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

Almost.

Then I realized I had rain pants and rain boots in the car!  And hoody sweatshirts!  Hurrah for never bringing things back into the house!

So we drove to a mostly empty parking lot with some puddles, and I told the kids to just go to it.    I did ask occasionally that they not stand directly in front of a garbage can, but basically, I took pictures and they played.  It was awesome!  (No, seriously, they said so.  Score.)

This next picture is a BIG deal.  My daughter had literally just learned days earlier how to jump (you know, both feet off the ground at the same time).  If you look closely, you’ll see this rain storm came at the perfect time for her to try out her new skills!

Now it can be warm and sunny again. 

- Danie Smallwood, Bethesda, MD Children’s Photographer

Coloring is very serious business, as you can see.

Eventually, she decided to rejoin the boys, who had started to watch the movie “Cars” (see previous post with the other two boys).  They hadn’t settled in yet, and apparently the chaos called for an emergency pacifier (aka, sneaking it when I wasn’t looking!).

I find I don’t mind TV nearly as much when my kids decide to use toys to reenact the scenes!

Contemplating the deeper meaning behind the “Cars” cars?

Suddenly, she found herself engrossed in the movie!

My thanks again the extreme indulgence of my good friend for letting me take so many pictures yesterday!

- Danie, Bethesda, MD Photography

My daughter actually asked me to take this picture of her — she posed at the bottom, demonstrating how she’s learning to go down the pole.  Glen Echo Fire Station, get ready for a new volunteer.  Meanwhile, my son, who LOVES sandboxes, was sporting the awesome new sweatshirt his uncle and soon-to-be aunt sent him from Maui!Now that he’s five, my son is full of cool tricks.  He was actually just pretending he didn’t want his picture taken here.  As in “Hey Mommy, take a picture of me not wanting you to take my picture, okay?”What you can’t actually see in this picture is that my daughter is holding her shoe in her hand.  The shoe that fell off when I pulled her out of the swing, but that she insisted she could put back on herself.  This is about 10 minutes into that effort.Watched my son jumping off this post, saw the backlighting on his hair, and begged him to do it again!  You can probably guess where this is headed.  A five year old with a stick, promising not to hit anyone with it?!Yep, right there on the cheek. Somehow made her smile — but see the tears???

Comforting her brother, who was tired, hungry, and upset that he got in trouble for hitting his sister “on accident!!!!!”

With that, we headed home.  So much for staying to catch the gorgeous light of sunset!  But the kids, shockingly enough, were not especially concerned about my desire to practice exposing in backlighting.  They were much more interested in whether they could still get pizza for dinner after the stick incident. 

I know I’ll love looking back and remembering how my daughter broke into my apparently not-so-hidden stash of photography props and managed to stuff her head into this hat.

Gasp…yes, we so allow swords at the table.  At least for lunch or other “casual” meals!  That’s the Christmas tree in the background, there, as my daughter contemplates how to avoid eating her lunch.And there she goes, shoving her cheese over to her brother’s place.My son was in a bit of a hammy mood (and had, in fact, just eaten ham, so I suppose that was appropriate).My daughter had finally talked me into yoghurt instead of cheese.  I agreed, in exchange for a few more pictures of her….Here, she’s admiring her still blue (after 2 days and many washings) hands (the result of an unfortunate incident involving an ink pad that was definitely not washable ink).Caught on camera — my daughter’s preference to use anything but her napkin (here, a pot holder from her play kitchen)!It proved trickier than I had expected trying to feed my daughter while taking pictures too (I was moving too slowly), so my son stepped in to help out.I pulled back a little to catch the full scene, including my son, who apparently opens his own mouth as he feeds my daughter just like his daddy does!Just another day in our lives, but I think I’ll treasure these little moments just as much as the big ones.

- Danie

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.

I 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…

My 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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

Merry Christmas!

- Danie Smallwood, Chevy Chase MD Family Photographer