Be here. Be now. Be SEEN.

February 2010

Bebewearing Mamas

I had the privilege of photographing a number of beautiful carriers for Bebewearing Mama's soon to be revised site.  And just like my portraiture, I'm more enamored of the tightly cropped detail shots as opposed to the more technical full-sized products.  I'm primarily a wrapper, but a few of the mei tais were so gorgeous!

I tell ya, the possibility that I will not wear an itty bitty newborn ever again floors me sometimes.

 

365, week 31

211 of 365: Those wisps of over-the-ear hair are killing me with their cuteness!

212 of 365: I know...I take a lot of babywearing photos!  But that's my life now (and I totally love it), but I occasionally miss using phrases like "affective dysregulation" and talking about the "eigenvalues of a matrix" as a part of my daily conversation.

213 of 365: I made this portrait for the profile page of Susan, an event coordinator extraordinaire.  You can become a fan her via her Facebook page or you can visit her site directly.

214 of 365: Jelly beans and my itty bitty little finger.

215 of 365: These were so delicate, a soft and faded treatment seemed fitting.  I'm not loving my floral shots these days.

216 of 365: The rainbow fringe around the lavender leaves and the sunburst and flare were created by shooting at f/22 directly into the setting sun.

217 of 365: I wanted to continue the botanical theme by capturing the newly planted flowerbed...mostly because by morning, it will have become an open salad bar for the wild rabbits.  But I had a little visitor who popped into the frame.

 

Newborn

Journalist Hodding Carter mused, "There are two lasting bequests we can give our children.  One is roots.  The other is wings." 

And that's the thing I loved most about capturing this family.  I could so very clearly see the parents simultaneously offering both.

This little gal is undoubtedly going to grow up feeling quite safe and secure!

 

365, week 30

 204 of 365: With eyes this pretty, who needs the rest of the face?  I cropped this intentionally to highlight the highlights, of her hair, that is.

205 of 365: Cute little monkey!

206 of 365: Something dark and moody to break up the monotony of all those child photos I so dearly love:

207 of 365: I totally dig the way mama and son are looking at each other, but that extra head blob from the errant child between them draws my eye way too much.  Still, I'm keeping it for the 365 because of the aforementioned mama-son gaze.  Plus, I find it odd that all these digital advancements are made to cameras and I spend all my time vintage-izing the result with fake noise and faded color.

208 of 365: My rampant vintage-ing strikes again!  I love his cowlick and the way he's sucking in his cheeks in total concentration.

209 of 365: Booooooring!

210 of 365: I wonder if having babies BEHIND their mamas looks odd to non-babywearers.

 

Held

Who wants to hang out all by your lonesome in a plastic bucket...

when you can just as easily be in the embrace of your loving parents?

And I can tell you from personal experience that parents would much rather be holding their babies to stare into their eyes than leaving them out in the open where hospital staff are liable to prick them for a bazillion tests.

Ouch! 

 

365, week 29

197 of 365: My boys went exploring in the mud with their galoshes.

198 of 365: Who doesn't love water play (even on a rainy day)?

199 of 365: I have a bunch of photos of this gal smiling at the camera and better composed so that she's not dead center in the frame.  And yet, the quietness of this one is my fave of the day.

200 of 365:  Meh.  I don't love this one.  But it's hard for me to love any images without at least one child somewhere in the frame.

201 of 365: Tulle and tootsies!  These belong to a girl who's less than 2 weeks old!

202 of 365: There's some quote about the best camera being the one that's with you.  Still, I can't believe I'm including this iPhone double rainbow snapshot.  But when I pulled over to the side of the road with both kids in the back, I only had my celly with me.  And in the end, I've still preserved the moment--so I guess that's a good thing.

203 of 365: I have got to stop reaching the end of the day and realizing that I have no 365 image yet.  I get desperate and randomly snap pics without much consideration. 

 

365, week 28

I'm no bandwagon jumper.   Of the 365 photography projects, with which so many were enamored, I'm definitely a late adopter.  And then I became a midway abandoner.  So I'm going to pick it up here...exactly where I left off.  It's my project and I say it's kosher to do so!

 

190 of 365: I was sitting in a dark room with only my iMac to light the way.  Three Lego men were delivered to my desk as a plea to stop and play.  And I did, in fact, stop and play.

191 of 365: Oh, yeah...I suddenly remember what terrifies me about this very public photography project: displaying my stunningly boring, uninspired images.  But I have thing for magenta and turquoise so this corner of a market basket gets immortalized as today's entry.

192 of 365: I love (and I mean LOVE!) seeing parents with their children...especially the really itty bitty ones.  This gal just happens to be 2 days old and already the center of her parents' lives.  It's amazing how such a small package opens up to reveal so much joy and hope.

 

193 of 365: I snapped this at Disneyland.  A little before I lost (someone stole?) my phone.  So now, what is a neutral photo actually brings me sadness.  

 

194 of 365: Powering through my phone bereavement, I return to Disneyland the following day...and find two wonderful friends and their kids!  Now, this is a neutral photo that brings me happiness!

195 of 365: I love the promise of high school seniors...so ready to venture out into the world on their own and yet still so tender.

 

196 of 365: Well, it was bound to happen.  There's no way I could get through 365 days of photos without including my kids.  And it's not even a good capture...it just happens to be the only one I snapped for the day.  I suppose that's part of the lesson of this project.