A New Grand Daughter Arrives!
January 10, 2010
Well, after all of the waiting, and a sleepless Friday night, our daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who arrived weighing 6 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long! Checked out carefully and pronounced perfect, the little one was promptly introduced to her family.
Mother headed to the hospital Friday morning (lots of snow, schools closed) and entered the hospital to deliver this new little bundle of joy. Everything moved along quickly with a number calls to Grandpa and I, but by midnight still no grand daughter!
Its 5:30am and the phone rings after tossing and turning all night, expectations high but STILL no grand daughter! She was taking her good old time, but around 7:00am finally she decided it was time and arrived, helped along by the doctors.
So, grab the camera, head out the door and on to the hospital. No time for video, just some still shots as mother, father and daughter are exhausted. Just enough time for me to quickly hold the new arrival, then into waiting Grandpa’s arms, camera out, flash attached, picture taken:
 Grandfather and Granddaughter  Newborn Granddaughter |
Everyone is healthy and safe, and soon back to the hospital for more visiting and – of course – more photographs. Best of all I have a new subject to photograph, and I can hardly wait!
Babies Love Babies
July 6, 2009
Little ones are just fascinated with each other, often much more so than they are with adults. Perhaps they find someone their own size easier to relate too. This weekend my son, Aiden, met his cousin, Rhys, for the first time and he was ecstatic. Aiden, at ten months, is seven months older and twice as big, but as soon as the boys got a glimpse of each other they both began to excitedly communicate with each other.
I found myself bouncing back and forth from crouching to tip toes just trying to catch photos of their wordless exchange. Aiden wanted nothing more than to get his hands on the smaller child, I’m sure in a loving way, but his strength and dexterity are at that point in his development that nothing in his hands is safe. He settled for getting a hold of the stroller and emphatically sharing all he has learned of the world so far.
Rhys, in turn, gave him hints of smiles and those wonderfully exaggerated baby stares that said “I hear you; if you spring me from this stroller I will join you in happy mayhem.” It has only been a few months, but it seems like ages ago when Aiden was that small and immobile. Now when my two year old niece, Madie, begs to hold the baby I have watch closely to make sure that it doesn’t turn into wrestling as Aiden tries to climb her. It is hard to imagine that it was just a few months ago that I was watching so close because she might squeeze him too hard as she tried to hold him on her little lap.
I love to get photos of children’s interactions because their expressions say so much, especially when they only have a handful of words under their belts to work with. You can almost hear what they are trying to say as you look at the pictures. My Nana’s entire refrigerator door is dedicated to her great-grandchildren’s expressions. She loves the pictures where the kids are rolling their eyes, pouting in boredom, or exploding with tickled laughter.
Those photos are my favorites as well, the ones that are so vivid that picture seems alive. If you are looking for some truly outstanding pictures of your little one, images that really capture what childhood is all about, then add another child into the equation. Visit a cousin or organize a play date and keep that shutter clicking because adding a child increases the photo worthy moments exponentially.
Father’s Day Project
June 29, 2009
There are few things that show your love like a personalized photo gift. Taking the time to select a special memory, the one that will invoke the exact response you want in the recipient, illustrates a level of caring that ordinary gifts don’t achieve. With today’s technology you can turn a precious photo into just about anything that you can imagine.
Father’s Day snuck up on me just a little bit. I had the perfect gift picked out for my Dad and potentially the perfect picture. All of his grandchildren were visiting me the week before Father’s Day so I planned a little photo shoot. I threw a sheet over the couch and got out my camera.
Unfortunately in was a hot sunny day and corralling the children when the sprinkler outside was calling to them was unbelievably difficult. I stopped even trying to get them into coordinating outfits after they kept sneaking out the back door. In fact, it wasn’t long before I gave up on the living room photo set altogether and followed them outdoors.
Once they had exactly what they wanted, swimsuits and a sprinkler, they were much more amenable to my wishes. Happy as can be they hugged each other, huddled under the water, and splashed together in dozens of cute poses. Finally having the perfect photo in hand, and the kids in a bath, I rushed off to the computer to upload my photo and order the small keepsake box that I had been wanting for my father.
A few minutes later I was totally crushed when I discovered that I hadn’t taken into consideration the time the company needed to create the project. Even with next day shipping it would never arrive before Father’s Day. I ordered it anyways, determining to at least send candy or something on time so he would know I was thinking about him on Father’s Day.
The next day in the grocery checkout I found a photo keychain that you can load with fifty pictures. I was thrilled, I quickly took it home and loaded it with lots of family photos and sent it on its way. He absolutely loved both the photo gifts, personalized to his specific tastes and filled with love. The lesson I learned is that time is of the essence, start your project today.
Mother & Son
Expressions
June 16, 2009
With the heat climbing as we dive headlong into summer, my husband and I decided to take our son, Aiden, swimming. Aiden’s favorite time every day is when the bath water starts running, so we thought that his first time in a pool would be even more exciting for him. We were very wrong.
After Aiden and I got suited up I handed him off to my husband so I could operate my video camera with my right hand and my still camera with my left. Anticipating happy splashes and excited squeals, I was poised and ready as they walked down into the water. So, I quickly had several shots, and video footage of apprehension that quickly funneled into tears.
I ditched the cameras and went into the water to console my little boy, but it didn’t help much. We got out, got back in, and switched between parents, but Aiden wanted nothing to do with the pool that we had just bought a summer membership to. Whether the pool was daunting in size or just too cool for Aiden’s taste, it wasn’t long before we decided to try again another day. After ten minutes or so, we were on our way back home.
I sighed and flipped through the pictures on the camera, expecting disappointment. Again, I was wrong. I got the most adorable photo of my son. His lip was pouted out and there was a tear creeping out the corner of his eye. It was so expressive and precious that I printed and framed it the next day. It is nestled snuggly amongst many others, the many faces of my little boy.
Like most people I tend to display the happy smiles that I capture. I hadn’t realized that I was missing out on the rest of the emotional spectrum. It’s hard to remember to grab your camera when you are trying to avert a tantrum or soothe a startled little one. Of course, those are the priorities, but if you happen to get some shots off that capture some of your children’s other emotions, consider them for display. A smile isn’t the only thing that makes a good picture, capturing the truth of the moment is also a photo worthy accomplishment.
Christy
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