For A Purpose

Of Wildflowers & Jumping Girls

A few days ago, I got my sisters to “model” for me in our beautiful backyard. Well actually, the backyard isn’t exactly “beautiful”. Half of it is covered with unkempt yellow wildflowers and unpleasant weeds. But anyhow, I think the pictures look splendid with the wildflowers in the foreground!

Before we took the pictures, I had a hard time coaxing my sisters to actually be my models in the backyard. Well, you have no idea how demanding I can get to just take that one perfect shot. My sisters have an idea, though. Hahaha.

In the end, after much negotiation (seriously), I came up with a deal that if they both were to model for me unconditionally, no matter how many times I ask them to jump or pose – until I get the shot I want – then I’ll do one of their daily chores for them. Seriously! I was that desperate. HAHA.

One of the reasons they didn’t want to pose for me was because I even wanted them to “dress up” for it. But eventually I managed to persuade both of them to don some “pretty clothes” and got Janna to braid Jirene’s hair into pigtails for a certain shot. I already had it pictured in my head, and I wanted it snapped in real life!

After nearly two hours of snapping wildflowers and my sisters - who were getting a bit grumpy with me - I had nearly 200 pictures in which I was looking forward choosing the best ones to edit. Yes, I was close to satisfied. Thankfully, my sisters had quite a fun “outing” to our backyard after all. It was our first time taking pictures in the backyard. But to my dismay, after the shoot, they pompously reminded me that I’ll be doing one of their chores for the day. Sigh, the things I do without thinking… Hahaha. :P

You would have guessed that out of the near 200 pictures, I deleted half of it, and selected only my best 20 shots for some touch-up. Haha. So lo and behold, I present you the 20 shots that I am very pleased to have taken. :D

I actually chose this outfit for Jirene. Haha, not bad eh. It suited the poses that I wanted her to do. And those pigtails! I love it. :P

Yeap, that's only half of our backyard, really. It was quite messy. A few days ago it was mowed. So now there are no more yellow wildflowers. And oh by the way, the tree on the left is a lemon tree. To our delight, we also discovered that our backyard had two types of plum trees!

Jirene on her new bicycle. It is actually a farewell gift from our Aunty Rachel. We bought it here with the money. So yeah, aunty Rachel, Jirene's been using it very often. Every evening she'll ride around the neighborhood with Janna. =)

The wildflowers sprout so quickly. Its actually not a very nice sight if it is taking over your backyard, but for taking pictures, it's actually quite lovely. Hehe.

Hmm, that's a lot eh.

I wanted Janna in a white dress, but she didn't have a white dress. So we made do with a skirt and my formal-looking white blouse. She was attempting to do the "jump" that I had in mind. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as I pictured.

I actually cropped this one. Its more suited to be a close-up. And I'm thrilled that its so crisp and sharp!

In sepia. It suits well. And it's candid. I should do more candid shots of my sisters, huh.

Yes yes yes, this was what I pictured! Thank goodness Jirene finally got what I wanted (after nearly 30 shots and multiple jumping attempts) before she started whining that I'm being too perfectionistic. LOL.

Janna blowing a puffball! You know, I actually couldn't remember what you call those white puffballs, so I googled something like this, "flower that you can blow", and hey presto, I actually found my answer: its called a dandelion!" HAHAHA. xD

They say that we shouldn't blow them. The pollen is bad or something. Haha, well, who cares. I wanted that picture. Janna was shrieking in this picture cause' she thought that a piece of the white feather thing flew into her mouth. :P

Ooh, I like this one. It gives a certain "feel". Its in "cross-process".

You can really fly in pictures. At least it looks like you're flying. Haha. I was literally lying down on the ground to take this few shots. And yes, for the first time, I didn't want to be in any of the pictures. I didn't look very "presentable" - more like a cuckoo-fied nut, rolling on the grass to get some silly picture. Hahaha.

Rawrrr.

Yeah, I know, Jirene looks like she's "haloed" by a ring of light. I didn't intend for that. Anyway, I still think it's a nice picture.

Whoopee. I'm done! Man, at this point, Janna and Jirene were already starting to get a lil' fed up with my photography mania. Hahaha.

Anyhow, it was worth it! Before I say my turrahs, here’s a news update of the life and times in the Beh family:

My dad has gotten his first job here!!! And it was actually his first interview! It’s a miracle, definitely. Thank God for his favour, it is truly a blessing. I’ll say more in the next post. You guys take care and have a good start to the first week of 2009, okies? ;)