Superhero Photo Challenge: the gory details

What you don't see in this series of photos of Ben is that on the other side of this photo is me, jumping up and down in bare feet, trying to make faces, yelling Stay on the paper! Put that down! Don't put that in your mouth! Ben! Look up here! Stay on the paper!!!

What you don't see is the terrible sleep we had the night before, how Ben cried at 2 am, yet even after I fed him he still cried on and off for several hours more. One of those nights when I needed sleep so badly and just couldn't take it anymore... I had no gentleness left. I put in earplugs and put my husband on duty.

What you don't see is Matt playing guitar sweetly for Ben next to me so that he stops and stares in wonder at the strings, the sounds, at his magical dada.

You don't see the meltdowns between shots, the pulling of the little girl's barette, the obsession with putting his finger in other kids' mouths, the crying over wanting to take the toys home, how we bribed him with grapes, the battle over putting the apple that was really a pencil sharpener in his mouth.

This is the magic of photography. And the magic of editing your photos to look back on years from now. They only tell the story you want to tell... And even though they don't always have the gory details, there is something just as true about them. The sweetness in Ben's face, his pure joy at holding a ukulele, the sparkle in his eye... all true.

But the challenge I want to pose this week is actually about those gory details. I want to see the mess, the dirt, the chaos. Give me your real life stuff.

Comments

[Mama DB]

He's adorable! Even with the chaos in the background, what a great shot!

I tried to take a photos of the kids from a different angle. They were filling the bird feeder but as soon as they saw me get down low to take the picture, they did the same. No amount of coaxing would change things. I gave up after 15 or so shots. This was one of them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23829646@N02/2597051042/

[mary]

I normally tend to take pictures of pretty things -- flowers, antiques, dishes. I try to make my blog a feast for the eyes. But here is what life is really like at my house:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9068078@N05/1338006306/

[laura - dolcepics]

Andrea, what a brilliant idea! I'm looking forward to reading more about everyone else's gory details.

Here's one of mine... one of many many more!

http://www.dolcepics.com/dailypic/behind-the-picture/

[Jennifer]

Any time I try and do a nice "posed" shot with the kiddos at least one of them has a separate agenda that doesn't include pictures.

One day I will get all three of them looking sweetly at the camera all at the same time. Until then - I get stuff like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veridianblue/2520584571/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veridianblue/2596535465/

[e.darcy]

My first couple/family shoot ever...We arrive at the park to a wedding in progress and about 20 other photographers scouting out areas for their families. Oh, the confidence was running high....

So here I was, with my couple, and their dog-who just had no interest in me what-so-ever. Making these high pitched whistling sounds with my mouth, jumping up and down to get his attention, to to top it off--I ended up taking most pictures with a dog treat on the top of my head...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edarcy/2533808496/in/set-72157605553696680/

[brittany]

I was shooting a session for my friend... first mommy and baby photos together. Braydon wasn't quite ready to cooperate. We ended up getting some really good shots, but this was one of the first, and one of my favorites!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/britspit/2597546500/

[quadelle]

The joys of dressing babies for Halloween...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25232244@N08/2596752231/

[Kathleen]

While snapping pictures of my friend's twins - allie was not cooperating. But then I remembered a post I read here - that was about capturing reality, not just photographing the bright side of life! So instead of putting my camera down (and picking up a baby) I kept shooting. I actually like this shot - she's still so sweet!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23630286@N05/2479699103/in/set-72157605262729995/

[lora]

ahhh! i love it.

so here's my contribution...
one day i was sitting near my camera (as always) and my son came to me with a world of wining on his lips. Of all the things I've tried to derail this infamous act of all great two year olds, taking his photograph throughout the episode turned out not to be of any help. =)

But it sure lead to a great mosaic for the grandmas who all thought he was otherwise the "perfect" child. =)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987938@N00/2596894599/

[jennifer]

wow - this is so true and funny you mention. i recently started a series of layouts (photos and words) depicting just this - what you see versus what you don't see b/c you are right, no one looking at that photo would ever know those "gory details" as you put it! (GREAT photo, btw) i hope to incorporate that series of photos/stories into one album at some point. for instance, i grabbed a cute shot of my {tired} son and much like your story, you'd never know about the series of melt-downs that had taken place that day due to no nap. another reason why it's great to scrapbook/journal with your photos/blog. tell those stories! :)

[tracey]

great post! those of us that work professionally know exactly what you are talking about as well. trying to get the kids you don't know to cooperate while mom and dad are watching your every move. it's all very tricky but in the end, rewarding!

my fav part of this shot is the little sprig of ben's hair. perfect.

[Lisa]

I can't begin to pretend this photo is a good photo but it certainly shows the real life of my house.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmdphotography/2598023454/

(I was really hoping my first picture I posted here would be a good one! LOL)

[Angie]

I had an idea with my first child to take a little shoot of him in ducky robe as a newborn. I did it with the next two as well. It was ALWAYS difficult, and took many tries to get this of all 3 boys:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/2478188077/

In fact, here is a sample of the outtakes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/2476413799/

[psumommy]

Today is definitely a good day for this particular challenge here!

http://nittanymommy.blogspot.com/2008/06/shutter-sisters-challenge-gory-details.html

[Lawyer Mama]

A completely out of focus shot b/c my son didn't want me to take his picture, he wanted me to pick him up. So of course I took his picture anyway!
http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2557867056/

And then a literal mess. I wanted some shots of the boys painting a picture. Then they began painting themselves, the floor, each other....
http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2521473166/

[Jenty]

LOL, what a great post!!

I asked Bradley to show me different emotions last weekend for the Photohunt, and it started off quite nicely with a pretend cross face
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8986729@N02/2576936963/
But then, he got a wobbly, typically for a 5yo, and started really crying. I of course, just carried on taking photos. LOL! My husband was not happy with me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8986729@N02/2577769876/

[Connie]

Our little one is going through a chewing stage, it is all but impossible to get her picture without something dangling from her mouth. Her favorite thing to chew are sandals!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mini-mrs/2597732883/

[Michelle]

My sister's family is visiting and yesterday we all went to the creek to cool off. My niece, Trinity, she likes to be the boss. She had a few melt-downs and I caught a bit of one here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26029966@N02/2598951158/

[Cara]

I was trying to get a picture for our Chritmas Card, a picture of an uncooperative toddler.

http://miaduebambini.blogspot.com/2008/06/photo-challenge-gory-details.html

[Kate Baumert]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drmagoddess/2598518115/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drmagoddess/2598517965/in/photostream/

The first pic leads to the second one :)

[Kate Baumert]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drmagoddess/2598518115/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drmagoddess/2598517965/in/photostream/

The first pic leads to the second one :)

[Melissa (aka Photomom86)]

Great post. This seems to be my life. If I am trying to get pictures for a card, special occasion or a gift (like Father's Day) the kids never sit still and never want to look at the camera.

Here is mine from today.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24035778@N04/2599101006/in/photostream/

I was trying to get a picture of him after his hair cut. But as you can see from the blurry picture he wasn't having any of that and kept turning his head.

The full story of our day can be found here http://aphotomom.blogspot.com/2008/06/hair-cuts.html

[HLiza]

Just wanna share some gory moments of mine..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hliza/2221096220/

and this..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hliza/2599733366/

Happy Sunday all!

[Jeana]

My husband took this photo of me in all my glory. Hope no one is afraid to eat at our house now ...

http://pejajemabla.blogspot.com/2008/06/12-when-you-leave-washing-up-for-way.html

[HSY]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84443905@N00/2598085162/

Big brother couldn't stand all of the attention being paid to his baby brother... and he crept into our shot!

[abbey]

waded through the ankle deep mud.. one child at a time, as to not slip and ruin their adorable clothes (and shoes)... on my knees in the mud, smiling, singing, waving nemo above my head... and this is what I got! ha!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/abbeyh13/TheBrewerKids/photo?authkey=3pvzvPkGK4k#5206245769775044354

[Malia]

Look at that sweet innocence in his eyes.

Malia

[Regina]

Hilarious images :o)

This is what I get to see almost every time I point the camera at my son:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15165293@N00/2168346785/in/set-72157594382465161/

[intensity_too]

This picture is from my niece's 1st birthday party. I was trying so hard to get her to look at me, but there were so many people around that she was distracted. It was one of those, "jump up and down . . . say her name . . . shake a toy" type thing.

I thought this picture turned out okay considering my efforts.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/intensity_too/2555711952/

You can see the whole series here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/intensity_too/sets/72157605457266242/

[jill]

I LOVE taking pictures of my kids when they're angry. My daughter especially. This is a series from one day down at VA Beach when my daughter forgot that she would get wet if she got too close to the water. She was so angry that I was taking pictures of her crisis, but I just had to!

http://whatsthiswhatsthis.blogspot.com/2007/03/earth-is-warm-thing-under-my-feet.html

[Jennifer Adkins]

This one isn't truly gory, but it shows some things I do to get a cool picture.
This was shot in front of a mirrored building.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenadkins/2373226883/

[Jennifer Adkins]

This one isn't truly gory, but it shows some things I do to get a cool picture.
This was shot in front of a mirrored building.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenadkins/2373226883/

[mel]

Sometimes it feels like it's all gory...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21106607@N05/2290332382/in/set-72157603259547510/

[Mary]

early last summer we'd gotten a record amount of rain. The dog had dug a hole along the fence so the younger two filled the hole with water and laid in it. The oldest looked outside and made me come see. Instead of screaming and yelling I grabbed the camera and started snapping while making the agreement that they'd clean the bathroom AFTEr they were done. They were getting along and no one was fitting for an hour or so. What's a little mud for an hour or so of peace?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63031528@N00/523793035/

[elizabeth]

great shot!

[Steph]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephwiese/2626400028/

What you can't see are three little pairs of flower girl eyes full of tears. What you can't hear is the bride comforting the girls by explaining that just because she is married it does not mean she cannot be friends with the little girls. And the bride confirming that the kiss at the end of the ceremony was not icky because she loves the groom. And reassuring the girls that not all boys are icky. Just some of them.