time for rest

I felt it coming a few days before Christmas...scratchy throat, stuffy nose, a little achey. I popped some vitamin c, gobbled down a few oranges and carried on. It just wasn't enough. I'm down for the count with a nasty post-holiday cold. 

What to do? Snuggle into bed with some hot tea, my laptop, a few favorite magazines and plenty of rest. I can't believe how much I've been sleeping. Sometimes the body needs a break and the only way to make it happen is to knock us right off our feet.

Are you taking time to rest, relax, refuel...hopefully before your knocked off your feet? Share a little glimpse of cozy...comfort....recuperation with us today.

Oh, baby

Who doesn't love babies?! When photographing babies this age, I just follow their lead.  They most definitely run the show.  I may not always get that 'perfect' baby shot, but when this little beauty (who just happens to be my niece) started with the faces, the opportunity was too good to pass up, so I snapped away.  It may not have been what I was looking for, but it's most definitely a keeper.

Today, show us your not-so-perfect shots that worked out for you anyway.  I know you've got 'em.  We all do! 

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Comfort and Joy

It's that time of year again. You know the one: holiday photo time.  One thing I've learned is that the more relaxed and comfortable I am during a shoot, the people I'm photographing will be the same way.  I give direction but I like to have fun, too and I tell them to do the same.  I use humor during my shoots, always.  If I can make them laugh, that's half the battle, and once that starts, everyone involved is having a good time, myself included.  I love it even more when it shows in my photos, like the one above.  

When the boys and their dad sat down for this photo, I snapped a few 'proper' photos and then told them to have fun and to do whatever they wanted.  Before the boys could do anything, dad reached around and covered their mouths, his expression -and theirs - priceless.  Nothing brings me more joy than knowing that they were comfortable enough to 'let go' and just have a good time.  What a gift, for  both myself and them.  

Today, share with us those photos that bring you joy.  And if you haven't already, please join our mailing list! 

b is for blur

Because it's how I remember things. It's how memories unfold in my mind. when I close my eyes and try to remember, this is what I see: lovely, blurry scenes. I've been shooting this way for a while, for three or four years now. Not exclusively, of course, but more and more. I intentionally throw the focus until it feels rights. Until it looks like what I see in my mind. So often, these are the images I revisit, the ones I come back to again and again. These are the photographs that tell the real story. They spin like records on a turntable-- soft, scratchy, inexplicably magic. 

If you've not yet tried it, go ahead. Today, I invite you to intentionally throw your focus. Fiddle with the lens til you find magic. And please, share the blur. Share it with us here today.  

Election Night

 

On election night, we loaded up the car with lawn chairs and a picnic dinner and headed to a friend's house to watch the results roll in. The news broadcast was projected onto the side of the house and several computers were set up in the yard to track the results. At one point there were more than one hundred friends, neighbors, and passers by squeezed into the small front yard. The conversations were primarily of the political nature, from the smallest local propositions and bond initiatives to the house/senate races to the presidential election. This election-watching party was a family event to be sure. There were so many young children that night running around without a care in the world...children of loving straight couples, children of loving gay couples, children of loving single parents, children of loving affluent parents, children of loving parents struggling to get by. You hear a lot about voting as a civic duty, and I love and appreciate that our children are learning that the act of voting is truly an individual's chance to voice how they want their world to be. All the worry, all the hand wringing, all the emotional investment that bound us together that night represented the world we want for our children—a better, kinder world. A world that embraces the diversity around us and affirms that differences can deepen our understanding of one another instead of driving us apart.

Show us a better, kinder world today through your lens.

Images and words courtesy of Jote of Bless Her Heart.