• I'm so happy you've stopped by my blog! I hope you'll stay for a few minutes, take a look around, relax with a cold, bubbly beverage...

    These days, I'm no longer working with clients. (What the future will bring, I cannot say!) You'll find me now at home, playing with my kids; and likely taking pictures of them, too!

    {Hugs} and a huge thank you to the clients who have been so supportive over the years! I will miss shooting for you.

Dec 04 2011

Meeting Santa Clause!

Welcome to another edition of “How to Survive Photographing Your Own Kids.”  Or as I like to call it, “Danie, photography is your job, not your kids; anything they give is a gift, take it.”  And so….

It has to be said: I really don’t enjoy the idea of going to see Santa in a mall.  I’m not anti-consumerism, per se, but the way the kids are rushed through just doesn’t seem quite in keeping with the Christmas spirit.  On a tip from a friend, I decided to go ahead and try the Santa Clause at Mazza Gallerie this year, though –  heard there was no line and parents could take their own pictures!  Camera over my shoulder, lists to Santa in hand, my family set off to check it out Saturday morning.

I think most parents can relate to what happened next.  My kids entered the car perfectly happy, excited even; and after a few hiccups finding a parking spot down in Friendship Heights, this was their general attitude about the whole outing.

My kids, not happy to have their picture taken, as we waited for Mazza GallerieI was in “breathe, and don’t get frustrated or we’ll definitely not get happy pictures” mode.  Breathing a lot.

Breathing stopped a moment when we realized it was only 11:30 am and we hadn’t checked what time Santa would arrive (noon, in case you’re thinking of going!).

More deep breathes — we’d just go and take some fun pictures in front of the Christmas tree to kill time.  Right…

Photos of my child enjoying the presents at the Friendship Heights Christmas TreeMy daughter was actually pretty into it.  Not posing-into-it, but that was okay — she was having so much fun, just awed by the sheer size of the Christmas tree (reminded me of the book Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree).  Her Christmas list was in the rolling teddy-bear bag, and she was holding tight!

Meanwhile, my son’s opinion of waiting to see Santa hadn’t changed much.  I thought he’d be giddy with excitement.  Maybe he was hungry.  Clearly he felt tired!

My son did not want his picture taken

Still I remained undeterred.  We were first in line, after all, and now it was only 5 more minutes (see left pic?) until Santa would be arriving!  [Please, I prayed, let Santa be a punctual sort with no unexpected bathroom breaks for the reindeer....]  We read back through my son’s list, and he was clearly feeling a little more enthusiastic, as a little smile broke out.

Trying to get my son excited again about meeting Santa!

Meanwhile, my daughter was lost in thought again about Santa’s imminent arrival.

Daughter lost in thought as she imagines meeting Santa

Finally, the doors opened, and Santa Clause came out!  Oh my gosh, my son was so excited — Santa put his hand up for a high-five and my son confidently whipped out his Christmas list.

Washington DC Santa photography - Friendship Heights Santa giving my son a "high-five"Meanwhile, things were a little trickier with my daughter.  She might have been in a better mood in line, but she took one look at Santa and burst into hysterical, terrified crying!  Luckily, she let her Daddy hold her so I was able to continue to take pictures, but my hope of a picture of both kids sitting on Santa’s lap didn’t seem likely.  But after watching her brother talk to Santa and even sit in his lap, my daughter eventually agreed (tentatively) to sit there with him, too.

Santa being very patient as daddy tried to show daughter that it was safe to sit with him!Though I’m not sure I’d call her “happy” to be there, she shoved her list in Santa’s face like a pro, while my son looked on with that worried expression he gets when he thinks she’ll cry.

But in the end, the David Madison Photography, the awesome photographer who was letting parents take their own pictures, too!, got this last shot of both of them sitting together with Santa, and I just love it.  No, they’re not smiling, but you know, they didn’t smile sitting with Santa.  They did engage with him and talk about it for the rest of the day, and I think this photo really captures that!

Photo by David Madison Photograpy with Santa at the mallMerry Christmas!

- Danie Smallwood, Chevy Chase MD Family Photographer

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Robin - December 7, 2011 - 5:25 pm

your Mom sent me your visit-great pics and naritave-happy holdays to you all

Danie - December 8, 2011 - 9:06 am

Thanks, Aunt Robin! Glad you enjoyed the post!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! » photography by danie - December 25, 2011 - 9:34 pm

[...] think the most memorable part of this Christmas will always be the Purple Potty.  My daughter asked Santa to bring her “Purple.”  Period.  Later she added that she wanted a Purple Potty.  As we are just starting potty [...]

Nov 21 2011

It’s new, and it’s almost here….

It’s…

the 2012 Simplicity Session!

First, some background.

This past year has been filled with challenges and heartbreak, both personal and on behalf of friends and family.  Both of my grandfathers have passed away.  Close friends and family members have lost jobs, and many more are barely covering expenses.  And the necessity of having to pay bills myself has required me to establish prices that reflect the time I spend both studying and practicing photography, and creating images for my clients.

Still, my life is filled with so many blessings — my husband and children; my children’s wonderful teachers; a future sister-in-law, and wonderful siblings and parents (even my in-laws!); having a job I absolutely love.  And photography plays such a huge part for me in treasuring all of those blessings that I have felt over the past few months absolutely compelled to find a way to create a more affordable way for more people to experience custom photography.

So, in honor of both of my wonderful grandparents, and hopefully to the benefit of many other grandparents out there, I have created the 2012 Simplicity Session.

This is a session for one child. In some ways, you can think of it as an alternative to the traditional school photos — an affordable way to have an updated image of your child each year!  These Simplicity Sessions (similar to mini-sessions offered by many photographers) are only $95, and that includes a digital file and two gift prints from that file (8×12 and smaller).

The time commitment is small, too — only 20 minutes!  The Simplicity Session is also perfect for a gift certificate, since it’s a complete package in and of itself; or for “Small Business Saturday” coming up Nov 26th!:)  Shop local services….  Dates and approximate locations listed later this week.

And I’ll leave you with one last thought, since what post is complete without a picture — my son, giving serious thought to learning to write at school. ;)

Preschooler near Bethesda, MD photographed learning to write

Please contact me if you have any questions!

- Danie Smallwood, Bethesda MD Child and Family Photographer

 

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Nov 12 2011

“It’s Camera Wars!” {Bethesda, MD Child Photographer}

More accurately, this post could be called “preschooler’s photographing me photographing them taking photos. “  Or, as one child eloquently summed it up, as he prepared to take a picture of me taking a picture of him: “It’s camera wars!”

Teaching my son

I had this amazing idea earlier in the school year to bring in a couple of my cameras and let the kids see what it’s like to use use an SLR camera, while I used my third camera to take pictures of them doing it.

It was an awesome idea, I thought.  Planned it out.  Told the teachers.  Then wondered, would insurance cover two four year olds colliding on the playground, shattering lenses?

But I needn’t have worried.  It was a great time, and I achieved what I considered my main objectives:

  • to give the kids a sense of what it feels like to hold such a heavy camera (even with fixed lenses on there, the Nikon D300 and D700 are heavy cameras)
  • to show the kids how to put their eye right up to the viewfinder and take a moment to see what they were going to be taking a picture of
  • to teach them the proper grip for the camera (aka, left hand wrapped under the lens, bearing the weight, fingers carefully not blocking the lens; right hand, 3rd, 4th and 5th fingers wrapped around the grip, pointer finger on the shutter button)

I’ve seen many adults shoot with a poorer grip than these kids had!

Here’s another look at a great grip (this one’s my son!).  As you can see, the grip was very important, because these kiddos were too little for the strap to be of any use!

Teaching preschool students photography

Aside from a fun time, an unexpected benefit is that I now have dozens of pictures of myself, with camera in hand.

Preschoolers near Bethesda MD took pictures of photographer Danie Smallwood

So, if you ever need pictures of yourself, just grab your nearest preschooler….

(A couple of these kids have a pretty good sense of composition, too — or else, seriously good luck. :)  You can see some original-crop pictures on my Facebook Page.)

A huge hug and thank you to the preschool teachers who facilitated this and so many other fun and new activities for these eager little minds!

- Danie


 

 

 

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celeste - June 5, 2012 - 2:14 pm

Danie, this is adorable! What a great idea and you are too cute!

Nov 06 2011

Twins! by the stream {University Park, MD Family Photographer}

I’m overwhelmed by the beauty of many of the neighborhoods in and around Washington, DC, a beauty that truly comes to life with all the colors of the Fall.  And the colors just scream “fun” and childhood to me, like in this picture here, of these twins.

 

When I’m planning a session, talking to the [usually] Mom ahead of time, and starting to organize my thoughts, I’m fighting all kinds of unknowns.  What will the weather be like?  What are the children going to be like?  How will the parents handle the kids if they’re not cooperating (as they say in West Side Story, “just play it cool..real cool”).  Often, I’ve never been to the location before, and can only take a client’s word for it that there are angles that won’t show cars.  Etc.

But I usually have one image planted in my mind that I am determined to get.  This is the one I’ll get stubborn about.  Luckily, with the “S” family, I caught this one very early in the session, before Sister stepped into the stream, and the kids needed a snack and bathroom breaks and…:)

I knew while on the phone with Mom before the session, that this was the image I wanted.  The one that showed joy and love and just plain, good, old-fashioned fun.

Family photo fun in University Park MD

So, I left happy!  And I hope, “S” family, that you love these and the rest of the pictures to come shortly!  Thank you for sharing that beautiful afternoon with me.

- Danie Smallwood, Bethesda, MD child photography

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Oct 24 2011

Slow shutter speed for fall foliage {Bethesda, MD Photography}

If you’re a friend or a recent client, you probably already know that my grandfather died two weeks ago.  I offer this post as a tribute, because one of his parting gifts was a small gift of time.  Time that I got to spend with my brother and sister as we drove back to our hometown in New York for his funeral.  And time spent with many friends from back home that I hadn’t seen in years.

The following photos are all of trees (well, one of the road), taken from inside the car as we were driving together.  See what a slow shutter speed will do!

We’ll miss you, Papa.

 

[Shutter speeds typically stayed closed to 1/30th per second, camera held parallel to the foliage along-side the road.  For the most extreme blur, I moved the camera in the opposite direction we were traveling.]

 

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