Behind the scenes

In our Intro to Photography workshop, we talked about using storytelling in our photographs to capture special moments in our children's lives.  I realized that I take a lot of photographs that tell the story of my children, but I don't really document the things that happen behind the scenes, yet are a large part of my life as a mama.

Here's something I spend a fair amount of time doing:  making baby food.  Although I will be preparing food for my children for at least the next 18 years, I won't be making baby food for much longer.  This is yesterday's batch (it was a veggie and grains day):  carrots, zucchini, parsnips, sweet potatoes, beets, butternut squash, and quinoa.  (Tomorrow will be fruits and meat, but I won't take photographs of that because I will be happy to never be reminded of what it's like to puree meat.)

Mamas with Cameras Workshop

This past weekend, Mary (photographer extraordinaire and founder of the Mamas with Cameras photography group, not to mention a terrific mama and friend) and I co-taught our first Intro to Digital Photography workshop. It was an amazing afternoon filled with fun and attentive mamas who were ready to take the next step toward creating beautiful photos with their digital SLR cameras.  We had such a fun time with these ladies, and I’ve already been impressed with the photos I’ve seen from them!  Mary and I will be offering this Introductory workshop regularly, and we’ll be adding some more advanced workshops so that we can dive deeper into unleashing all of our inner photographers.  I’m looking forward to all of the wonderful women we’ll be meeting, teaching, and learning from!

Here are some photos I took during the workshop. You'll note that several of the mamas still have their lens caps on while they are looking through their cameras. That's not a mistake!  They are such experts now that they check out their camera’s settings in the viewfinder.   And the last photo is of one of our fabulously “spudly” models.  A group of these little guys helped us play around with depth of field, shutter speed, and ISO settings.  

Buddies

There's something so endearing about the way preschoolers play together. These two have been buddies since they were babies, and I love seeing how their play changes as they get older.  I can't help but wonder what secret message they are communicating in the second picture!

Color and water

I have a little boy who would spend the entire day watering various things with the garden hose if he could, and a little girl who looks good in every color of the rainbow...even all at the same time. So of course, I take pictures.

Light and movement

I've been playing around a bit with light, trying to find interesting ways to use the somewhat challenging natural light in my house. There are only so many times I can convince the kids to hang out in the front corner of the living room, between 10:00 – 10:25 AM, and look up while I climb up on the bench to take pictures. That may get me the best light in the house, but it’s not exactly natural-looking. Nor does it capture the unique moments that make up our days.

As far as movement goes, my Little Miss is the one who is playing around with that. Lately she's been more interested in moving up, so every time I turn around, I find her reaching for something or pulling herself to her knees and trying to get her feet under her. And then I very gently and lovingly push her back onto her bottom, because I am not ready for full mobility.

A large part of why I’m not ready for full mobility is that my son is normally a blur of action. I really love that I managed to catch him in a moment of no movement, watching for the garbage truck through the window in the play room with his beloved Blue near at hand.

Sneak Peek: {Miss E}

I got to photograph the sweetest little girl this week.  She’s 2 weeks old and is such a little doll!  She would have been happy to sleep through the entire session, but after several kisses from her parents, she agreed to open her eyes for a few pictures.  Look at that sweet face and that gorgeous hair!  And that yawn…baby yawns melt me. 

 

Mama and daddy are so in love with their little girl.  I bet if I walked in on them unannounced, they’d be doing exactly what they are doing in these pictures:  marveling at their sweet Miss E.  Honestly, I can’t blame them.  I could have stayed all morning just to watch her, even when she was giving me her “get that camera out of my face” look.  (I’m so used to getting that look that it barely registers with me anymore.)

Look up “glow” in the dictionary, and you’ll find a picture of this new mama.  Isn’t she just gorgeous?  She’s so gentle and serene, and her baby girl already adores her.  I love the shot where she’s burrowing in for a snuggle in mama’s cheek, and she always calmed down when she looked into mama's eyes.  I’m so happy I got to spend a morning with this little lady and her parents, and I look forward to watching her grow up! 

Favorite things

My two favorite things doing their two favorite things:  talking on the phone and cruising around the house.