Video we took today of Danny playing baseball in the kitchen:
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Evolution of Picture Taking
As an aspiring photographer, I am often on the computer editing, organizing, and evaluating photos that I have taken. I see so much room for improvement and I desire to become better that this skill. But last night I was made very aware of the fact that there is an evolving process to the dynamics of a casual photographer. Of course, there is the area of my portfolio that I would hope would change for the better, but I am talking about something different. This about the subject of my photos changing through out the years. Let me explain.
Back in college, my parents gave me a wonderful present of a nice SLR Canon camera. I had never had more than just a point and click camera and I would say that this is the point when my love for picture taking really took off. Prior to my Canon, I had done some artsy pictures, but this opened up a whole new world for me. I am so thankful that my parents saw my potential and bought me a gift that represented what I could become. My early picture taking involved lots of nature shots and experimenting with the world around me on film. I also remember taking pictures when my friends would get together and I always tried to get as many with different people as I could. I wanted to be able to document the memory and have a collage of friends represented in my scrapbook. My friends were a special part of who I was and it was nice to have them forever represented in my memory books. My college scrapbooks are very full! Then came the dating and engagement stage of life. This point of my picture documentation was not too different from college, except that the group of friends spread out around the country and now I was more limited in who was in my photos. But this was also a great time to once again focus on natural shots and things in the world around me. The purchase of a new lense somewhere along the way also opened the door again to new possibilities.
After marriage, we were probably less active with friends and more comfortable staying at home together and enjoying our new stage of life. The subject of most of these photos became one of three things....places we visited, each other, or the dog. I even had an entire album develop at this time for our puppy. We love our doggies and it showed through our love for taking their pictures.
Then came human children. And here is where the biggest change happened. I guess it was a gradual evolution, but I laugh as I think about what I used to have in my albums. Friends, nature photos, cool shots of buildings and animals, our dog....but now we have multiple albums dedicated to our child. For almost a year, the albums on my computer were labeled based on Danny's stages of development. I have since started labeling based on seasons and places we visit, but would you believe that every photo is still of our son? I am not saying this with anything but joy over being able to capture the cute things that Danny does, but for goodness sakes, he monopolizes the album. On our smugmug website, the Spring 2008 http://gaskills.smugmug.com/gallery/4533119_gwrEp#272596802 album currently contains 66 photos of Danny. Scott is in a few, but I am sure it was by accident. He just "happened" to be in the cute shot of Danny I was taking. Pollack made an appearance in a few photos and there are a couple of some ducks we were watching. Pictures of mommy....zero. I don't want this to sound like complaining, because it is a general rule that I choose to be behind the camera, not in front of it. I don't really like most pictures of myself, but it would probably be a good idea to be in a few photos. I don't want to look back years from now and have to try and remember if I was even there. So, a new goal of mine is to make sure I get in a few shots. Maybe when this new baby is born, I will "accidentally" be in the picture, since I will be giving birth to the little munchkin. I think we are due for a family photo shoot after baby #2 is born.
So, parents, I am sure you have all experienced this evolution of photos in your life. And it is with complete joy and excitement that we take each photo of our child. Years from now, I will be so glad to have these pictures of Danny eating cookies and hitting golf balls. But things sure have changed. Aren't we blessed?
Back in college, my parents gave me a wonderful present of a nice SLR Canon camera. I had never had more than just a point and click camera and I would say that this is the point when my love for picture taking really took off. Prior to my Canon, I had done some artsy pictures, but this opened up a whole new world for me. I am so thankful that my parents saw my potential and bought me a gift that represented what I could become. My early picture taking involved lots of nature shots and experimenting with the world around me on film. I also remember taking pictures when my friends would get together and I always tried to get as many with different people as I could. I wanted to be able to document the memory and have a collage of friends represented in my scrapbook. My friends were a special part of who I was and it was nice to have them forever represented in my memory books. My college scrapbooks are very full! Then came the dating and engagement stage of life. This point of my picture documentation was not too different from college, except that the group of friends spread out around the country and now I was more limited in who was in my photos. But this was also a great time to once again focus on natural shots and things in the world around me. The purchase of a new lense somewhere along the way also opened the door again to new possibilities.
After marriage, we were probably less active with friends and more comfortable staying at home together and enjoying our new stage of life. The subject of most of these photos became one of three things....places we visited, each other, or the dog. I even had an entire album develop at this time for our puppy. We love our doggies and it showed through our love for taking their pictures.
Then came human children. And here is where the biggest change happened. I guess it was a gradual evolution, but I laugh as I think about what I used to have in my albums. Friends, nature photos, cool shots of buildings and animals, our dog....but now we have multiple albums dedicated to our child. For almost a year, the albums on my computer were labeled based on Danny's stages of development. I have since started labeling based on seasons and places we visit, but would you believe that every photo is still of our son? I am not saying this with anything but joy over being able to capture the cute things that Danny does, but for goodness sakes, he monopolizes the album. On our smugmug website, the Spring 2008 http://gaskills.smugmug.com/gallery/4533119_gwrEp#272596802 album currently contains 66 photos of Danny. Scott is in a few, but I am sure it was by accident. He just "happened" to be in the cute shot of Danny I was taking. Pollack made an appearance in a few photos and there are a couple of some ducks we were watching. Pictures of mommy....zero. I don't want this to sound like complaining, because it is a general rule that I choose to be behind the camera, not in front of it. I don't really like most pictures of myself, but it would probably be a good idea to be in a few photos. I don't want to look back years from now and have to try and remember if I was even there. So, a new goal of mine is to make sure I get in a few shots. Maybe when this new baby is born, I will "accidentally" be in the picture, since I will be giving birth to the little munchkin. I think we are due for a family photo shoot after baby #2 is born.
So, parents, I am sure you have all experienced this evolution of photos in your life. And it is with complete joy and excitement that we take each photo of our child. Years from now, I will be so glad to have these pictures of Danny eating cookies and hitting golf balls. But things sure have changed. Aren't we blessed?
btw: The Puppy album on my computer hasn't been updated in a few years....poor Pollack. It is hard to become second in line behind the children. But he isn't complaining, because as mentioned in an earlier post, he loves the dropped food and new friend to throw the ball.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Just like Daddy
I am so blessed to be the mommy of a sweet little boy! And I am convinced that I have the greatest husband. I am so proud of him and he is the kind of man I want our children to become. So, I guess you can say that I was a happy momma to be taking pictures in the back yard this Easter Sunday. Scott decided to mow the grass real quick(therapy after 9 hours in a car) and Danny was his little helper.
I just love this photo and how it captures a little boy following in his Daddy's footsteps.
...
So sweet!
We had a great time in Atlanta for the Easter weekend. I know 9 hours may seem like a lot of travel, but there are so many cities along the way that it is not that bad of a drive. Of course, we had to stop more than Scott usually does when he has made this trip, but it was managable. And we all got giddy in the last hour of the ride with much giggling and talking about going home to "Short Pump"(with a pssht and a arm crank motion included....our way of saying short pump for the watering hole that this area was named after) We loved seeing family and it was fun to be an overnight guest, versus the usual rush in and rush out that happens when we live in the same city. I am working on editing our photos, but look for them in our smug mug site....http://gaskills.smugmug.com I will probably label them something like Easter in Atlanta. This is it for trips to ATL for Danny and I(until after #2 is born), but Scott will be headed there one more time for a friend's wedding.
Now we are just counting down the days until we meet our second son! He needs a name though! Please feel free to comment and leave suggestions after this post. We at least need a short list...Can't call him #2 forever!
Until next time...Happy Spring!
I just love this photo and how it captures a little boy following in his Daddy's footsteps.
...So sweet!
We had a great time in Atlanta for the Easter weekend. I know 9 hours may seem like a lot of travel, but there are so many cities along the way that it is not that bad of a drive. Of course, we had to stop more than Scott usually does when he has made this trip, but it was managable. And we all got giddy in the last hour of the ride with much giggling and talking about going home to "Short Pump"(with a pssht and a arm crank motion included....our way of saying short pump for the watering hole that this area was named after) We loved seeing family and it was fun to be an overnight guest, versus the usual rush in and rush out that happens when we live in the same city. I am working on editing our photos, but look for them in our smug mug site....http://gaskills.smugmug.com I will probably label them something like Easter in Atlanta. This is it for trips to ATL for Danny and I(until after #2 is born), but Scott will be headed there one more time for a friend's wedding.
Now we are just counting down the days until we meet our second son! He needs a name though! Please feel free to comment and leave suggestions after this post. We at least need a short list...Can't call him #2 forever!
Until next time...Happy Spring!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Long time no see...
It has been a long time since I last wrote on our blog. I have been so busy with lots of fun things. We had our first"dinner" party at our new house. I couldn't think of what else to call it, but it was so fun having our friends and their daughter over for dinner and dessert. It was a special dessert for Scott, since it involved his new torch and creme brulee. Yummy....and it is always fun to play with fire at the dinner table. Then, we had our first overnight guests with my parents in town for a few days. We put them to work....of course we had time to celebrate my dad's birthday and a trip to Maymont park....but most of the week was spent doing "odd" jobs. This is a family tradition. I remember my grandpa coming for a visit and many hours being spent doing projects that my dad had on his to do list. So, we happily carry this tradition on....great for us, since they ended up checking many things off our weekend list. And good for them to get to see our new house and know it well. In a few weeks, they will have to know their way around our house when they come to take care of Danny when baby #2 decides to come into world. We would love to have more guests....this house is a good house for having people stay over. So, friends and family, make plans to visit!
I had lots more to say and pictures to share, but the fact that we are stealing wireless means that our computer is horrendously slow....so no pics today(they were good ones of Danny too!) But more to come later.
I had lots more to say and pictures to share, but the fact that we are stealing wireless means that our computer is horrendously slow....so no pics today(they were good ones of Danny too!) But more to come later.
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