Elena Shumilova is a brilliant Russian photographer, who gets her inspiration for her amazing photos from the everyday lives of her two little children, Yaroslav and Vanya, and the domestic animals they live with in the gorgeous outskirts of Andreapol, Russia. In her photography, the artist evokes long-forgotten magical realism, striking the viewer with the beauty in simple and precious things like human and animal friendship, a warm embrace, or just actually living in the moment.

Take a look at Shumilova‘s photos, where kids, dogs, cats, rabbits, ducklings and geese are all one big happy family. Here are the photographer’s thoughts on photography and life that she shared with Bored Panda. Source: Flickr | 500px (via: boredpanda)

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“Children and animals – it’s my life. I’m a mom with two sons and we spend a lot of time on the farm,” – Shumilova told Bored Panda.

“When shooting I prefer to use natural light – both inside and outside. I love all sorts of light conditions – street lights, candle light, fog, smoke, rain and snow – everything that gives visual and emotional depth to the image.”

“When I graduated from school I entered Moscow Institute of Architecture where I practiced with sketching and painting a lot. I suppose it is sketching and painting that defined my feeling of photography and composition.”

“I’ve been shooting every day and processing the images at nights. By autumn I felt I found my own way of approaching photography.”

I largely trust my intuition and inspiration when I compose photos. I get inspired mainly by my desire to express something I feel, though I usually cannot tell exactly what that is.”

“I’m so glad that my pictures began to be liked by many people. It inspires me & it makes me do better with my pictures.”