44/52

I thought I had posted these on Saturday... hmm obviously not. So better late than never, here is last week's portrait.

Boys. Sweet. Stubborn. Curious. Messy. Intelligent. Adventurous. Sweaty. Hungry. Loud. Energetic. Loving. Fearless. Playful. Mischievous. Happy.

The love and the laughter that fills the house with Jarvis and his adventurous spirit. Plus a Daddy all too willing to indulge a son's love of heights and acrobatics.

Jodi over at Che and Fidel has inspired me to pick up my camera and turn the focus inward. Since I already take 100s of photos of my children each week, so I thought I would twist the idea a little. What I never seem to get is group shots, images of the family together, whether it is my two children, Tamika and Jarvis, or me with the kids, or shots of Justin and I. So I am going to challenge myself to get one image of "my family" per week.

TOP 3, NO WAIT... CAN I HAVE 5?

It has taken me all morning to pick three. Who would have thought it so hard to edit 26 images. But I kept picking different images for different reasons. Then I realised all of the ones that I was really drawn to, are the one that show the connections of love. Which is the reason I decided to show family members together in the first place. For this post, I have converted all of the images to Black & White, so it is all about the love.

So of course my favourite had to include my babies together.

Justin and I together.

Jarvis and I

Justin and Jarvis

And us a group.

Okay, okay, so I know that is five, but Jodi’s project has given me that chance to do and show something that is so special to my heart. My family.

Ps: sorry Tira you did not get included, but you are also very important to me and my family. 

There are a few, Portrait a Week options out there. A lot involve taking a portrait of your children each week. Jodi over at Che and Fidel has inspired me to pick up my camera and turn the focus inward. Since I already take 100s of photos of my children each week, so I thought I would twist the idea a little. What I never seem to get is group shots, images of the family together, whether it is my two children, Tamika and Jarvis, or me with the kids, or shots of Justin and I. So I am going to challenge myself to get one image of "my family" per week.

TOURIST TUESDAY: SYDNEY PART FOUR

One of the main reasons we went to Sydney other than to see Justin photos on exhibition, was to enjoy the Vivid Festival. Vivid Sydney: the largest celebration of light, music and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere.

Raincoats were donned, and we caught the bus to the Harbour. All issues of trying to carry a child under a raincoat without my beloved sling were forgotten as soon as we saw the lights.

Over 60 light installations were present; the city of Sydney lit up in a festival dedicated to light, music and ideas. Easily one of the highlights of this year's Vivid, was seeing the sails of the iconic Sydney Opera House light up. Sydney-based creative agency Spinifex Group used a combination of light projection, video mapping, and motion graphics to create Play, the hallmark event of Vivid.

Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge was strung up with 100,800 individual programmable LEDs that constantly changed colours. Using a state-of-the-art custom-designed software program and an interactive touch screen interface, visitors at Luna Park boardwalk (from 6pm to midnight) were able to control individual sections of the bridge to light up, making it the very first time the public has been allowed to interact with the bridge in this capacity.

Vivid Light transformed the precinct into a spectacle of dancing water fountains, water screen projection performances and dazzling light and water shows. Jarvis was enraptured by the whole display. We ended up having to drag, a very happy, but sleepy baby off the piano to take him back to the B&B. I think we have a public performer on our hands.

Note: All of these images in this post were taken by Justin. It was too hard to take photos and to hold a toddler.

Don't forget to add this blog on Bloglovin. Oh and while you are in the sharing of love mood, jump onto this blog's Facebook page and give it a like! The links are to the top right of the blog. 

21/52

A brother, A father, A Son, A Nephew. An Uncle.

From all of the reading I have done on the topic of happiness, the most common theme, if not the most important factor in our happiness is the number of quality relationships in our lives. Generations ago, such relationships were easy to come by. People were very likely to be surrounded by their extended family as they grew up.

These days, many families live far apart, and family reunions are few and far between, often non-existent, it seems. But everybody still wants to belong, and family ties are just as important as they ever were.

Uncles have a unique and important role to play in families. The uncle role is especially important for men who are unmarried and don’t have children of their own. Bachelor uncles can bring another varied influence into a child’s’ lives. It’s hard to describe, but “undomesticated masculine energy” is the closest I have heard this role being described as.

So this week’s post is dedicated to Uncle Ken. 

There are a few, Portrait a Week options out there. A lot involve taking a portrait of your children each week. Jodi over at Che and Fidel has inspired me to pick up my camera and turn the focus inward. Since I already take 100s of photos of my children each week, so I thought I would twist the idea a little. What I never seem to get is group shots, images of the family together, whether it is my two children, Tamika and Jarvis, or me with the kids, or shots of Justin and I. So I am going to challenge myself to get one image of "my family" per week.