I’m still working my way through last years personal photos… The grandparents are starting to complain about not seeing any. Any? Really? Oh come on, it’s not that bad. Well, almost not that bad. Our baby wasn’t even 12 months old last new years….
January you say? Yes. Well I hit some of the summer months, and then decided to be all organized about it and begin at the beginning…
So it’s been kind of a crazy couple of weeks. I was hoping to get my blogging back up to date with a nice full pipeline by the end of the day today. That’s just not going to happen. Between our eldest logging a lot of time in the play area at Seattle Children’s Hospital (she’s fine, or will be) the flu that ran around the house having a gay old time, and client commitments, there hasn’t been much time for anything else. In fact with the nice weather, if the farm didn’t get some attention this last weekend, we were going to be in danger of disappearing in a sea of grass. So I called an audible and we played outside. Had a blast. Probably should do it more. So for today it’s a bit of a horn toot…
We went to the Skagit Family Natural Medicine open house and had some fun a few Saturday’s ago, to check out their birth center. Here are some of the framed prints up….
And the little one’s having some fun!
So in case you are subscribing via RSS, the birth center’s site went live a day or two ago. Here’s the link! http://www.mountvernonbirthcenter.net/. If we are blessed with another little bundle of joy, we will be getting on the list for a stay in one of their rooms!
We got a little pre-view of a birth center that’s slated to open up later this month. How did we swing that? Well the “Good Doctor” was our midwife for our second little bundle of joy! We opted to have a birth center birth a year ago in April with our youngest and hope that next time we don’t have to drive all the way up to Bellingham. They have a wonderful birth center there, but you can hear Canada from up there (nothing aginst the Canadians).
The new birth center is going to be really nice, two BIG birth suites with tubs, normal beds and plenty of seating for the folks who really should be there. The best part for me? They painted the ceilings WHITE!! I love natural light, really and truly, but as I am hoping to be shooting a few brand new little one’s up there, I am looking forward to the options a big ol chunk of white ceiling will give me at o’dark thirty. Once their site is live I’ll put a link up. She was telling us about some of the interior 360 views they have put together for it and I am looking forward to it!
So here she is, Dr. Antonich, I don’t think I’ll ever forget her saying “well then you better get going” when I told her my wife’s contractons were about 8 min apart at 4 in the morning…
She was kind enough to let me sit her next to one of their lovey big soft windows when we were there.
Hopefully a few of my prints and canvases will grace their walls over the course of the few weeks. We got some sad news the other day that is going to be tying up some of her time, we are hoping for the best for her and her family…
Edit: The site for the birth center is live! Check it out here:http://www.mountvernonbirthcenter.net/index.html They have a grand opening later this month,
come and visit and you’ll understand why so many people are opting for a more natural birth!
It’s best with pictures right? It’s been a year, and what a year it’s been. We will never be the same and we love it.
Minutes old…
Just a few weeks ago, with the big sister….
That would be the look on my face if I lived in our house….
Oh wait, I do!
I captured this a week or so ago as we were waiting for the Ash Wednesday service to start. These are the kind of photos I want to take more of, and for other people too.
I’m coming at this from several different directions so I’ll break it down for you. First is the image.
In kind of an image critique I see it like this… I love the contrast of the soft young babies face and hands, and the older hands that are worn from loving little children for so long. The lighting is nothing super special, in fact it really was wretched. Very low light, very high ISO make it a natural for a B&W conversion. Thankfully the light in the Narthex is soft and omnidirectional, so typically there are not any uber-bad shadows.. It is never much of a helper with a catch light, but frankly in something like this it would distract I think. There is also a bit of a moment, she just noticed that she was “under observation” (by me, as in, she just became “camera aware”) and she’s thinking about how to react. Technically I wish I had her a bit more to the right side of the image (for balance) and although I can’t (nor could I) do anything about it, I wish her hands were in more “relaxed” position, but it’s not in a studio, and I’m not posing her, so there you go.
What really makes this photo for me? (After all, there are loads of cute photos of cute kids all over the place) It’s the personal connection, I know and love both of the people in the photograph. Most folks would probably give this a quick “cute kid” and move on. But to those who know and love the little baby, and the hands holding her, it’s a lot more. I posted this on Face Book and that’s when it really hit me. The image was connecting more with the people who know our little girl and her “Nana” more than others, who don’t know them or, know them as well. That’s what brings me the most joy from photographing for others. When I grab a cute shot at a wedding or other event, I like to hope that it will connect with the people who know the subjects best. Phrases like “that is so her” or “That’s so funny, because he does that all the time” are among the highest compliments I can receive. The “great capture” “wonderful shot” “Wow that’s beautiful” are nice, but I would rather know that I have created something that connects emotionally with the people I am shooting for. And since I was shooting for myself here, I would say I succeeded.
Not much more to say really. Our world is changing. Every day. Anyone with a small child will understand this. The last couple of weeks have included her pulling up on the couch, the coffee table, and then on the side table. Nothing is safe. Books, papers, the remote control, and the cell phone. Nothing… With so much vertical interest sometimes the safest place is on the floor…
I’ve taken to doing more B&W conversions… Stay tuned for some more…
What a joy to meet little Baby Finney! You could say this story started back in 2008 when her folks were courting. After some thought and prayer they took the plunge. I was honored to photograph their engagement session (link here) and several months later their wedding (link here). When I heard that they were expecting, I was not surprised at all. They both come from large families and wanted one of their own. So on Saturday (about a month from their first anniversary) when the dad called to let me know that the little one was imminent, I was not surprised. We made plans to touch base once the little gal had made her entrance, and set up an infant session. A bit of a head cold delayed it till last night, and I was able to spend about an hour with the new little family in their new place. Below are a few of my favorite photos from our session. Now, I have two little girls of my own, so I am a little biased, but I don’t think I have seen a cuter baby in a long time. Buy why don’t you see for yourself…
The story here? Dad made the cradle. And Grandma made the quilt. By hand. Both truly incredible!
And now for my favorite photo…
Sorry to leave all two of you hanging here for a bit. Not much original content lately eh? Never fear. After the hurried pace of the holidays, things slowed down a bit for us. For various reasons we are not going to make it to any of the Bridal Events this spring (next year?) but would love to hear how they go… Instead I’ve been working on a couple of personal projects. The first is going to be called “in the frame” and now that I have several of the shoots “in the can” I feel comfortable doing a little pre-view.
The premise is simple. Meet someone for coffee and take a few informal photos. The “in the frame” bit? Well my life is “framed” by the people who I interact with. Some of them have had a very deep or long lasting impact on my, shaped who I am or fed my odd sense of humor. So those are the folks you’ll see. Who exactly? Well you’ll just have to tune back in from time to time to find out.
Finally the weddings! I’ll be firing up a special here in the next few days, and again, tune in for more info!!
Till then- have a wonderful weekend!
-Adam
I am trying to get caught up and clear some things out… And replace the flooring in about 60% of the house. Among other things. I wanted to get these posted last week, when it would have been a bit more timely, but there you go. I truly must stop biting off more than I can chew.
So here is Halloween. Most of the usual stuff, the gem for me was my youngest in a pumpkin. She’s older than our first was for her first Halloween and I am glad I didn’t have to carry the gourd to the truck at the patch (thanks Bro-In-Law!!) My wife decorated some cookies and made a really nice skeleton cake. I truly wish I had taken the time to get a better shot of the cake, it was a work of art! I did grab a nice artsy shot of some of the cookies she frosted. She loves making cakes, and is the official family baker. I think she should offer her services decorating wedding and birthday cakes, but she (in her true wisdom-beyond-my-ability) feels that she is just a bit too busy with the kids, along with all the other stuff she does. She’s probably right.
Yummy!
Here’s the little punkin! Apparently pumpkin tastes good! She though it was so much fun, and did just barely fit in the pumpkin.
The Lil Punkin!
Edit: My wife suggested that I post a shot of your youngest not eating the pumpkin. She happily sat in the gourd for about 20 min. Here was one of my favorites.
Happy little Punkin'
My focus has been shifted. Two weeks ago today. I’ve shot probably 600 frames and 40min of video in the past 14 days. And I feel like I have hardly had my camera in my hands. Delivery was smooth, so fast in fact that I only got one shot at the birth center before she showed up. I could not be more proud of my wife! Here is one of my favs, love the tiny toes, and wrinkled feet. They have a long ways to go!
What an incredible honor! To be able to take photos of such a precious new little life! And not even a day old yet (16 hours!) Such perfect tiny little fingers & toes! Mom & Dad have their hands full with three big brothers, and I am sure they will do fine with this little addition.
Here is my favorite shot of the day!
-Mom and Dad with the little one-
Here’s the sleepy little gal, I heard the three hours sleeping between feedings at the hospital
went by the wayside once she got home…
Mom & baby Victoria…
Stretching out those tiny little toes!
And one last B&W. I love all the little wrinkles in her feet! Looks like she really has been swimming
for the past 9 months!
Not at all what I thought was going to happen on Saturday, but a much better day than I thought!
Thanks again for sharing your time with me!
-Adam-
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