We're moving! (Yes, again.)

Oh Photo Blog, my dear friend.  You've been so patient with me.

• You started as a photo-only site called "mamarazza" in 2008.  I paid lots of attention to you and filled you with pictures of my sweet baby boy...for three months.  Then mommyhood got in the way and I neglected you for nearly two years.
• In late 2010, I started to visit again, adding pictures of my new baby girl.  I got a little better at keeping you updated, but I was still far from perfect.
• In May of 2010, I gave you a completely new look.  I've been getting more serious with my photography, so I needed you to look a bit more put-together.  I changed your name to "wenmei hill photo blog" (not very creative, I know, but my goal is to be more accessible to people who might not appreciate my naming brilliance) and I dressed you up in bright colors.

Now that we've settled into your new look, I'm moving you to some fancier digs.  And I promise, this is the last change I'll be making.  For at least a little while.

You see, I've finally put together my photography website, and you get your very own page over there!  In your new home, you're called just "Blog" because, like other single-name personalities, you don't need any further explanation.  I've moved all of your old posts to your new place, so you'll be right at home.

I hope you like your new abode!  I'll continue to update you over there, posting my favorite photos from photo shoots, workshops, and daily life.  Come on, let's go check it out!

http://wenmeihill.com/blog

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.

Baby Blues

I once joked to a good friend that she was the last blue-eyed person I was going to befriend because I was tired of having to fix the red-eye in all of my photos. This was when I was taking most of my pictures with a point-n-shoot digital camera and using the built-in flash (ack!). 

Since then, not only have I made a few more blue-eyed friends, but I've had a blue-eyed baby of my very own!  But luckily, I've also upgraded my camera and learned to avoid using that terrible flash.  Now that I don't have to worry about red-eye, I have so much fun capturing those baby blues in my photographs.  Isn’t she just a doll?

Mama’s Boy

Although I spend every day with my children, I haven't had any "alone" time with my boy since Miss S was born. So today I planned a special morning to spend with my little guy, doing the things that he loves:

 

 

 

 

Here we are all packed up and heading out the door.

First stop:  His first ride on a city bus!

Next up:  Fun and rides at Seattle Center.  He went on the cars three times.

Now it’s off to the monorail!  He listened to the musicians play three songs before he finally noticed the monorail right behind them.

And then we eat our lunch by the train tracks on the waterfront (if you look carefully, you can see the train going by in the background).

After lunch, we watched the cruise ships on the waterfront while we waited for Dad to come pick us up.

It was a busy and fun-filled morning, and I really enjoyed being able to focus completely on my sweet boy.  We’ll need to do this more often!

Spring cleaning & Mother's Day

The sun is out and it’s inspired me to launch a new look for spring.  Welcome to my new photoblog, which is replacing my oft-neglected mamarazza blog!  This time I’m adding a bit of color to the page, because the severity (not to mention the cliché “I’m an arteeest” aesthetic) of my old black and white design just doesn’t match my personal taste or style.  Although I love a good black-and-white photo, I adore color.  Rich, saturated, vibrant hues make me happy.

To usher in this new colorful world of mine, I bring you:  Mother's Day!  Part of my Mother's Day celebration this year included a picnic in the park with good friends.  It also included a pants-less preschooler, due to a good 40 minutes of non-stop play with the water pump at the playground.  (Note:  The lack of pants did not slow him down in the least.)

I mentioned good friends, so of course I have to include at least one picture of a couple of them.  Plus, I have to give some photo credits to my photo-mama partner-in-crime, Mary (Mary Balmaceda Photography).  As much as I'd like to say that I somehow managed to take a picture of my own feet sticking out of the sun tent, I'm simply not that talented.  (Likewise with the picture of me holding my sweet girl.)

Thanks, Mary, for not being afraid to pick up my camera and start taking pictures!  That's a quality I like a lot in a person*.  Especially a person who is such a fabulous photographer.

*Caveat:  I only like it in a person I know and trust.  This is not an invitation for random strangers to grab my camera and start snapping away.

first day

My sweet boy’s first day of preschool