My little blog that I love so much has been a bit neglected the last few weeks. Sometimes life just gets in the way. We had some dear friends visit from the UK who we hadn’t seen for two years, the kids had school holidays, Will played with his Auskick mates at the MCG – halftime during the Anzac Day game, we got to hang out with our gorgeous family while I photographed my aunt’s wedding in Canberra, Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy have both stopped by, the kids had sleepovers, Imogen has attacked “dress-up phase” with a passion, Model for a Day photo sessions were launched, Royal Wedding and 40th Birthday dinners have been attended… I am so grateful to be this busy. Where would we be without family and friends to enjoy, and a beautiful blog to journal it on?
These photos are from my outing with Imi in Central Park. We went to lunch, bought a book, listened to the opera singing busker in the tunnel, searched for squirrels and wandered through the Park until the lamplights came on and it was so dark we lost our bearings and ended up on the wrong side of the park and were late for meeting up with Dave and couldn’t find the subway so had to catch a cab which we really loved because it had a TV screen in the back of the seat showing the news and a map. Imi kept pressing the buttons and I kept saying, stop pressing the buttons. x
I love how she reads her book “teacher style”, holding it so I can see the pictures.
Our holiday is starting to feel like a distant dream, so I thought I should post a few more photos from New York to reminisce. Many people have asked me what lenses I used for all my holiday shots. Mostly, I was walking around with my 50mm f/1.2.
They do love their flags in the States.
I cannot even put into words the thrill I felt seeing steam come out of the road like this. It really happens, and it looks so New Yorky when it does
Jaz and I had a girly day in New York — shopping, photo-taking, video-making, lunch at the Time Warner Center and then walking hand in hand through Central Park. I LOVE having one-on-one days with my babes.
We always stop for buskers. The kids love to enjoy the talent and drop a few dollars for the privilege. I never want them to ignore someone putting themselves out there There are buskers everywhere in New York — and it simply adds to the diversity and eclectic makeup of the city.
View from Time Warner Center, looking across Central Park to Upper East Side.
New York was the one place I had my camera permanently turned on. I love urban spaces and I loved New York and I couldn’t stop taking photos. On a bitterly cold Sunday we caught the subway to the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge and walked across it. The bridge is busy. Cyclists, runners, mums and dads power walking with prams, tourists and everyday commuters.
We didn’t realise we would be able to see the Statue of Liberty from the bridge and this was our first view of it (too far away to photograph), but we were all very excited to see it. The kids are great to travel with – loads of questions about each place. Here they are learning about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.
New York – what can I say? Simply amazing. One week and we barely touched the sides. The kids and I spent the entire week with our cameras in hand. Jaz and Will made awesome little videos on the trip complete with commentary (very cute).
Before we hit Angelo’s Pizza for the most incredible pizza we have tasted, we did Top of the Rock – the 80-something-th floor of the Rockefeller Center. I adore the mish-mash of buildings that make up Manhattan — a true urban jungle.
I am enlarging one of the first four photographs for our home – which one do you think it should be?
We are home from our super-fab family holiday. This post is being written at 3.35am – so jetlag is alive and well. The trip was incredible – everything we had imagined and more for our first o/s holiday with the kids. They travelled so well – long flights, long drives, new accommodation every couple of days, hours of walking every day, staying up late, sleeping in… they handled it all beautifully.
We are glad to be home as well. There is nothing quite like your own bed. And my gorgeous little business is needing my attention, so I’m happy to throw myself back into it – rejuvenated and full of ideas. If you are waiting to hear from me with regard to sessions or workshops, I promise your reply is coming.
A few more holiday posts to come for the blog.
Santa Barbara — we loved. The Spanish heritage of this city has produced the most amazing architecture. The weather was perfect (clearest of blue skies), the pace slow, the food delicious, the shopping easy — we had such a heavenly time there.
We visited the Mission (on Ash Wednesday of all days!)
State Street is perfect for mooching around – shopping, eating, drinking, photo-taking…
And the foreshore. We drove back to LA that night with three tired, happy, soaking wet children
We could hardly take a trip to the US without making a stop at Disneyland. I am a little anti theme park, and with the weakest of stomachs most certainly am anti-rides. But this was 3 days we needed to have for the kids and it was everything that Disneyland promises. A very magical experience for the children, particularly Imogen. I highly recommend taking children when they are so young — she was in constant awe and her little face was just priceless.
The queues can be out of this world. Jaz and Will were very keen for me to experience Pirates of the Caribbean (which they had already been on a few times), so we lined up for over 45mins (a short queue). It was amazing – but 45 mins?
By the end of the 3 days we were completely and utterly wrecked. Our legs barely worked. We had done “extreme-Disneyland” and for the four days following in LA, we just relaxed — in the form of swimming, parking and slow-paced shopping
When Imogen saw this statue she called out, “oh look, it’s Mickey and his Dad!”
In the tea-cups.
On a river ride… can’t remember which. RE the Minnie hat… there was no way we were leaving the store without that hat. She was desperate!
As we were driving out of Bryce Canyon en route to Grand Canyon, we tried the view one more time to see if visibility had improved. No, it hadn’t, but was beautiful nonetheless.
The drive from B.C. to G.C. was loooooong and boooooooring. It all looked a bit like this.
And we finally arrived, just before sunset and this was our first view of Grand Canyon. We weren’t disappointed.
Even after so many hours couped up the car, the kids indulged me for a few photos.
We joined the babes up for the Junior Ranger Program, more to give them the workbook not thinking they would really participate, and they ended up LOVING it and it really made our Grand Canyon experience so fun. Here they are being sworn in by Ranger Pete Peterson.
It was fascinating how the Canyon’s colours changed so dramatically at different times of the day.
We have a few more days in LA before heading to New York, which is the absolute highlight of this holiday for me. New York, I cannot wait for you!! x
We are on Day Two of Disneyland, which is so gorgeous. I really wish I lived in a cottage a-la Snow White. After a morning of Disney fun Dave takes the older two for the more adventurous rides and I take Imi back to the hotel to give her a rest. It has given me a bit of time to catch up on some photos.
After the first 24hrs of the “can’t see one foot in front of us”, “too dangerous to drive”, “why isn’t anything open” snow storm of Bryce Canyon, it stopped snowing and the roads were ploughed just enough for us to get a small way into the National Park. Only one lookout point was open.
The kids were still in snow heaven.
Dave doesn’t use a blue man-bag with buckles – this is my camera bag
And then the cold reached her little paws and she wasn’t happy
So with Bryce Canyon pretty much closed, we drove to Zion National Park – which was beautiful.
By the time we returned to Bryce Canyon, the sun was coming out and while still freezing, we could see a bit more of the canyon.
FYI for Photographers – Most of these were shot on the Canon 35mm lens. I have never noticed barrel distortion with this lens when shooting portraits but it was very evident in the landscape shots. I corrected this with the Distortion feature in Lightroom 3. Have never use it before but it worked a treat!
