Twirling flowers…

Just had to share this shot of our two little flowers.  They wanted to twirl by the flowers.  (I would guess the dahlias will be with us for only another week or so).  Fun to see what a handful of years will do with twirling prowess…

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AAaaaaaaaaaugust…

August.  Hot (finally), busy and filled with fun.  Aaaaa as in, fall is coming and there is still lots to do!  So there isn’t much here, between work, finishing up some client work, and the farm, well, the blog tends to slip a bit…  So here’s something to cool you off (not that you need it if you live in the PNW, but others might find it refreshing…)

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Iverson Beach.

Sun.  Sand.  Water.  Good food.  Kids.  And some really good friends.  Really.  Good.  Friends.  I think it’s hard work to be our friends.  It’s not that we don’t have a lot of folks we call friends, but it seems like some of those really special relationships are stretched by time and distance.  This family is another example.  They have been everywhere, and have landed back in Portland.  They continue to blow us away with their incredible hearts.  They come up to the sound once a year, to stay at a place on Camano Island, last year they came to the farm, this year, we were invited to the beach house.  Yep, we are spoiled.  It is awesome to hang out with folks who have such a similar parenting mindset, child rambunctious/obedience ratio, interests, and sense of humor…  Take a look….

 
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(side note…  It’s late and I’m tired of messing with the formatting…  If it the layout looks funny it’s me, not you.)

Boys and Girls…

I don’t follow sports.  Team sports especially.  Not that I have anything against them.  I’ve just never been ‘into’ them.  I think to a degree my disinterest is rubbing off on my kids.  The in-laws though are a different matter.  Three boys, dad a rabid sports fan, yep, balls were outlawed in the house several years (and picture frame, glass vases, porcelain figurines) ago.  So they joined up with the local Boys and Girls club.  Fun stuff to go and watch, our kids love seeing ‘Scuzons” running around, and I get to take photos.  I know a deeper knowledge of the game would help, but they are 5th graders for crying out loud.

This last Saturday was the final game for the youngest (t-ball) and the middle child (flag football).  We just missed the t-ball but were able to watch the entire flag football game.  Lots to shoot, and some good times.  The MVP was a girl, and she had some skills, but as I only knew one of the kids on the filed, I am sticking with the ‘anonymous feet’ photo.

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Baby Goats!

I am not sure of any other animal on our farm that has brought us as much happiness as our goats have. (Don’t tell the dogs, or then again, go ahead. Maybe then they’ll stop puking on the floor after eating too much grass…) They are happy to see us, and are friendly and full of personality. Our herd has risen and dropped in number over the last few years. Most of this is in reaction to the pure cuteness of them, or having too many mouths to feed (see this post, and this one, …) And here we go again.

“Crazy-chendo” (really Crescendo) and Legato have both kidded over the past week. Crescendo threw twin girls (YEA!) and Legatto had a single buckling. It’s going to be interesting to see how this summer progresses, and it’s already been worth it to see the little ones scamper about like wind up toys…

Answering the age old question ‘him or her?’

Sweet little girl…

Poor little boy, soaking wet and sticky… Momma had to take some talking to before she got to work licking him…

Meeting our guard Llama ‘Sampson’.

Sisters. Film. (I love my family)

I love my girls. And I have so loved watching them grow. And growing with them. Mid point through a massive digital edit/comp project I stumbled into an analog folder for a little relief. Both these frames are straight scans from a roll of film from earlier this summer. I remember taking both of them. Because they were the only photos I took of them while we played. When I have my DSLR it seems to stay at my face, limiting direct interaction. With my film camera it’s so different. Just one or two, no chimping. Switch it off and swing it over my back, and back to playing, or spying on goats… Oh yes, I should probably touch up all the dust and hair on them. Or just blow them off and re-scan them… But I love that I can share these without sweating the color balance, distracting elements, or exposure.

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More fun family photos!

So I called the last post a “pre-view”.  That kind of means I need to follow it up with some more photos.  So here they are.  Golly I wish these folks lived closer to us.

And because babies are always cute, I’ll end with a few Mom & baby and Dad & baby shots…

 

 

Family Photo Session Pre-View!

So, we finally got to meet them!!  We have know A&E for years.  In fact, we knew them BC.  (Before Children).  We get to see them every 12-18 months (now that they are back state side).  Last time we saw them, they were 5 strong.  E’s comment to me was “well, now we are outnumbered”, “wow, how is that going?”, “Fine I suppose, were all here!!”.

Never ones to leave well enough alone, answering “the call” they adopted three brothers.  Just as things were getting close to the end, the earthquake hit Haiti.  Boom.  No idea if the three little boys they were all but ready to go pick up were even OK.  Thank you internet, we were able to watch them video chat just a few days after the quake, all set up by a local Portland news agency.  Incredible.  And thanks to the US government (did I just type that out loud?) the adoption got expedited and they were holding their little ones way sooner than they would have otherwise.

Here is the family- you can see how they all keep it together.  Funny, sense of humor and they are all looking for chances to have a good time.  More images to come…  There were just too many cute ones not to put more up!

It’s live!

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!

You should see the other guy….

Ok, so not really.  A little fella I know managed to go missing both his front top teeth at the same time.  He was very proud of his WWF smile..  Ah the simple things that bring joy to a child!

It’s almost out of my system…

Almost.  I have really enjoyed my little trip back into the world of film.  I don’t know that I will make a habit of this.  I can see myself shooting a lot of stuff for myself with film.  It’s really let me be part of the moment, not just watching it.  It’s nice though to shoot, and not deal with post till, well, later.  If at all.  At most, the shots I have up here in film (the entire site) are just shot, scanned, and uploaded.  I will nuke a dust spot if it’s really distracting but that’s it.  Oh and I crop just a bit.  Sometimes.  Deets: Nikon F5, 50mm 1.4, 400NC.

Not trying to compete…

I hit one of those “moments” that photographers look for.  Henri Cartier-Bresson is…  OK, I am not going to try to get him summed up here.  Instead look here, and here.  Look cause otherwise the whole “moment” thing is going to be lost on you.   And frankly I think this shot stands on it’s own.  This is a moment, and an expression that I have been trying to capture for several years.  Totally candid, and yes.  Her shoe was wet.

Nikon F5, BW400CN, 50mm

Two more reasons for me to love film.

Here are a couple of shots from a little more recently.  Available light, film, two of about 10 on the roll that I liked…

The very best part?  I shot about 6 frames of her, and then sat down and read her the book.  Cause there’s not chimpin’ so if I missed it, oh well.

A fun spring Birthday!

Just a few “identity disguised” shots from a birthday party the other week.  Beautiful weather and fun kids…

I guess this is how kids play hide and seek now….

Family trip to the fields…

Last Saturday was a little different than we though it would be.  And it worked out way better than I could have hoped!  It stared off with a little shearing (photos to follow) and then a trip to the Tulip Festival up north.  Joscelyn packed the backup body and our eldest brought her little Fisher Price camera.  Loaded for fun we got there shortly after noon (forget soft morning lights and dew on the petals) and we had a great time.  Joscelyn and I passed the baby back and forth and had a great time looking at all the colors and taking pictures of each other.

Our eldest really got into it too.  Check out her quick shot of us!  Us “did you get it?”  Her (after checking her LCD) “yep”, us “do you want to take another to make sure?”  Her “nope, I got it”…  One shot, one kill, that’s my girl!

Here are some of my favorites:

Joscelyns shots are here:

And our Future Photographer of the Year:

Just a note, as you look through some of the images you can see little spots (they look like dust spots on the sensor).  They are fly’s.  There were tons of them, all over the place.  Just to show you, unless I’m printing it, I don’t kill myself.  For cryin’ out loud, these are family shots.

Easter Review…

We er I am still recovering from Easter…  My daughter’s generosity is gong to be my undoing.  She is sure that I will love any new candy that she comes across, and must partake.  Between the candy and the turkey we had for dinner on Sunday I’m surprised I am conscious.  The turkey was from the birds we raised last year, still juicy and if I might say, very tasty!

Here are a couple of snaps from the finger egg dying on Saturday.  I haven’t gotten anything from Sunday gone through yet.  I’ll probably toss a couple of frames into the stream from Saturday as well.  We played farmer and with my dad’s help got our garden in for 2010…

If you want to see something truly moving from this last weekend (photographically) take a look at HI photographer Jon Canlas.  He is a very talanted guy, all film, all the time…  Oh and this slide show?  If you didn’t figure it out it’s a funeral.  A very touching story about a child, Natalie is a wedding and portrait photographer from the Islands, I like her work, and she was very transparent on her blog as they have gone through this whole process with their little guy.  Back to the photos though, I’m not going to get all weepy here, but to say that it this is how Jonathan shoots a funeral, I want to shoot weddings the way he shoots weddings!!

http://canlasphotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/remember-how-yesterday-was-easter.html

Finger painting….

Leave it to kids to find mud.  It hadn’t rained for a few days, but there must have been standing water in a bucket somewhere…  First it was stew, then paint, finger paint to be exact…  Everyone got hosed off before coming in for dinner.  I like that one of the hand print palms’ looked like a heart.

New favorite photo….

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.

Everett Children’s Museum..

I was able to break away for a few hours and meet up with my daughter’s pre-school class on a field trip to the Everett Children’s Museum the other week.  Lots of “grin at the camera” shots, but this kids did loose themselves in the water table.  Lots of fun, kind of wet and they didn’t get in trouble for splashing.  Here’s a quick grab of the “river maze” portion…  a bit heavy handed at the post but there you go.

If you want to see some more, come find me on FaceBook!  Make sure you send me a note if your friend requesting me from the blog so I know who you are!

Hay! From Camano to Stanwood….

Well we ran out.  It was to be expected, our barn doesn’t hold enough hay to get us all the way through winter.  We chatted up a good friend and she put us in touch with a couple on Camano Island with a bunch of good local hay.  A few weeks ago we went and picked it up.  Our little gal had a blast climbing around on the trailer and again up in the loft.  It was almost pitch black by the time I finished loading up the hay in the barn, auto focus was a challenge, and it’s lit with one SB-600 off camera.  Fun stuff, and nice to have company in the loft!

White Seamless. Snohomish Co.

Captured this the other night and had to share it.  I wish my studio was this big.

You spin me right -round….

It’s a long standing tradition. And it goes back about 16 years. Every year we go down to Westlake Center in Downtown Seattle to watch them light the Christmas Tree. My wife used to be one of the girls singing in the choirs (and I used to hang out to listen to her). Thanks to family in the area, even when we were at school in Spokane, we were still able to be in Seattle on the Friday after Thanksgiving and get downtown. We usually park at the Seattle Center and ride the monorail into Westlake. It’s a load of fun and is something our oldest daughter asks about starting in September. There is a carousel to ride, and the lights to look at, and all in all it’s a really nice time. Usually some of the family comes along and this year was no different. Here are a couple of the shots that I liked. Nothing fancy, just some time with the family.

Here’s the carousel and the Bon (oops) Macy’s star.

The ol Needel.

Beg your Pardon?

Just a quick note to say “Happy Thanksgiving!” I didn’t have much time this year, but I thought of this shot from last year and it still makes me chuckle, and the whole pardon thing. You’re looking at Duke, and he’s happily looking forward to 2010…

Fall colors.

I am no fashion mogul.  When I match, it’s because my wife managed to point me in the right direction, so when I actually look put together you can be sure she had more than a little to do with it.  What do I really love about this?  My kids always look like they walked out of a Gymboree catalog. Even with hand-me-downs.
We have a maple in our yard that has been dropping leaves for a week now. In a momentary flash of inspiration we decided to shoot out youngest’s 6 month photos in the fall setting. Did it take any prep, or re-dressing of the little model? Nope. She was already wearing a very season appropriate color palate, and looked cute doing it.

Playing the game "put the leaf in the mouth, have mommy take it away, pick up another and repeat."

So with this and a one of big sis, we should finally finish out the frame that my wife got back in June. Just in time for me to move it to a different wall, cause furniture get’s board if it stays in one place too long (or that’s what my sister in law says).

Boo!

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'