There are very few people that are really as happy as they look on a family portrait. But for the life of me, this is a family as happy as there can be. Meet my brother, his gorgeous wife and lovely kids. Both my brother and my sister have such happy families of their own that sometimes I find myself wishing I could eventually have what they have. Of course I still have a long time until that (I’m just 22) but watching them with their lives already on course and living the happily ever after i can’t help but feeling like I’m too far behind, even though technically I’m doing what I should be doing at my age.

This photo shoot was taken by Anita Andrade, she is a photographer based on Miami, and believes in capturing candid human emotions. She’s my sister-in-law’s best friend, and I think she is very talented. This pictures really do express the love you feel when you are near this family, and I love the spontaneity.

I am an artist first and foremost and my type of photography is that which aims to capture the reality of human emotion. My training in Fine Art and Photojournalism along with my natural eye for design is what makes my work unique. (Anita Andrade)

*The pictures were taken by Anita Andrade, and belong to the people featured in them. This are not authorized to be taken from the site to use anywhere else. The site thehibou.com got special permission to use the pictures. All rights reserved.

This weekend my dad is going to sail the “Copa Galapagos” which is this series of regattas that include sailing from the coast of Ecuador, all the way to Galapagos, and then going to one island to another. I was in a way born into the sailing world, because it has been my dad’s since forever, but for some reason I never learned to actually sail a boat. Hopefully that will change soon since he promised to teach me. He bought a new boat and he let me design how it was going to be painted (but he already knew what he wanted so I can’t take all the credit), and the logo for the name of the boat, which is “Matador”. Also, I designed their uniform coats, I’m very excited to see the entire crew sporting my look, Its like my little project runway challenge (except that I didn’t sew it). The downside is that I won’t be able to go because they leave on friday and I have class, I’m super bummed because I think this is the first time I’m actually excited for one of this events. You have to understand that I’ve been going all my life and looking at little sailboats from far away while they slowly move is veeery boring. But anyways, I have asked my mom to take pictures so I can share, and she is actually a good photographer, even though she doesn’t know. She  took an amazing picture of my dad’s sailboat crossing though the Kicker Rock (which is the huge rock on the picture on the top), it was epic, unfortunately it was a very old picture and they have no idea where it is. Here are some pictures from my childhood in a boat, I’m the one that’s making the funny faces, of course.

My little nieces came to visit, and I decided to organize a fun and different activity (to distract them from wanting to use my iPad all the time). I had some thread and I wanted to make some hand made jewelry, but I didn’t have beads. My mom always keeps all of the extra buttons that come on shirts just in case some one needs them, so she has two little drawers full of them and we never actually use them. I thought it would be fun and creative to make necklaces made of buttons!

It is pretty easy to do, you just pass the thread through 2 of the button holes, put as many buttons as you like, and then tie the ends of the thread. Make sure you made the necklace long enough to fit though your head, or if you want it shorter, use elastic thread.

Here are the results:

I think the girls had a lot of fun (mission accomplished)

The pictures were taken with an iPod, thats why they are very low quality.

What did you think about this little DIY project? Are you going to try it out? Leave me your comments!

No movement is more beautiful than a ballerina sway. I’ve grown up in a Ballet world, making a pointe and standing straight on a first position is like second nature to me. Even though I was never a professional ballerina or was even on a high level of technique, I still think that Ballet has been a huge influence in my life. The inexplicable sense of poise that dancing makes you acquire is not something you can learn when you are old, it is more like something that has to become part of you from when you are a kid.

This pictures where taken by a friend of mine, but I made the postproduction on photoshop. I wanted to get the effect of softness and elegance that are the more important values you can take away with you when its time to move on from the atmosphere of ballet.

I sometimes think that toddlers are the happiest beings alive, they barely have any preoccupation and they are just starting to learn about the good things in life. They appreciate the sun, grass, and flowers like they are this treasures that are not necessarily a given. That is what happens when we grow up, we start thinking that all of the beautiful things that surround us are just there by default and we don’t stop for a second to admire them and let them bright our days. In this photoshoot I wanted to see what the girls would discover in this ordinary garden, and I realize that what I saw wasn’t the same as they did, because to them this was a secret garden all of their own that could only be entered through their imagination.