BEHIND THE SCENES

I haven't yet posted any of the pictures of me shooting people (no wonder, who would?!))... with my camera. Here is the only behind the scenes image that I have from a last year's wedding. I hope to get a video this year, like a short film about who I am and what I do, and how I do it. I will definitely share it with you as soon as it's done, but for now here I am:

WALKING THE STREETS OF LONDON

Couple of days ago I've decided that it's enough and decided to go into the city. Enough, because I stayed in the house for the last 2 weeks... This fact doesn't make me proud of myself, cause being in London and staying in if you don't really have any work to do - is a sin. So, I grabbed my camera and went out. Because I'm new to the city, I'm mostly staying on a common track and only occasionaly turning into an odd street. But I promise I'll get off the beaten path soon! I went along the Thames, crossed Tower Bridge and went into the direction of The Gherkin (which I think is a weird name for that buiding). I was surprised how quiet it was once I got away from the main street. I wouldn't expect to see narrow, sort of comfy little streets with churches and little cafes and pubs and jewellery shops. To me it looked like they have a life of their own despite being surrounded by massive concrete and glass office world. Below are some urban shots of London (well, a wee tiny bit of it):

VALUE OF A PHOTOGRAPH

Couple of weeks ago I was asked to restore some old photographs. I must say I looove old photographs! I love to just hold them or look at them even though I might not even know people I'm looking at. There is just something about them that attracts me, some mystery maybe. I'm asking myself, who were those people? How did they live? What kinda world did they live in? We all know history, but knowing it is one thing, to live through it is another. I remember my grandmother used to show me old photos every time we were coming over to visit her. They were dating back to 1910 and 1920 (OMG, I've just realized it's like a century ago!). It fascinates me now, even thinking about it! And I'm also thinking about the way photography has transformed and developed since then. But despite that, the core of it is still the same. We are taking pictures of our loved ones because we want to remember them the way they are. We want to freeze a particular moment in time, because looking back at it will bring a smile to our faces. Mum wants to capture smiles of her baby. Grandchildren want to take a photo of their grandfather sittting in a chair and smoking a pipe. Moments of our lives captured on a camera are timeless. And a photograph is priceless, because it's not a paper, it's our life...

DESTINATION WEDDINGS

This year I'm shoooting two destination weddings which I'm very excited about. The first one will be in Russia in summer time and I'll be travelling to Crete for the second one. I soooo cant's wait! When I meet the couple and I know that I'm going to be their photographer - it's one of the best feelings ever! If the bride and groom are as excited as I am, we all get involved! We start to share ideas about how to make their wedding unusual and how to incorporate photography into it. I usually don't sleep the night after the meeting, cause I start to see pictures in my head, how I want the couple to look in the best possible light, what's the best location to take them to, that will sorta reflect their personalities, I imagine the whole process in my head! I can't wait to share the images with you after! Below are two photos from the last year's wedding. Enjoy and I'll talk to you later! )))

LOADZA CHANGES

Sooo, I've totally abandoned my blog in the last month... Every day I felt bad about not writing anything, but I was in the process of moving to UK and every day I thought "ah, I'll start posting again when I'll be settled" and stuff like that. Even if I had nothing to do during any particular day, I had a feeling that I'm going somewhere and if I'll start writing then I'll have to leave it and finish when I arrive to the point of my destination which was London. So, here I am! Hello big city lights! There have been a lot of changes in my life recently indeed. I moved to London together with my husband. We had been apart for 4 weeks and it was really-really hard. We missed simple things about each other like holding hands when going for a walk, talking about everything and anything, sleeping on each other's laps in airports and so much more. In the last month I probably travelled for about 10000 miles. And I did a lot of waiting... Waiting to see my love again, waiting in the airports, waiting in the train stations, waiting for buses and cars, waiting for letters, waiting to see my family and friends, agh! I think the photo below describes my state of mind in the last month. Anyways, I'm glad to be finally settled now, I'm very excited to be in London and I cant wait to do all sort of exciting things! I'll be posting updates about my London journey together with photo-reports!

LITTLE MIRACLE

I've wrote about Ciara before when she was only 11 months old. She grew up soooo much since then! She learned to walk and all she is saying now is "What's this?" and "What's that?". She is a proper woman  - loves jewellery, loves buttons, and getting moody when something is not going her way! ))) She gave her parents grief when she broke glass on the coffee-table and a porcelain dog, so she was banned from the sitting room for quite a while. But overall they are happy with her and non-return policy was applied when they got her anyway, so she is a keeper! ))) Below are the pictures of this little angel aka double-trouble:

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Blogging frequently is hard, so for a long time I wanted to start a regular section, something that I'll have to do on a certain day once a week, but just couldn't come up with the idea. So, yesterday I was already on my way to bed, when I noticed this:

the box was just sitting there in a new spotlight, that was recently attached to the kitchen unit. This box was left over after Christmas and someone remembered about it and just took it out. I loved the way light was falling on it and took a photo. "So, I was sitting here, and then it just hit me! " - as well-known Vodafone advert says! As a result, IN THE SPOTLIGHT is my new regular section. I think it's gonna be about interesting people, amazing things, something that caught my attention, or maybe I'm just gonna place stuff under the spotlight and take a picture of it! ))) By the way, I must say that I resisted the temptation and hadn't had a single chocolate from the box! First - I'm detoxing after xmas, second - I was exercising my will power that I thought I didn't have! )))

For the last photo, I simply didn't focus the lens and that's what I got! I think this photo can be used as a texture. So, If anyone wants it, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send a high-res copy! )))

THREE LITTLE KIDS PHOTOSHOOT

That was my last photoshoot for 2009 that I haven't blogged about yet. I must say these kids are good craic! They were looking forward to seeing a photographer (o-o-o-o, scary!) in their house and as soon as I started talking to them we connected and they felt very relaxed in front of my camera. You know in some families kids fight. Not that they don't love each other, but they just kinda annoy each other, often on purpose (that was the case with myself and my brother anyway. We are friends now though! ). The way I felt about these three though, was that they are very close to each other. Even if you don't know them you'd feel they share something special. So, we had a very active hour of playing with favourite toys, chasing bubles and even playing pool, but in our own way! Have a look

I love the expressions on next three:

 

So, if you are planning any activity with your family and kids and want to capture special moments you share together, contact me through the form above! See you!

Have a nice weekend!

Dasha, Exhibit Emotions

NEW YEAR AND THE BIG FR-R-R-EEZE...

Hi there! I hope you had brilliant holidays and I want to wish you only the best things for the new year! I was born in a year of a tiger, so I hope 2010 is full of nice surprises for me. Go on the tigers! 

Now, The Big Freeze... I know it brought a lot of trouble and worry to a lot of people. A lot has been said on TV and in the papers. It brings a lot of worry to me when my husband travels to work and I stay at home hoping that he'll get there safe. And then I worry again when he travels back home from work... On the other hand, I love love love snowy and cold winter, probably because I come from a country where winter lasts about 5 months and there is loadza snow, heh! So, for me winter associates with mittens, red cheeks, skating and skiing, pushing each other into fluffy soft snow and all things winter! And in the last couple of weeks it feels a lot like home to me... I'm smilling when I see kids sliding down the hills and screaming from happiness! There is a lot to see around the country, like frozen lakes for example. You won't see that too often in Ireland! It's particulary beautiful in the golden hour, around 15:00 or 15:30 when the sun starts to set, but is still shining behind the hill. The snow sparkles and you can see the most amazing colours at that time! So, don't be afraid! Go out and enjoy a wonderful day! )))

Unfortunately, little ones get hurt the most...

MR. AND MISS SUNSHINE

What a day it was! We were blessed with the weather last Sunday! Sunshine was pouring down and we were closing our eyes occasionally and turning towards it to get as much of it as we can. A perfect day for a family outing and photos. We've spent three hours running around, riding bicycles and scooters, blowing lucky bubbles, throwing stones in a lake and a lot, a lot more! Kids were full of energy and I had to keep up. Everyone in the family was charged with loadz of positive emotions! Little Julie even wrote about it in her school assignment! She showed it to me the next day when I brought the photos, and it gave me a warm happy feeling. I was more than happy to know that my photography brought the family together, that they enjoyed their time with each other and that they will have warm memories about their experience! So, if you are planning any outdoor activities with your family and want to make a record of a particular moment in your lives, contact me through the form on this site. Together we'll make it fun!

"Your extraordinary moments captured"