iPhoneography and Munchkins

I'm a mom. And that means i have kids. Around. Me. CONSTANTLY.
I call them munchkins. Helps me focus on the fact that they're basically big people in little bodies. And it's inevitable that i end up catching moments that involve them. Because big people in little bodies are fascinating. All the enthusiasm of life in a miniature version. Like a rich shot of espresso.

In fact, my first beautiful shot with my iPhone was of my daughters doing a piece of art. I found it beautiful because i was there with them .. and it truly caught both the magic of the passion and focus they were feeling, and all the pride and joy i had in my heart as i watched the little artists i had encouraged blooming before my eyes. It was all the love in the world in one moment in time. And somehow, it was there on a flat image. I fell in love with my iPhone and what it could do.

Let me like a child .. and paint life with all possibilities before me

a notebook .. the old fashioned way .. no batteries, just imagination 

A book .. is a time-travel machine

there is a circle of love we start with,  .. and as we grow it expands .. but always, let it remain a circle of love

build your dreams one block at a time .. if you can dream it, you can build it

lil ones relish dessert like it's the main course .. enthusiasm must be the secret of youth 

The shot above was an early Instagram effort hence the black line to the left, as i had not quite mastered a clean crop or the fact that i could just delete and reload a pic! I personally prefer either keeping to the square format or ensuring i load my rectangular pics onto a white background before loading them onto Instagram (like the one below). I can't quite figure out why yet .. but i think maybe some mysteries in life are best left unsolved and just felt (^^)

all kids are friends .. they speak the same language of the heart

This was taken at the bank. I used Camera+ as I realised by now that the native iPhone camera didn't always allow me the best resolution if i needed to be quick.

Again, it's amazing what you can do with a mobile phone. Imagine standing at the bank with a DSLR! Captures like this made me convinced that iPhoneography was the way to stay.

This was an experiment of trying to fit everyone into a square format. I also thought it was a rather fascinating subject that every single munchkin was lost in their own world although right next to each other.

However, it was this shot that made me realise .. there must be a better way to capture kids via iPhoneography as i totally disliked the colours as well as the overall grainy quality. It was at this point that i started searching out more professional iPhoneographers on Instagram, and started taking serious lessons (via observation of their work) to expand my own skills.

While my first captures with my kids had been all moment-oriented, I found myself suddenly fascinated with a challenge of taking interesting portraits. It turns out that i mostly ended up experimenting with self-portraits, but here is one with my munchkins that i rather loved. Taken at night, i was rather pleased that i managed to angle my iPhone in a way that caught a lot of angelic light around them. And more than anything .. it was my first commissioned portrait! "Mommy, we'd like a family photo with our bears," was the request.

There's that moment when you realise someone believes in your talent .. and it totally made my day that it was my own kids :)


After weeks of experimenting, I managed this shot. Another candid moment, but this time .. I had enough experience with some basic iPhoneography editing.

When i grow up .. i'm going to be just like mom

I mainly used Typoinsta at this point. It seemed the simplest and easiest for a busy mom. And yielded satisfactory (enough) results. The main thing was that i was starting to have serious fun!

As time went by and i discovered a marked preference for pastels and faded vintage shots, i re-edited this shot to the one below.

I now had a presence on Instagram and it was becoming clear that i really was developing my own style that shied away from high definition colours. Instead, i found myself preferring clear details with soft tones.

I was still very much into mood photography involving children though. Which is how i evolved into a themed series. 

And my munchkins? By now they were all playing pretend Instagram! 

iPhoneography .. a beginning

When I first started Instagram, my earliest subjects were flowers. I think mainly because they are really good posers .. they don't talk much and stay still for the most part .. unless a breeze is blowing .. then they JUST DANCE! (^^)

My first photo was a bouquet of Flame of the Forest .. from my dad .. he's in heaVen but his floWers live on. At this stage, I wasn't really experimenting with filters yet. I had just gotten my iPhone and it was mainly about composition within a square and a sharp focus. More than anything .. i just wanted to make sure these flowers lasted forever. They wilted within a day off the tree, but that's the magic of a photograph .. your memory becomes eternal in digital.

This was an exercise in catching raindrops. It was also an experiment in transforming a subject with a rather unattractive background (a plain garden wall) into a beautiful moment. I think i was rather happy with it! (^^)

The thing about iPhoneography is .. it's mobile. It's so mobile you could pull your car up next to a flowering bush in the middle of nowhere and risk hopping out onto the freeway for a shot you know you have to get .. or regret deeply and lose sleep over forever. I guess i can be impulsive that way .. anything for a rush of adrenaline out in the wild (^^) 

This was definitely a first foray into contrast and depth of field with my iPhone. I pretty much stuck to the Instagram application for it and was truly happy with the results! It helped that my original shot on Camera+ was in great sunshine and had amazing clarity.

My mom loved hibiscus. I inherited all her favourites when she crossed over in 2011. Of them all, this one blooms the best and most often. I think it's because they bloom with her love for me. I love this shot. Something about how it filled a perfect square with tons of frills and lovely pastel ... totally my mom.

Same bush as above, but this one was a little experiment in mood. For some reason .. it felt like a little alien satellite. And so i instinctively tried to make it seem somewhat surreal. I think mission accomplished!

Roses are red .. and yellow too .. whatever the colour .. the Love shines through.
Another inheritance from my mom. I used a darker edit for this one. I was still experimenting at this stage, finding my style. But i also missed my mother a lot, fresh from her crossing over .. so perhaps it was this mood that came through.

Butterfly peas growing wild in my garden. After the dark edit, i was trying something brighter but with a little more of a dreamy feel. I was also still learning to use the square function on instagram - hence the black line on the upper part of the picture. I obviously didn't crop it clean enough! I think this was also my first attempt at getting the sky into my shots.

This rose bush only flowered for a year. And everytime it bloomed, it was on a special occasion and there would only be 3 roses. Almost as if it was saying I LOVE YOU each time. It was my mom's favourite rose bush - her pride. And as my heart healed, the blooms disappeared. And as i finally had peace to say farewell to my mother and wish her well on her journey .. it withered away.

When we are cherished despite our thorns, we bloom all the brighter. Love is like that ♥