Sometimes when I’m photographing a family I’ll have them close their eyes just for a minute. I’ll count to three and have them open up then. There’s always one in the group who keeps them open. Mostly, when I say three, everyone has their eyes open. I’m not always big on huge cheesy smiles, but it’s really nice when everyone has their eyes open.
And it’s fun to use this technique on my own kiddo, because on three, I know exactly what I’m going to see. BIG BROWN EYES. The best.
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It’s November here in Minnesota, isn’t it friends? I mean, a week ago I was biking with my friend for some afternoon coffee, and today I sit here editing my heart out with practically numb fingers. The chill is here.
And yet.
So many pictures to share.
I admit that though all of your prints and canvases are ordered, shipped, scheduled, and otherwise taken care of, my own pictures are kind of just sitting here.
Are you’re wondering how that 365 project is going, you know the one where I take a picture of something or someone every single day of 2015 here in Minnesota? It is still going strong, and the end is in sight! I am very far behind on editing those images, but they are at the very least organized through November. I can see a beautiful photo book already, and my children taking a look back at 2015. Hopefully that happens while it’s still winter here and not spring or summer! In the meantime I’ll try to share a few of the images I’m coming across in my personal collection of photos, some from summer to remind us.
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For this month’s blog circle we are visiting the theme of IMAGINATION which, in October means H A L L O W E E N!
I am so grateful for any Halloween that lands on a weekend night, because for the life of me I can’t understand how we’re supposed to trick or treat and then get up for school the next morning. But meet me back here same time next year, when I remember how that goes.
This year seemed leisurely, with the pumpkin carving the morning of Halloween, followed by an antsy afternoon, a hearty healthy dinner, and then an hour and a half of walking the neighborhood, visiting friends and seeing all the costumes.
As always, enjoy the images and then please click through the blog circle to see the other photographers’ takes on imagination!
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Next up is Christine Hurla Photography! Check out her adorable little boy with his grocery cart: Overland Park Photographer.
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Are you all just in love with how amazing the fall light is? Or is it just that I’m a photographer? The light goes low in the sky earlier now, so I don’t have to wait til nine to get a warm, glowy photo. Yesterday I walked to the corner because I had seen this lone yellow weed there during the day all lit up, so I went back to see it during the golden hour. Some people came out of a nearby house came out and asked if I was taking a picture of some interested bird or other animal across the street, and I think might have been a bit disappointed that, no, it’s only a weed.
If there’s one thing you learn about photographing through the seasons in Minnesota, however, it’s how everything becomes precious when it might be the last.
The last day of 80 degrees, then the last day of 70 degrees.
The last flock of geese you saw flying in their V away to warmer lands.
One year my daughter and I found the last dandelion ready to blow in the park in November, but we didn’t blow it, we kept it on a shelf all winter and it was so very lovely there, still holding on to all of its pretty seeds.
So this weed yesterday, it might be the last yellow holdout standing there on the corner.
Here in Minnesota we are all having a four-day weekend. For those of you non-Minnesotans, yes, every school in the entire state is having a four-day weekend. School is hard, we need a break already. If you’re a Minnesotan you are already looking around you for all the gorgeous fall colors.
Keep your eyes open this weekend – look for all those last things that may soon be blown away or buried.
One of the most fun aspects of family photography is, you guessed it, families. It is especially satisfying to watch a family grow over a few years, something that we all know is hard to catch as a parent living with your children day in and day out. But a photographer captures those kids where they are right now, once each year, and sees those children becoming more themselves than they were the last year. A photographer gets to step back and just watch. What a privilege!
Pure joy = getting Dad in the photos this year!
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It is always such fun to photograph these girls. For me as a mom of younger kids, it’s a peek into life 6-7 years from now. This family is just as busy as the next with all of the activities and stuff, but seeing them together I always get the sense that they are into each other, that they are each other’s safe havens. What we all want to give to our loves.
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My final thoughts, each and every time I leave this family? Good job, Mom. Your girls are so neat. Lucky all of you.
