amazed with all the parts that make up your story.

Week in the Life-1 Week in the Life-3-Edit Week in the Life-4-Edit Week in the Life-5-Edit Week in the Life-6-Edit Week in the Life-7-Edit Week in the Life-8-Edit Week in the Life-9-Edit Week in the Life-10-Edit Week in the Life-11-Edit Week in the Life-12-Edit Week in the Life-13-Edit Week in the Life-14-Edit Week in the Life-15-Edit Week in the Life-16-Edit Week in the Life-17-Edit Week in the Life-18-Edit Week in the Life-20 Week in the Life-21

I used Ali Edward 8.5 x 11 templates for my pages. Once I created my digital pages I put them together at Adoramapix. The quality of the book is just incredible – the vibrance of colors and clarity with thick lay flat pages.  This is one of my favorite photo book printers! My one and only complaint with the company having very specific page count restriction is now gone, you can choose exactly how many pages work for you (up to 76 pages). This project is so worth it!

project life/ 365 – 10 (part five)

The final parts of our Costa Rican Adventures…..

Aren’t they cute when they sleeping?Costa Rica-106

The very elusive toucan.Costa Rica-109

The toucan in flight. (It is not the greatest photo technically but how neat to capture a toucan in flight).Costa Rica-110

Paddle battling before white water rafting. Costa Rica-111

That is the tiniest frog. Costa Rica-113

Enjoying a new day at our fancy hotel in Guanacoste.Costa Rica-115

The kids had an evening to themselves and they all colored shirts. This is Harry’s version.Costa Rica-116

If you are last to arrive you must dance down the aisle to “Hakuna Matata”.Costa Rica-117

Flying, spinning Devil Rays.Costa Rica-120

Off on snorkeling adventures.Costa Rica-122

He is either singing or pontificating.Costa Rica-123

And life is excellent with a virgin pina colada nearby.Costa Rica-124

Relaxing after a long day in the sun.Costa Rica-126

Enjoying my newly created mojito (from the mojito making class).Costa Rica-127

Trying to do some last minute stocking up on all things good Costa Rican – coffee and chocolate!!!Costa Rica-128

Not really ready to go home yet.Costa Rica-130

 

Thanks for coming on this journey with me.

project life/365 – 10 (part four)

The adventure continued near the Arenal Volcano….

We were so lucky to see the top of the volcano as we were told it is a rare sight.Costa Rica-87  Ready for zip lining.Costa Rica-89  Almost 2 miles of zip line. Definitely not my thing but I was very proud to have made it through.Costa Rica-91 Costa Rica-92 Harry was too little (weight wise) to go by himself, not that he didn’t want to.Costa Rica-93Love the heliconia – the vibrant color, the unique shape. Costa Rica-94 Postcards in the town of La Fortuna.Costa Rica-95 Beautiful colored sarongs enticing shoppers and giving a flavor of the  town.Costa Rica-96 Mosaics everywhere.Costa Rica-97 Painting gourds with indigenous Maleku tribe of Costa Rica. “Capy Capy” means a warm welcome.Costa Rica-98 Costa Rica-99 Lots of Marco Polo playing at the pool.MS3_5952 Sunset over the Arenal Volcano.Costa Rica-104 Enjoying the natural Hidalgo Hot Springs.Costa Rica-105

 

More to come…..

project life/365 – 10 (part three)

On to day 3 of our crazy Costa Rican Adventures by Disney…

I love butterflies and they were absolutely everywhere. Costa Rica-61 Another boat cruise through the canals. Along the way we encountered this tree full of Howler Monkeys.Costa Rica-62  And some close-ups of the Howler monkeys. Just amazing to see them in their natural environment. Swinging through the trees.Costa Rica-64 Costa Rica-66The little one holding on is just precious.Costa Rica-67 A beautiful house along the way.Costa Rica-69 A rhino beetle.Costa Rica-70It actually felt soft and fuzzy. Costa Rica-71  Enjoying the playground at our lunch restaurant.Costa Rica-72It is important to stay protected from the rain. Costa Rica-73There is something so beautiful about cemeteries.Costa Rica-74 Time for an incredibly silly, laugh your a$$ off pineapple tour. Patrick joined in the fun.PM7_0252 There is nothing like fresh pineapple from the fieldCosta Rica-78 It is imperative to enjoy floofy pineapple drinks when on a pineapple tour.Costa Rica-83 The photobomb trend was in full force on the trip and Harry couldn’t resist.Costa Rica-82 We finally saw the elusive sloth.Costa Rica-79 Costa Rica-80 Enjoying the stories along the bus journey.Costa Rica-85 I can’t resist a good fruit stand, the colors, the smell, the mouth-watering goodness.Costa Rica-86

And still more to come…

project life/365 – 10 (part two)

And the adventure continues….

Today we started off at the airport – playing “Who can stand on one leg the longest?”Costa Rica-17 Boarding our tiny airplane.Costa Rica-18 Selfie with my son.Costa Rica-19 View from the sky.Costa Rica-20 Harry’s found object collage upon landing on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.Costa Rica-21 Beautiful mosaics at the Laguna Lodge in Tortuguero.Costa Rica-22 Costa Rica-23 A boat trip through the canals of Tortuguero National Park. A lizard.Costa Rica-24  An Emerald Basilisk.Costa Rica-26  Another Emerald Basilisk.Costa Rica-28 A selfie with my hubby.Costa Rica-30 A monkey in the rainforest. We saw 3 different types of monkeys – Spider, Howler and Capuchin.Costa Rica-31 A turtle.Costa Rica-32 A family shot in the rainforest.Costa Rica-33 The next Indiana Jones?Costa Rica-34 A scary looking Cayman.Costa Rica-35 This is probably my favorite shot of the whole trip. Do you see the tiny bugs heading for a feast?Costa Rica-36  The flowers are insanely bright. Costa Rica-38 Odd trash can art in Tortuguero village.Costa Rica-39 Lots of colorful walls that make you smile.Costa Rica-40 Costa Rican gourd art.Costa Rica-41 Having a leisurely moment in the hammock back at the hotel.Costa Rica-42 Drawing some tree fruit for his Field Guide.Costa Rica-45 Loving all the specialty fruit drinks at dinner.Costa Rica-46 Time to relax and be goofy.Costa Rica-47 Dancing time with the Caribbean rhythm.Costa Rica-48 And limbo time.Costa Rica-49 Costa Rica-50 Costa Rica-51 He was so cheating.Costa Rica-52 Musical chairs.Costa Rica-53 Costa Rica-54 And then it was down to two.Costa Rica-57A small detour to look for frogs in the garden where they only come out at night. Who can resist a frog scavenger hunt?Costa Rica-58Costa Rica-60

 

Good night. More to come…..

project Life/ 365 – 10 (part one)

We were lucky enough to spend spring break in Costa Rica with Adventures by Disney so I have A LOT of photos.

We had the day free in San Jose, Costa Rica so we decided to check out the kids museum (Museo del Los Ninos). Here we are trying on traditional storytelling masks.Costa Rica-14 Like we don’t have enough earthquakes, let’s try an earthquake simulator.Costa Rica-13 My husband as a bug.Costa Rica-10 Dancing away in the disco room.Costa Rica-12 Costa Rica-4 Working on my flossing techniques.Costa Rica-9 Harry is a little obsessed with all things teeth.Costa Rica-7Playing on a giant chess board. Costa Rica-6 and of course the museum ends at the candy.Costa Rica-1 A really cool art piece outside the National Museum.Costa Rica-2 This building just makes me happy.Costa Rica-11 The artisan market.Costa Rica-15 Costa Rica-5 Just being silly.Costa Rica-16

 

More to come……