“In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.” – Alex Haley
One of my favorite parts of documenting my family’s life is capturing the connection between my husband and son. They’re like two peas in a pod and I love capturing that bond.
My son is too young now to be able to remember these moments later, so I hope these images give him a glimpse of what a special time his childhood was for us.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
“Cock your hat – angles are attitudes.” Frank Sinatra
I often find myself resorting to similar subject matter for my 365 project. I don’t mind the repetition and try to challenge myself to capture the same subject in different ways. I love how a new
perspective changes the tone of an image.
Summer is a perfect time to capture the same subjects at different angles, phases, and lighting. Fall and winter bring different light and new subjects, but I will be sad to leave the warmth of summer behind.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
“I sustain myself with the love of my family.” – Maya Angelou
I recently spent an afternoon with this sweet family for an brief documentary session. Even a quick glimpse allowed me to capture some of the sweetest family moments. Between preparing homemade pizza and backyard fun, I was how just being together and surrounded by love is one of life’s greatest gifts.
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This post was inspired by this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
“Summertime is always the best of what might be.” – Charles Bowden
I can’t remember enjoying a summer this much since I was a kid basking in the break from school. There was a time in childhood when summer seemed to last forever, but as I got older, the impending start of the new school year seemed to approach faster and loom heavier on the horizon. Now I have no worries about school and, at least for a few more years, neither does my son. For now, we just get to savor the joys of heading out to the park, making the most of longer days and later bedtimes.
Most of the time, our son just runs around. Literally. Sometimes in circles. Sometimes to a destination that only he knows. Sometimes he makes use of a soccer ball or other toy. Eventually, we find our way to the playground. It’s so much fun to watch him expend all that energy and remember what it was like to be a child. And on the best days, remember how to be spontaneous and carefree like only a child can be.
On this day, we enjoyed some watermelon on the grass while my son ran around just before it started raining. I wanted to capture the details of his dirty face and hands.
I’ve been taking lots of photos this summer that I look forward to sharing, including our trip to the Pacific Northwest. I hope you’re enjoying a carefree (at least on the weekends!) summer too! 🙂
Posted in response to this week’s “close up” photo challenge.
A conversation with my husband on the way home yesterday:
Me: Do you ever feel like Meg Ryan in that movie where she falls in love with Nick Cage (who’s an angel) and she’s riding along on her bike with the wind in her hair, the sun on her smiling face, and (inexplicably) headphones blasting in her ears and then…BAM! Out of nowhere she gets run over by a semi?
Husband: Uh, doesn’t that mean she gets to be with Nick Cage forever now?
Me: [Sigh.] You’ve clearly never seen the movie. And that’s not the point. [Trying again.] Have you ever felt like Brad Pitt in that movie where he meets a woman (who’s clearly his soulmate) and has the best conversation of his life and then God decides he needs a human body and promptly runs Brad over with a city bus?
Husband: God did what??
Me: Nevermind.
Kidding (or not kidding) aside, I’ve had a fabulous week. I’m beginning work on a personal project that I’m really excited about and hope to share more on later. I’ve also been participating in a timely breakout course on storytelling over at Clickin Moms and am feeling really inspired.
Sometimes, though, when life seems particularly awesome, I can’t help but feel like maybe something bad is going to happen just to balance things out. I know that’s terribly pessimistic. But apparently there’s a term for it – foreboding joy.
It’s a topic that merits a more serious reflection, but I’ll keep it light and perhaps save that for another day. For now, I’ll just be grateful to Hollywood for supplying me with the imagery to fan the flames of my doomsday thinking.
I took these images with storytelling in mind as an assignment for Courtney Larson‘s breakout study on the Art of On-Location Storytelling. Courtney’s passion really shines through and her words and images are wonderfully inspiring and instructive.
Have a wonderful Father’s Day! And speaking of fathers, I must give credit to my husband for the last two photos. It’s hard to remember to get in front of the camera sometimes!
Oh, and I’m really sorry if I at all ruined the movies City of Angels or Meet Joe Black for you. However, if somehow you haven’t seen them yet, I’d say there are probably other movies that you could better spend your time watching. 🙂
It’s a bit of a stretch this week as I don’t think I quite captured any indigo or violet, but I really appreciated how the colors in our book jumped out in these images, so I’ll call this a loose interpretation for this week’s ROYGBIV photo challenge. Thanks for indulging me. 🙂
“Life is a lively process of becoming.” – Douglas MacArthur
Inspired by this week’s “vivid” photo challenge.
“If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.” – Henry Miller
I have a tendency to hurry, especially when it comes to getting places, literally or figuratively. I focus on the goal and often consider the process to be a necessary inconvenience.
My husband, thankfully, is the opposite. He can find productivity and joy in the in-between moments and is never bored. I sincerely hope he passes this ability along to our kids. Despite his habitual tardiness (finding joy in the in-between moments must come with a downside 😉 ), and mine as a result, I’ve managed to pick up on some these positive behaviors which has helped me see the in-between time not as time wasted, but as time to find value in. I’m not always successful, but I’m learning to see and appreciate these moments more often, especially when they involve our son.
Using my camera has helped me to better see these moments as well. I naturally want to capture them to help us remember these little pieces of our life. Last week, my mom and nephews came to visit and I had a blast capturing our time together. My youngest nephew discovered his own joy in taking pictures and I really enjoyed watching him develop his creative eye.
These pictures were all taken on an outing with my family to Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. Road trips were a big part of my family vacations growing up and I don’t have any pictures of those in-between times, even though we spent many hours in the car. I was happy to capture a few of those moments on our trip. And maybe someday these images will help our kids find as much value in what happens along the way as they find in reaching the destination.
This post was inspired by this week’s photo challenge.
“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” ― Dr. Seuss
Our family is spread throughout the country, so we really relish the time we get to spend with them. We’ve begun a bit of a tradition (I’m choosing to call two years a tradition 🙂 ) where my husband’s mother visits us on Mother’s Day. And this year, his dad joined us too.
We spent a lot of time on the back porch just enjoying the spring weather and made it out to a Nationals game too (in what felt much more like summer weather).
As I watched my son engage with his grandparents and them with him, I found myself wanting to stretch those moments and slow down time. And take even more pictures. 🙂 A week passes by much too soon when you’re having fun.
Next week, my mom and nephews are visiting, so thankfully, we haven’t had to mope for long. And I’ll try again to slow down time by taking more pictures.
This post was inspired by this week’s “linger” prompt.
“The soul is healed by being with children.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
A perfect (if hot) Mother’s Day spent at the ballpark with family, enveloped by love. Cheesy perhaps, but responsive. 🙂
“Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify.” – Henry David Thoreau
Inspired by this week’s photo challenge.
The View Inside 