Hai Yak! | Lifestyle Photography

She has learned to listen to instructions and more importantly, DISCIPLINE!

Hai yak!!!

Pictures for A Greeting Card | Lifestyle Photography

Inspired by my photography mentor, I designed a greeting card using pictures of my little girl :-)

I just thought something like this would be great to perk up someone's day, don't you think so? I mean why should I limit myself to just putting my pictures only in an online album and photo books, right? I might as well use them for sending out greetings digitally!

I hope you like this one too...

My Backyardigan | Lifestyle Photography

Sometimes, we run around in the backyard playing catch with each other... she is my backyardigan!

Full of Zest | Project 365

Today, my little girl offered herself to be my model. She doesn't do this all the time, you know. And when she does, I know it will be a GREAT session! And it was. She was full of zest! 

Natural Light | Lifestyle Photography

There's is something about natural light photography that I really like the most; the colors that natural light brings out of people and their surroundings. And the best time to take pictures under a natural light setting is anywhere between one and half hour before sunset. Of course, wearing bright colored clothes also helps :-)

The Karate Kid | Project 365

It was Allysa's 2nd day of Karate practice yesterday.

She was all set by the time I arrived at her school's gym. She already had her uniform on and oh... she looked so cute in that little white uniform! What surprises me is that my little playful girl can get real serious as and when she thinks she has to; take a look at these pictures.

But when she's back at being herself, this is what she looks like, at karate.

At some points, she had to do push ups too as a punishment for failing to listen to instructions carefully.

More importantly, she learns what discipline and attentiveness mean, something that can be useful to her when she is older. I'm so happy that she gets it :-)

Geordan Wright | Lifestyle Photography

Now, meet another friend of mine, Geordan Wright.

I met her last fall while we were both taking Gen Chem. Didn't think our paths would across again so soon. But they did. I took quite a number of pictures for her, and some with Aaron, but I like these two the most!

Aaron Graf | Lifestyle Photography

Meet Aaron; my coffee-drinking buddy on campus! He wanted a good faceshot for his profile page on Facebook and here's what we've got so far!

He has been my model for my Student Life @UAB project ever since.

Mother-Daughter Moments | Self-Portrait

Sometimes, when I'm busy studying for an exam, Allysa would come and annoy me with all sorts of questions. And if she sees me reading a text book, she will ask me questions based on what she sees in the book too!

As the saying goes, the best way to learn is to teach and so I teach her at every opportunity I get. By now, she knows how water molecules break away from water and evaporates into thin air. Heck, she knows that babies are made up of cells too! She just didn't know what kind of cells, yet!

Anyway, the following images are a series of re-enactments of our mother-daughter moments, in the hope that we'll remember every one of them as we grow older together.

Disclaimer: The woman in these images are all ME, without any make up on! I didn't have time for make up; I was studying! hahaha

Hydrophilic Allysa | Lifestyle Photography

Some of the best moments are shared in a tub!

I'm sure some of you have the luxury of owning a bath tub at home and if you do have one, I have a question for you: how many times do you soak yourself in it? I bet not many! Unlike us adults, children tend to not let such luxuries go wasted! They'll enjoy the tub, even if you don't. Every time I have a course assignment to work on, I would turn on the tap in the tub and let my little girl enjoy her bath for an hour. This is what I will see, every single time. Kids will always be kids!

These were taken at home, on a weekday, when we both had nothing better to do actually :-) as part of my Project 365 - a picture a day project, that I quick-share with my fans at my photography page at Facebook (www.facebook.com/rimamcdonaldphotography).

I'm so glad I get to capture moments like this!

At the Creek Yesterday | Lifestyle Photography

For college students, the word "weekend" does not exist in our dictionary; we're expected to prepare for the following week's lectures and laboratories (usually for science majors) on weekends. But I always make it a point to spend my so-called "weekend" with my five-year old darling out of the house, at least for an hour.

The closest place I could think of yesterday was the Buck Creek in Old Town Helena, AL. It was a hot Sunday afternoon and I could feel the sun was burning up my skin the minute I got out of the car! But Allysa was not complaining at all. I guess she was just too happy to be able to get out of the house!

As usual, she made a new friend.

I didn't get to take a lot of pictures yesterday though; I almost fainted after thirty minutes of walking around with Allysa, right under the sun! I'm glad Allysa agreed to go home with me when I told her I could not take the heat any longer. How can I not love her?

At the Creek Today | Lifestyle Photography

I can't wait to share this photo with you, but time does not permit me to stay on the computer any longer and so I will come back tomorrow to tell you the story behind this picture. I hope you like this one too!

A Walk To Remember | Lifestyle Photography

The main reason for getting myself into lifestyle photography is to be able to beautifully document every single event that goes on in my child's life. However, I realized that I took so many pictures of her doing things that she enjoys doing, without me being in any one of them! So here's my first attempt to document moments of my life with her.

My other reason for getting into this sort of photography is to force myself to go out and spend some quality mother-daughter time despite the urgency to complete daily important tasks! As a result, I have to force myself to effectively manage my time as a mother, wife, a full time college student, and a domestic maid! hahaha I'm still trying to balance my lifestyle, by the way.

So yesterday, we made a decision to take a little walk on a trail near where we live. And so we did. While it was a short trail, we spent a good half an hour walking and talking about "trail walking" until we saw some kids screaming and running wildly with so much excitement at a nearby playground that we couldn't resist to join in the fun!

Allysa is a friendly child; she has no problem approaching little strangers to be her friends. All she needs to do is say, "Can I be your friend?" She gets a nod or a "yes!" every time.

When she is not the focus of my attention, this is the result!

She played hopscotch for the first time too, but she has to draw one first!