Take Your Holga to Work Day!!

Take your Holga to Work Day . . . is that a thing? It should be.

Obviously as a photographer I do take my Holga to work.

Since I like getting paid to spend time with my kid, for a few hours every week I have another job. I am a certified Parent Child Mother Goose teacher. What is that? From the site: "The Parent-Child Mother Goose Program® is a group experience for parents and their babies and young children which focuses on the pleasure and power of using rhymes, songs, and stories together. Parents gain skills and confidence which can enable them to create positive family patterns during their children's crucial early years, and give their children healthy early experiences with language and communication."

So basically it means I get paid to teach songs and rhymes to kids and their parents and I get to do this with my own kid on my hip. It is the best job in the world (next to being a child/family photographer!!).

One recent day I took my Holga to work. A small room with nary a window in sight. Flash it up.

Let me sing you through these photos:

♪♫ Look at all the bunnies sleeping
'Till it's nearly noon
Come and let us gently wake them
With our merry tune
Oh so still
Are they Ill?



Noooooo!
Hop little bunnies
Hop, hop, hop
Hop little bunnies
Never stop ♪ ♫



Listening intently:



♪ ♫ Here is a beehive
but where are the bees
hidden away here nobody sees
see them come creping out of their hive
1, 2, 3, 4, 5! ♪ ♫



♪ ♫ Shoofly, don't bother me
Shoofly, Don't bother me
Shoofly, Don't bother me
I belong to somebody
I feel, I feel, I feel like a morning star
I feel, I feel, I feel like a morning star
I feel, I feel, I feel like a morning star
Shoofly, don't bother me
'Cause I belong to somebody! ♪ ♫



Since I've done it once I just might do it again. ;)

Mummers Parade

So just before Christmas this fair town held a mummers parade. What is a mummer you ask? Well, according to an online dictionary it is "A masked or costumed merrymaker, especially at a festival." In Newfoundland this definition needs further explanation. Around these parts, it was tradition to dress up in any random clothes, underwear and sheets and go visiting house to house at Christmastime. The idea is to hide ones identity, knock on a door and ask "any Mummers 'lowed in?". If the answer is yes then in they go, to dance or play music and generally carry on. Usually the host will offer a drink or treat. The host is to try and guess the identity of the mummers. Then on to the next house they go.

Today this tradition is dying away. In this era of making an appointment to visit three weeks in advance, and text message confirmation, the idea of dropping n unannounced is losing favour.

Well a mummers parade is the next best thing. So a group was formed and people came out, dressed as foolish as they could. Myself and the family joined in the fun. My kids were so into it they must have had a hundred extra items on. We had about a 1/2 hour parade through the streets, ending at the Rooms for snacks and music. It was a blast and I hope that it becomes a yearly event.

P.S. I'd let mummers in at Christmastime. ;) No text messages needed.

Here are my kids and my husband and myself. I can't tell you who is who, that would spoil the fun.









There were a dozen or so great horse puppet things. If I can figure out what they are called I'll come back and edit this post!! This wooden one was a standout.






March march march.



We arrive!

Bookworm and c-c-c-color

This session was a repeat client. I love repeat clients because nothing says *happy customer* better than a new booking. It is also nice to see kids grow up. I'm like an auntie: pinching their cheeks and clutching my pearls at how much they've grown since I saw them last!

This little one is a real bookworm. Mom wanted that captured and I was happy to oblige.




She also has some great toddler hair.



Since this was a repeat client I thought we would do something CRAZY!! Colour. Colour in the Holga. What fun!! I just might think of doing more colour once in a while.

Our friend Olivia

So a while back my boy dropped my Bronica. That's right. Like a scene from a movie I dove in a slow motion attempt to catch it . . . and missed by a centimeter. I gasped and cried when I saw it fall into pieces.

After scooping up the bits I laid them aside and refused to deal with it. I thought by putting it out of my head I'd manage to save my relationship with my kid. ;)

Well a few weeks later I was growing very tired of tiny 35mm negatives and thought it time to deal with the Bronica. I pulled it all out and sat down and sized up the damage. The viewfinder and the lens were a loss. Busted. The body though, I thought I'd try and repair. It took some very tiny screwdrivers, a pair of pliers and a hammer . . . but I fixed it! I ordered another viewfinder and waited for it to show up.

One day Olivia was at my house with her brother and mother for a playdate. Having recently received the viewfinder I used her to test the newly repaired camera . . . lo and behold it works! I am very excited.

In an ironic twist one of my 35mm bodies went on the fritz at a recent session. Luckily I have more than a couple of 35mm bodies and it was fine . . . but it pushed me to order more medium format gear. And with that I thank every photographer that goes digital and sells their medium format gear on ebay for a steal. You just made my day.

Anyway . . . here is Olivia, so big that she can hold her bottle. That IS big!

Birthday boy!!

A few days late, but Happy Birthday to my favorite guy! He is the big 3!!

He is no longer a baby. It makes me sad to think there are no more babies in the house. Never say never, but never is looking likely. Having bigger kids around is a constant reminder that as cute as babies are they turn into kids. Buggers. When I expressed my no-babies-sadness to my husband he said "sure, lets get a litter of kittens while we are at it!! I *get it*.

I'm still sad though. Look at his sweet face. Each kid I have is so amazing that it makes me want to try and see what the next one will be like. Roll the genetic dice one more time.

This guy is not a baby. He pees in the toilet and using manners and has not ridden in the sling in months. He can draw faces and play hockey and has time outs.

I love him to pieces. Every night I tell him that he is *the best best boy in the whole wide world* and he replies in his sweet little voice *you are the best best mommy in the whole wide world*. I say thanks. He says your welcome. Then I turn out the light and say goodnight. It is the best. Actually, the best best in the whole wide world. :)

In the trees (St. John's Newfoundland Photographer)

This is a session from the fall. Why I have not scanned it is based only on my irritation with the scanner and has nothing to do with these images.

I loved this session! It was set up as a gift for Grandma. Images with Grandma and the boys.

I was happy to pull up and see wonderful trees and land. I was greeted by the delightful older boy who came out and showed me around. The rest of the gang were equally great. One of the nicest families I have met in a long long time. As a result it was a favorite session that had me struggling to chose just a few to scan. ;)



Hammock and holga.



Hammock and not a holga. :)



Baby was just starting to walk with help. He was loving it.



I may or may not have tricks to getting kids to open up. If I do, and I'm not saying that's true, this guy might have been trying to figure me out. I'm not saying that he was. ;)



Mom jumped in a few. This driveway had me wishing I'd drive to end of it to find my own little house.

I Wish I had a Little Red Box . . .

Sing along . . .

I wish I had a little red box
to put my best friends in
I'd take them out and go
kiss, kiss, kiss
and put them back again . . .

Can you hear me? I am an excellent singer of kids songs. I know many many many. That particular song captivated this little guy to no end. In face it was the only thing that made him sit still.



He was a firecracker and his energy provided me with a favorite image.



The session was really for little brother. Isn't he a handsome baby? I think so.

Hey it's Michelle from CooChiCoo!

CooChiCoo, a unique boutique for moms, infants and toddlers, is located at 655 Tosail Rd. Inside you will find all the great stuff they carry, a nice sized display of my work, and behind the counter you will often find the owner, Michelle.

Michelle just had her second baby and I was happy to do some updated family portraits for her. Here they are!

Superman and Barbie in the suds

I wanted to share a quick Holga shot of my two youngest. Make that my two youngest and Barbie and Superman. ;) I love that despite being almost 5 years apart these two love nothing more than a tandem bubble tub.