Winter rose gardens

It's the beginning of Autumn here. :) I can't wait for a good day to go out and find it properly!
I am so far behind on posting about last year's seasons in the rose gardens though. Here is Winter, mostly from impromptu mini-clothing photoshoots...

(click for larger)

The best part about the sun setting so early in Winter is that it is beautiful timing to finish school for the afternoon, walk from there to the rose gardens, play in the park for two hours in wonderful light, and then enjoy the setting sun as we walk home again.











going home


This was also the evening we lost one of the bears... at the end of this walk through across the field! My young son remembered a few blocks away and we went back to rescue the bears, which he promptly wrote about in the little journal he had in his pocket. ♥

(The bears were found on the stone pathway. Can you tell? <3)

light-chasing

I wanted to thank Mini-Stylista for the lovely feature recently, and at Dream Beautiful Girl as well.

Both of the photos chosen are from my favourite part of the day to take photos, light-chasing in sunlight in the hour before sunset.
Sometimes we are not anywhere in particular, or anywhere like where I would REALLY love to be in beautiful light (summer field, etc, or anywhere really, with a less obtrusive background than the houses in our own immediate surroundings) but the light beckons and we just go out to play at this time, often with camera too.








In summertime it takes so long to wait for this light, and when it is here we sometimes delay bedtime and forget indoor entertainment to go outside and play.







And when we are home it really is light-chasing as the sunset light only falls in strips, for houses and trees block the low sunlight.

book love, and charlie and lola ♥

A little off-topic perhaps, but I absolutely love well written and illustrated children's books, and have been passionately interested in good quality children's books since my first child was very small.
I have to say, a post at some point about children's books and reading was probably inevitable, and my only uncertainty was whether to talk about them in this photo-centric journal, or to make a separate journal for all our book loves. We'll see...
.
Tonight, for fun, Lili (7) and I added a stack of our most favourite books to our Library Thing list, after tidying a bookshelf or two and getting nostalgic about our favourites.
We had a stack of books as high as the bed, which was most impressive! Meanwhile little Amélie made her own stack too.

I will make a list of our most favourite books too, and what we found useful for different ages. With three kids and a strong interest in books, there are a few! Also, anything listed on our Library Thing library is highly recommended, as we only added the best books.

Here's one recent favourite!
Anything and everything Charlie and Lola! Adore! ♥

lensbaby daydreams

Sometimes it is just perfect to be imperfect, forget technically good and just play.
To be childlike and see things in a different way...
No wonder I love lensbaby lenses. They are daydream-like, soft, selectively blurred, beautiful, and simply too much magical fun! We've had more than one otherwise ordinary hour enlivened by second hand vintage dresses, old toys, classic books and lensbaby play.

butterfly



jemima puddle-duck, beatrix potter



and i always love these
reading alice's adventures in wonderland
by lewis carroll xo




"Would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly 'why are you painting those roses?'



hearts



(hearts, dew and sunshine through autumn leaves. heart, aperture kit)

Also ♥s, love and a big thank you to the lovely Mini-Stylista

... for a lovely post
about Amelie Alice here... Amelie Alice Children’s Photography

Inspiration ~ Tereza Vlckova

Tereza Vlckova, an artist from Czechoslovakia, does not seem to have an online presence bar blog and tumblr love, mini-reviews, and a Paris art gallery listing.
Most of these feature two of her series (both of which are stunning!), two, and A perfect day, Elise.

Two



Besides the dramatic and intriguing, non-smiling 'twins' in nature elements, I love this first one in red the most, as I also have a thing for splashes of red in photographs at the moment. I have been keeping a look out for a red coat for my Amélie for months now, for this very reason. ;-)
In a similar way I love the green in the image below, and the red tights and red berries in the background.



You get the idea..
And, ah, are they true twins or not?
Yes and no. ;)
Which is which?




Another beautiful, and dreamlike series...

A perfect day, Elise

Three seasons of park avenue trees

In this second 'chapter' of my little photo story about our year in the rose gardens, I thought I'd show a little of how the changing seasons have been reflected in the lovely tree bordered avenue, which follows our little path to the rose gardens themselves.



We only just caught the last of Autumn last year, but here is our pathway, from late Autumn to early Spring...

late Autumn
May



Winter
June



(Don't be fooled by the short sleeve clothing, etc. Her clothing is a little misleading as we were photographing for other seasons ;). She had woollen layers underneath and coats soon after.



Winter, still
August




Spring
September






The smaller trees and sakura cherry blossom are, for one week, stunning!







(Rose gardens in other seasons:
Late Autumn
vintage summer eve)

The Best Polaroid Photo

Ahhhh, so much inspiration everywhere today!
I love and adore polaroid photos... so much! I wish I had my own sx-70, oh and plenty of film. ;)

So naturally I loved these finalists in The Best Polaroid photo competition, which is currently being run by Blur Magazine and The Impossible Project






There are several more finalists that you can vote for here

but I think I've chosen my favourites ♥