Simmons Family Portraits- Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow

I met Sarah at the playground last spring. My daughter was running around playing on the equipment as was her son, while she tended to her baby girl and chatted with another parent. I couldn't help but overhear that she was new to Glasgow, but it was the non-British accent that I honed in on first. I'm not ashamed to admit that I gravitate towards North American voices as I (usually correctly) guess that they are like me and an ex-pat. I jumped into the friendly conversation about being new and basically told her that I had been in her place the year before and completely understood what it was like to have landed in a new place with your family and not know how to get involved and meet people.

I didn't hear from her for a little while, but when we connected again we ended up really getting to know each other and her son and my daughter soon became really good friends. It didn't hurt that they lived next to the park and Kiona got to go play with all of Oliver's different toys!

They moved back to the States in the fall and while it was only a short time they were in Glasgow, I know they really came to it enjoy it here as I have. When she asked me to take some portraits of them so they could remember their time here I was really excited! I just knew that we had to take them at Kelvingrove Park, which had figured into their lives so much while they were here.

We did the session in the morning and boy was it chilly! It was October and I was worried we'd all freeze, but it turned out to be a bright and sunny day and we were glad for the warmth of the sun.

I arrived early at their flat while they were finishing getting ready and then we headed out. One of the special things they wanted was a picture in front of the door of their building. They lived in these gorgeous Victorian tenement flats and the oversized black door was such a lovely back drop!

We basically wandered the park, stopping at favourite places and it was a very relaxed session, even with little Oliver running excitedly all over the place! Having a small child of my own, I knew exactly how it was so we just went with it.

Some of my favourite moments were when Oliver spotted a cat on the other side of a wrought iron fence and when Emma was getting upset and Sarah was swinging her into the air to get her to laugh. It's all the little things parents do for their kids and it gave me warm fuzzies to capture those moments.

Normally I would have blogged about this way earlier, but they wanted to give away pictures to their families for Christmas and I didn't want to spoil the surprise for them! It was such a great experience for me and I'm really grateful for the internet so we can still keep in touch! The world really does get smaller and smaller, doesn't it?

Thank you Sarah and Johnny for letting me be a part of a little farewell to Glasgow. I had a great time!

And now some of my favourite images:

Summer Gardens

There are a few folks in my neighbourhood with definite green thumbs and a love of beautiful plants and flowers. One of the interesting things I love doing is really just observing how my neighbourhood changes through the seasons. With my camera of course!

With our late spring and even later start to summer (it may have come and gone, but hard to say for sure yet), it took awhile for even the basic spring flowers to show themselves. But now that it's June and the warm days arrived for a spell, the gardens are bursting with colour! Don't believe me? Check this out:

A Photographic Walkabout in Glasgow's West End

Summer seems to have graced us here in Scotland. Or at least we're hoping it intends to stick around a little while. It's been warm and dry most days and that means lots of time spent outside. Of course I have my camera with me!

In fact, I recently was able to upgrade my camera and boy am I glad I made the move! For most photographers, it's usually best to invest in lenses first and upgrade camera bodies in certain situations, like mine where my camera was entry level and several years old. My skills have progressed so much in this time and knowing where I want to be able to go allowed me to see that, yes, it was time to move on.

Enter my Nikon D7000 and brand new Tamron lens (a 28-75mm, 2.8 for those of you who are familiar with lens lingo). We're really getting to know each other and I think it was the best decision I could have made. The new equipment will allow me to actively pursue portrait photography, which I am so excited about and can't wait to share more about with you! It's weather sealed and the image are able to be enlarged a great deal without losing quality, which is very important to me.

I love living in the west end of Glasgow. It's a vibrant place full of people and parks and lots of interesting things to do. I'm often walking various parts of it as part of my daily routines and it's not uncommon that I'd have my camera with me.

Taking advantage of a beautiful evening on the weekend, my daughter and I went out to the shops to run some errands. But I paused frequently to document some lovely things that caught my eye:

All the trees are leafy and in bloom right now.

Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery

University of Glasgow as seen from Partick Bridge

Cheers! ~Lindsay

Photo of the Day: Vintage Bike

I love documenting my own neighbourhood. There's something wonderful about coming across things you've never seen, or watching gardens bloom and die. Simple things really, but it requires active observation, participation really, in the world around you.

Something new appeared the other week:

Photo of the Day: Unfolding

Oh the photo editing! It certainly takes time to wade through my images, edit and convert, but it's a process I actually quite enjoy.

Especially when you get things like this:

I prefer it much better in black and white than in colour.

Photo of the Day: Simple Loves

I'm a coffee addict.

Yes, it's very true. I love the smell of it and the warmth of the mug in my hands. I prefer mine with a very small amount of sugar (like 1/4 of a teaspoon in a large latte mug) and some milk. More than brewed coffee though, I love espresso drinks and the mix of the bitter, rich espresso and the slightly sweet milk. I make my lattes vanilla ones, and drink my mochas with a small amount of whipped cream. From my favourite Seattle-based chain, I love a good caramel macchiatto.

Really though, I love the atmosphere of coffee shops and watching the people come and go. One of my dear friends and I had coffee dates where we chose our seats specifically to be able to look out over the street or out windows and observe the world go by as we caught up on our lives and enjoyed the company of someone who would always be there for you.

It's In the Details...

A somewhat sunny weekend allowed us to escape the city for a bit and explore the area around us. It was a reminder that not only do I really like Glasgow as a city, but that Scotland is truly a beautiful place as well.

Here are some images for architectural and man made details from out trip to Dumbarton and Dumbarton Castle.

Whatever Camera is on Hand

I've been using the camera on my iPhone a lot lately and I think I've got some of the quirks figured out…

Sweet Peas

I love Spring! With the warmer and slightly drier weather comes a plethora of wonderful blooms just waiting to be photographed. Whether it's cherry blossoms or the ever prolific daffodils, I could spend hours outside.

However, sometimes it's also the flowers in the shops that catch my eye. On our main road through the West End, Byers Road, we have a few supermarkets that often carry flowers, as well as a few smaller shops of free standing vendors tempting you to take home a small bouquet.

Stepping into one shop yesterday, I smelt these exquisite blossoms before I even saw them and despite my limited shopping budget as of late, I couldn't help but place them in my basket.

Sweet peas remind me of my childhood and summer days spent wandering through my mom's amazing gardens, checking to see what new things had bloomed and what vegetables were making an appearance. Their sweet fragrance is one I can pick out of perfumes and just one inhalation makes me feel calm and happy.

Photo Shoot: Hypertension

Looking out at the sky in the morning before I left I was really, really hoping that the weather would cooperate with us… and it did! It was a slightly cold and grey day, but the lighting was perfect for the look we were wanting to achieve. I hinted at an upcoming project that I was hoping was going to happen, and I'm so excited to say that yep, it did happen- last weekend as a matter of fact.

A conversation with a friend of mine who is half of a two-member band ended up with me offering to do a photo shoot for them as they were just about to release their second album. Fran Murphy and Mark Barry from Hypertension are two of the nicest guys around and are really passionate about their music. You should pop by the linked site for a listen to their fun alternative/electronic sound!

In their stomping ground of Paisley, Scotland, we wandered about looking for interesting places to use for the shoot. I don't know about you, but I really love what we found. They were a lot of fun to work work, with lots of jokes going around, but then again what do you expect from two great friends? They had me laughing a lot and it was definitely a relaxed session.

Thanks guys, I really enjoyed this and look forward to our future collaborations!

Road Trip Chronicles

Having lived in Vancouver and having our families in different places, I did a lot of travelling back and forth. For a year I went back and forth between Vancouver and Victoria before my future husband and I lived together. I have so many images from the 1.5 hour ferry trip over the years.

His family lives in the interior of the province, so the 5 hour drive to Kelowna is one I know well also.

I've been delving into old photos from the last 7 years and have found many great shots. Thought it would be fun to show you some of the travel photos. :) Here's the first batch:

Unabashed Photography

Part of my growth as a photographer has been getting over looking silly. I mean, let's face it, sometimes in order to get the perfect shot that's captured your eye, you either need to be rather brazen or perhaps do something unconventional to get it.

If you're concerned about what others might think when you're in the process of getting that picture, you probably won't even try to take it. And that's a shame. I won't say that I've completely gotten over it, but I'm better than I used to be. I do have to remind myself that photography is about capturing a moment and telling a story, about looking deeper and seeing more. This is how the viewer of our images learns and grows with us.

I had a wonderful moment when I was out on the weekend. First off I should state that in taking advantage of the amazing sunshine, I took over 200 photos. Now I have to edit and convert the best of them, which is a time consuming process. In any case, I was walking by the water treatment station in our area, which is in this very old sandstone building. Ever addicted to reflections, this one caught my eye. But the painted metal fence was in the way, so I had to get right up against it and poke my lens between the top of two bars. A man was walking behind me and I could practically feel his gaze burning holes through me! It was as if there were thought bubbles creeping out that said, "What the hell is she even looking at?" He slowed as he passed and seemed to be trying to figure it out.

I love that. It is after the beauty of photography and I think what most people who consider themselves an artist wish to achieve: making someone look, question and wonder.

This is the image that I was taking:

When all you've got is...

There is a well known (and probably over used) saying that the best camera is the one you have on you. There are lots of articles and tips out there for using the camera on your mobile phone and if you have a phone with this ability, you'll probably agree that it's a wonderful thing. Sometimes, I just can't lug my DSLR around with me (or don't want to). Or maybe I'm in a situation that would be creepy to be running around with a camera snapping photos (like in play centres with other kids running around when all I want is a snapshot or two of my daughter playing). Getting comfortable taking pictures in public without worrying about what others thing is still something I'm working on, but meanwhile I love my iPhone for it's portability and capability to take a photo no matter where I am.

It has it's limitations for sure. It can't handle low light or motion well at all, resulting in very grainy or blurred iamges. Sometimes though, the effects are really cool, but often they result in photos that get sent to my computer's trash bin.

But not always.

I'm learning to explore the idea of fine art photography on my phone (it's sort of the latest "trend" in the photo world) and am looking forward to seeing what goodies come out of my experimentation. Here are a few of the things my little phone can do: