Helping Create Memories

I mentioned that I had a bunch of photoshoots last week. One of these was my friend D and her two kids G and B (who was 5 weeks old!) I was so happy that I was able to get and capture this moment in time for them as B will only be small for such a short time!

We first headed out to the park, where I took some shots of G. He was pretty cute as he would either run away from the camera or smile “like a monster.” (Basically a fierce variation of cheese.)

You know what else was super cute? How much G loves his new baby sister. He was quite content to sit with her, hold her hand and snuggle a bit with her.

I hoped that once G went down for his nap after lunch, we would be able to take some newborn-esque photos. It’s funny because she was really sleepy and calm all morning but once I tried to take photos of her sleeping, she refused to pose and was quite fussy. I guess that’s why they recommend taking photos before 4 weeks and doing it when the babies are sleepiest. Maybe she knew that I needed to leave before 3:15 so I wasn’t caught in traffic? Who knows?

I think that’s my favourite photo of her as she’s actually kind of sleeping. I thought that she would have enjoyed not being dressed a bit more (as I thought most babies liked that,) but maybe she was too cold despite it being SUPER hot in the room? Live and learn!

Have you ever tried to take Newborn photos before?

These are my Straight Out Of the Camera shots  for this week’s Memories themed Good to Wow: Shoot and Edit. See the rest of the SOOCs over at Jill’s blog.

Some Wednesday Randomness

Ever have one of those days where you spend so much time staring at your computer screen with a few blank blog posts but with so many things swirling around in your head? Yeah, me too – today is definitely one of those days.

1. I got paid to take photos for the first time on Sunday. I was incredibly nervous at the beginning and we had a bit of difficulty identifying each other (we were at the zoo), but I think it turned out well in the end. Their son was super cute and he was a good sport for almost an hour, which I think is pretty amazing for a 7 week old baby!
   
2. When we were at the zoo, I got to see some different flowers than what was in bloom when I was there last. Perfect for this week’s “Edit This!” challenge. (Whoops! It turns out I’m too late to submit it – that’s what the combination of being busy and procrastinating will do for you – but you can still look at the picture of the neat looking tropical flower.)
   
   
3. I’m taking a hiatus from CUPS next week. I feel that it has just created a lot of superficial stress that makes it very difficult for me to work on the issues that I actually need to work on. As much as I love helping people, it gets a bit tiring to continually deal with drunk/rude/abusive/dirty/etc. people, so I need a break. I have to admit that I am excited that I don’t have to wake up super early and ride the rat race train next week!
4. Mr. Bean and I have decided to redo part of our second bathroom. We’re getting new flooring put in tomorrow, so all we need to do is pick paint colours and a toilet. I know it seems easy enough, but it always seems to take much longer than expected. We’re also getting the tile in our front landing replaced as the geniuses who installed it did not include a sub floor, so many of the tiles have cracked and/or the grout has fallen out.
   
5. I’ve decided that I want to golf more this summer. I used to be fairly good at it in my teens, but I haven’t consistently done it since I started dating Mr. Bean. My biggest problem is convincing myself that I can consistently do it without psyching myself out and doubting my abilities all the time. Hrm. I guess that’s just another example of how bigger problems with self worth plays out in my life.
6. This week’s One Word Wednesday prompt is Nostalgic. I know we’re nowhere close to Christmas, but out of the pictures I know I have, this was the first thing that popped into my head. It’s always a tradition for my family to make Cherry Almond Crisps around Christmas and we all do our best to eat as much raw dough as possible. But, I want you to look at the table mat underneath the cookies – these were the table mats we’d use during the winter and I’ve spent many hours eating breakfast as a child staring at the mats and wondering what it would be like to be one of the people in the picture and which of the houses I wanted to live in.
   
7. Mr. Bean and I watched Wall-E for the first time the other day. SO. CUTE. I know we’re a bit behind in the times, but that’s okay. I highly recommend it as despite there not being much dialogue, it’s very easy to be swept up in the emotional story that Wall-E and Eve play out. Plus, it’s a not so subtle and clever social commentary of Western society. I like those kinds of things.

What’s on your mind today?

Photo Wednesdays

Since I don’t have any children of my own, any nieces or nephews and Mr. Bean doesn’t like me to take photos of him, I don’t get huge amounts of practise taking pictures of people in my daily life. (You lucky mothers!) So, when I needed to take some portraits for my Photoshop course, I was happy to jump at the chance to take portraits of  our friends’ son, A.

One Word Wednesdays: Joyful (Faces)

I invited them over to my parent’s house as they have lots of room and lots of light – perfect for taking pictures when it’s chilly outside! It was especially cute how well he and my parent’s dog Lottie got along.

He is such a ham, especially around his blanket.

You Capture: Body Parts

Who is your favourite photography subject?

The New Mr. Anderson

Since I’m still on somewhat of a baby kick (did it ever end? nope.) I need to announce that our friends had a baby just under a week ago: his name is Anderson.

He is so cute! And tiny! And sweet! And… I should probably stop before I write a 5 paragraph essay with an introduction, conclusion and 3 main arguments. Anyways, what is it about babies that makes your insides melt and make you desperately want one of your own? Erm… Maybe that’s a discussion best left for another day. 🙂

I am so happy that we got to meet him yesterday – I’m looking forward to watching him grow up! Hopefully he won’t have to battle any matrices other than ones in linear algebra or computer programming. (I’ll stop making “The Matrix” references now.)

What’s your favourite thing about newborn babies?