The Way I View…Halloween and Dress-up!

With a five year old and a three year old, and the rule that Halloween costumes go into the dress-up box, the major difference between Halloween and regular dress-up is the candy.  And, I suppose, the social element (my son actually got to wear his costume to school!).

This year, my little “Jake and the Never Land Pirates“-obsessed children happened to spot Jake and friends dress-up clothes at the Disney store somewhere around the beginning of the school year. (For those unfamiliar with this show, essentially Peter Pan had to leave Never Land and asked Jake, Cubby, Izzy and Skully-the-parrot to keep Captain Hook under control in his absence.  It’s adorable TV — not educational, but clean and adorable none-the-less.)

My son picked Peter Pan (since his favorite is the hour-long “Peter Pan Returns” special) and my daughter picked “Izzy”, the only girl in the bunch.  And I was thrilled because together the costumes cost less than the princess dress they had picked out of a catalogue for my daughter!

Since big brother was at school in the morning, my daughter and I did a little “warm-up” practice in the morning.

Above, she’s trying to get her doll Izzy’s feet to stay tucked to the side so they would both be sitting the same way. 
She can be a little ham when she wants to be!  But unfortunately, our little photo shoot was interrupted by  an important phone call “on the pink phone!”  (The call included several important text messages, as well.)

Shortly before we left, I got my favorite picture of her from the morning.  Just staring off.  So sweet.  I like the picture so much, I even fixed the boo-boo under her lip! 

When my son came home, and knowing I wouldn’t want to lug my good camera around the neighborhood while we trick-or-treated that night, I bribed them with pizza into going outside and letting me get a few pictures of them together.  It sort of worked.

I love how they ended up pretending to be Peter Pan and Izzy (though why they were fightingeach other is still a mystery).

And then they were done.  We went inside, where they got their pizza, and my son gave me one last “Peter Pan” pose.  The first one in this set is his interpretation of Peter Pan being a tough guy.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!  Be sure to check out what Susan Edge Photography was up to this Halloween!

There seemed to be a very obvious way to photograph that theme…except that I find that when I photograph, I sometimes end up not really feeling “present” in an interactive sense with my kids.  And since this first day of school was a really big deal — Kindergarten = brand new school! — I wanted to be completely present.

But honestly, I think what I’ll remember about this year’s back to school drama was that we’ve actually just gone back to school…again.  Yep, beginning of October.  We took an almost 2 week break, less than 2 weeks after school started, to go to my brother-in-law’s wedding (and welcome into the family my awesome new sister-in-law!).  And  perhaps I haven’t mentioned — that wedding was in Maui.

Oh, yes.

Still, just because a family wedding is a very good excuse to miss school, doesn’t mean we should miss educational (okay, a little touristy…) opportunities along the way!  Which is how we ended up at a very touristy (but lots of fun!) luau at the Marriot in Lahaina.

Of course, it was crazy beautiful — the dancing, the music, just the general setting.  But the highlight, if not the most authentic part, for my children was the fire dancing.  They sat transfixed while I put my D700 to the high ISO test, and played around with some slow shutter speeds.

That last image gets me every time.  It was so dramatic.

So here we are, in October, just now starting to settle into the school year, still battling a bit of jet lag.  Such is the price of visiting paradise, I suppose!

(Totally worth it.)

For another looks at “back to school”, check out Photography by Susan Edge, and just the most adorable stylized back to school shoot!  You don’t want to miss it.

- Danie

The Way I View…Summertime!

Even though the only beaches I could go to growing up were on lakes, I’ve always loved the beach.  This summer, we’ve discovered that we’re less than an hour drive from Sandy Point in Annapolis, and we’ve been out there a few times with the kids!  Since I’m now used to the ocean, going to the bay, with virtually no changes from tides, is a huge adjustment, but still, this beach, with the bridge in the background is just gorgeous.

We were killing time, waiting for that golden hour to start.  The photographer’s dream — golden glow of sunset.  Except that, during the summer, the sun sets really late around here, and my kids were ready to go long before I was ready to start shooting pictures.  Still, we managed to play silly games and keep them going.

I had an idea in my head for the image I was looking for this particular day, but my daughter, at 3, doesn’t exactly take direction.  Luckily, my 5 year old was willing to be my guinea pig (in exchange for some bribe I don’t remember). Or perhaps willing is too strong a word….

Having put up with five minutes of trying different angles, etc., my son was completely done with pictures — but luckily, sibling rivalry worked in my favor, and my daughter insisted that she get to lie in the sand, too!  (If you follow my Facebook page, you’ve seen the first of this next series).

I had the shots I was looking for — the rest was just gravy after that!

You can see the light getting more and more golden as the photos progressed.  We were exhausted by the end, but the patience was worth it.  The beach, the light, the fact that we could keep the kids up later with no repercussions — so many parts that I treasure about summer.

Wishing your summer is filled with beautiful light and love as well!

Don’t forget to check out Jo’s gorgeous beach pictures (Photography by Jo Lien)!   For some fun, you can follow her link to Susan Edge Photography and then click all the way through the circle!

- Danie

“The way I view Motherhood.”

I struggled with this.  Obvious choice?  A mother-child photo.  But then one morning, I woke up and saw this (thank goodness my camera was nearby).

Yes, that angelic little face.  The face of my little angel who wakes up before I do, and happily climbs out of her crib and joins me in bed.  Sometimes she even cuddles!  And sometimes she confuses my bed not just with her own bed, but also with a trampoline.

Not only is it tiring to jump on my bed, but apparently it’s thirsty work, too.  Yes, my daughter travels with her paci, her blankie, and her own waterbottle.

Unfortunately, this little one knows how cute I think she is.  Check out this mischievous little grin!

It’s always preferable to wake up to the grin, than to the feet, however.

Just when I’ll think perhaps my daughter is going to settle in for a real snuggle (aka, I might be able to go back to sleep)…I see another head peeking over our bed!

Sleep is clearly a lost cause.  Playtime has arrived!

After a last series of death-defying feats (aka, learning to do somersaults), it’s clearly time to go down for breakfast.

And while lying lazily in bed of a morning may be a treasure I don’t often experience anymore, when I look at these little faces, it’s impossible not to see the greater treasure that I have now.

Ha!  Sappy enough for you?  Ah, Mother’s Day.  (On said day, I did get to sleep in, with no kids actually in the bed, anyway!)

Now, don’t forget to check out Heather‘s view on motherhood (it’ll make you laugh, and nod in agreement)!

Be sure to check out Laura’s view of happiness next!  This is a circle, so click through the links and you’ll end up back here. 

During February, we challenged ourselves to capture images that fit this them:

The way I view… sweetness and love.

These images came at the end of a long day.  My kids were freezing cold, hungry, and tired, so to say they were not feeling the love when it came to taking direction would be an understatement.  But more importantly, you can see how much they just love each other (united against mom-learning-to-use-a-reflector, I guess!).

For another take on sweetness and love, take a moment to be inspired by Laura (another Maryland photographer!), as she tells a beautiful story of the example her parents have set for her.  (Not to give away too much, but her mom still has the first note her dad ever wrote her — that he dropped on her desk in science class!)

Welcome to March, everyone!

- Danie Smallwood, Bethesda, MD

]]> http://photographybydanie.com/blog/pictures/the-way-i-view-sweetness-and-love/feed/ 8 http://photographybydanie.com/blog/pictures/new-beginnings-clickinmoms-project-12-in-2012-challenge/ http://photographybydanie.com/blog/pictures/new-beginnings-clickinmoms-project-12-in-2012-challenge/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:00:28 +0000 Danie http://photographybydanie.com/blog/?p=1819 For 2012, I’ve joined a group of amazing women to participate in a Project 12 in 2012.  Each month, we have a generic theme.  We each take photos that illustrate an interpretation of that theme, then post on our blog to share with you.    Where this becomes really fun, though, is at the end of each post, we link to the next photographer in the group. By following the links, you can see up to 12 different interpretations of the same theme!

This month’s theme:

New Beginnings

I had about 200 different ideas for this theme, from sunrises, to self-portraits of me working out (but that didn’t work out, so to speak!).  In the end, I stuck with my original idea — a quick recap of my daughter’s journey from crib to big girl bed to….

I am a mother before anything else these days, and this past month, my daughter has absolutely controlled my attention, all of a sudden becoming a little preschooler, rather than the baby I still feel she should be.  First, she potty-trained beginning on Christmas Day (Santa brought her a purple potty!!!).  A couple weeks later, we said goodbye to her crib.  My daughter had been begging for a big bed like her brother’s.

With the help of the awesome handymen from Case Design, that crib was converted into her big girl bed by the afternoon!  (No easy feat, since the rails that came with it did not, of course, attach properly.)  Up on her walls went the butterflies from my parents at Christmas, and her new bed was covered in purple sheets and a purple quilt from Pottery Barn Kids.  She couldn’t wait to try it out!The first night, I slept with her, because we hadn’t thought to buy a side rail and I didn’t want her to fall out!  Plus, she was a little intimidated.  But nearly three weeks later, she was still stood next to her new bed, tearfully gazing up at me, saying, “I don’t want to sweep in mine big purple bed.  I want mine wittle pink bed.”  Meaning her crib.

Finally, in desperation, two nights ago I asked her if she’d like me to get her pack-n-play out.  I just couldn’t keep going to bed at 8:00pm every night with her.  She agreed, and her pack-n-play is now set up right next to her big bed.

So, this was our “New Beginnings” this past January!   For another take on the theme, check out the incredibly talented Mindy, of Mindy Newton Photography, who’s been undergoing similar bed restructuring.

- Danie

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