I wanted to capture that delightful gap-toothed smile before it was gone.
I hope the sparkle in his smile is always there.
Category: Photo of the Day
Photo of the day: Moonset behind the bridge
I took this photo last week and forgot to share it. I was on my way to work and noticed the fat orange full moon setting to the west. As I was driving down River Road, I wondered if the moon would line up perfectly in the arches of the Strandherd-Armstrong bridge. I drove through the bridge intersection and took a quick glance, but I could see that the alignment was a little off. I kept driving but was thinking about the composition and the fact that the moon and bridge wouldn’t line up like this for another half a year, and about a kilometer down the road I turned around and parked the car in the lot near the bridge.
Did I mention it was colder than -20C with the wind chill?
I wish I hadn’t taken that extra couple of minutes, so the moon was just a shade higher on the horizon and those clouds were a bit further back. It’s not until you start taking photographs that you realize how changeable nature is. And I thought moving toddlers were hard to capture!
Photos of the day: Family portraits in the snow!
I have always wanted to offer more family portrait sessions in the winter. The snow makes a lovely natural reflector, bouncing flattering light up and all around, and winter outfits are often brightly coloured and pop against a snowy background. Some of my favourite pictures of my own kids are from our wintertime adventures, and I’m certainly not averse to taking my camera out into the cold. Ottawa has no shortage of beautiful backdrops in any season of the year!
I learned this weekend that professional portrait sessions outdoors in the winter pose their own set of logistical challenges, though. The client and I exchanged a few worried emails in the week before the session with our eyes on a changing forecast, and I had to pay a quick advance visit a location I’ve used many times to make sure we would be able to access it with the half meter of snow that’s fallen in the past month. While cold temperatures make for lovely rosy cheeks, wind chills in the range of minus 20 make for watery eyes and runny noses. Moving around to get the best composition often meant I would step off the packed-snow trail and find myself lurching about in a sort of half crawl up to my knees in crusty snow. And while the family was numbed by the raw wintry wind, I was sweating in my layers. Family photography can be a great workout!
Of course, all of that is more than worth it when you get to work with a sweet, fun family who just happen to be amazingly photogenic.
It is possible that not every family member was completely enthralled with the idea of portraits, snow or otherwise. Those curls, though!
So the raw wintry wind was a challenge but with good humour and patience, some trees to block the wind and some cuddles, we had a bit of an adventure and got a great mix of posed and unposed family portraits in the snow.
Note to self: consider adding snowshoes to your gear list for the next outdoor family portrait session!
Photo of the day: Biggest! Snowman! Ever!
It’s the off-season for my photography business, which means two things. First, I’ve got a lot more time on my hands, so I’m teaching myself new tricks and being inspired by seeking out photography tutorials and workshops. Lately, I’ve been thinking more about creativity and storytelling in my photography. Second, I’m positively twitchy to take photos and create things.
I came up with this idea not too long ago, and the idea got firmly stuck in my head. I’ve taken zillions of snowman-building photos over the years, but what if I used composites to show the boys building an epic-sized snow man? This is the final result:
I have to admit, it’s not quite where I wanted to end up. I have the skills now to composite the various pieces together pretty well. This image was about 15 layers in Photoshop, by the time I got through adding the bits together and correcting the light and shadows. Here’s the original four photos I used:
The background is actually a photo I shot with my iPhone on the way home from church, when I realized that the first background I’d been using wasn’t going to tell the story properly.
While I am pleased with the final result, I’m also frustrated. There’s a big gap at the end of what I was able to execute and where I was originally trying to go. I was going for a whimsical, magical feel, almost like an illustration, and couldn’t get it to that level. It may be that the components I was building on are just not right for what I was imagining, or that I just have more learning to do. Even so, I learned a LOT in the process of pulling this together, not least of which is that some tutorials on the Internet are full of crap. The good news is that I have about 50 more ideas I want to execute in this vein, and for the first time in my photographic career, I can conceptualize a theme that I’d like to build into a coherent body of work. That’s pretty exciting, to me at least.
I also learned that spending six hours in Photoshop on a Sunday leaves you with the same sort of “wow, did I ever overindulge myself” feeling that eating nothing but chips and cookies all day does! I’d probably feel a little less guilty about it if I’d been able to hit the mark I was going for, but I’m still pretty pleased with where I ended up.
What do you think?
Photo of the day: Snow day!
After breaking cold temperature records on the weekend, on Tuesday over half a meter (nearly two feet) of snow fell in about 18 hours, smashing the one-day snowfall record by more than 10 cm. The school boards called not one but two snow days. Not everybody was unhappy with all the snow, though!
Is it spring yet? 😉
Photos of the day: Diefenbunker revisited
We had family in town this weekend and it was just too cold to convince everyone outside for a Winterlude adventure, so we opted for one of Ottawa’s quirkiest family adventures: a visit to the Diefenbunker in Carp.
We first visited the Diefenbunker almost exactly two years ago; I remember it was another bitterly cold day as well and joked to the girl at the admissions desk that the next trip would definitely be in the sweltering heat of July. Not much had changed since our last visit, except for the fact that on a cold January morning we had the place almost entirely to ourselves, and on this visit the place was lousy with people seeking Winterlude alternatives to freezing on the Canal. While the kids followed clues on a Winterlude scavenger hunt and my brother and sister-in-law took in the exhibits, I entertained myself looking for fun photo opportunities.
Like this one! Tristan is generally resistant to anyone foisting their rules, world-view or peccadilloes on him, and he knew where I was going with this one the moment I pointed the sign out to him.
The kids could not walk past a rotary dial phone without stopping to pick one up and play with the dials. My niece was equally fascinated with every keyboard she encountered. I’m going to start calling her “Miss Moneypenny.”
My brother gets that I like to play and is patient enough to play along when I notice the really interesting shapes and shadows that appeared when he was framed in the door of the giant bank vault in the basement of the Diefenbunker.
Some stuff is just cool. I had a turntable in a box like a suitcase, but mine wasn’t as old as this one. What year do you figure this is from? Maybe mid-1950s?
And finally, you know you’re with your tribe when you say, “Pop a Charlie’s Angel’s back to back pose!” and your brother and sister-in-law instantly do this:
Even though nothing has changed since our last visit, and we had the disadvantage of no tours AND visiting on a very busy day, we still really enjoyed this excursion. And did you hear that the Diefenbunker is partering with Escape Manor to turn the Diefenbunker into the world’s largest escape room adventure? From the website:
You are on the final guided tour of the day, when you and your friends duck into a room and hide so that you can spend a night at the museum. You soon discover that it is not a museum at all. It is actually a cover for an enemy spy organization. You overhear some people talking behind closed doors of an imminent attack scheduled for tonight! You must escape! But first, you must find the communications room, stop the launch sequence and phone-in the Red Alert transmission to the outside world before it is too late! 12 people, 60 minutes. Do you have what it takes to save the world?
I can tell you that we’ll be going back for another visit to check THAT out! It sounds awesome! Even without the Escape Manor adventure, though, the Diefenbunker remains one of my favourite Ottawa family adventures.
Photos of the day: An amazing birthday party at the Ottawa Humane Society
We’ve had a LOT of birthday party experience over the years, from bowling to trampolines to movies to art to Lego. Our new favourite party by far, though, is one hosted at the Ottawa Humane Society.
We all love animals, but Lucas has shown a real affinity for them. When he did a school project last year on “People In Your Neighbourhood” he chose our vet Heather Ann to profile, and every time I see a cute kitty video on Facebook, I make a note to save it and show it to him. We support the Ottawa Humane Society already as one of our preferred charities, and so hosting a birthday party there was an easy choice – all profits beyond the direct costs of the party are invested back into the OHS.
They did an amazing job with the party. All we had to do was show up! They provided decorations, cups and plates, napkins and cutlery, and even candles. Our party leader Stephanie was patient and knowledgeable, good with kids, and just the right personality to wrangle a few boys who might have been a wee bit overexcited. She introduced us to her friendly pet rat Phoebe, who was a definite hit with party-goers big and small.
First, we decorated our treat bags (Lucas looked up at me and said blissfully, “I didn’t know there would be art at my animal party!” as his worlds of happiness collided) and then the kids made doggie treats out of oats, flour and peanut-free nut butter. We chose the dog treat activity, but could have also made cat toys or hide-and-perch boxes for the shelter cats.
Then we went on a tour of the shelter, where we saw the animals waiting for adoption. There was a beautiful malamute that very nearly went home with Granny and Papa Lou, had his papers not said he would prefer a home without other dogs. I was really pleased that the kids got to go “behind the scenes” to learn about what the OHS does, and how they take care of the animals that come to the shelter. The highlight of the tour, though, was being allowed to pet the cats waiting for adoption.
I have to tell you, I was secretly pleased at how few animals we saw at the shelter. We’ve visited a few times before to pet the kitties, and always found dozens of cats waiting for homes, but there were just a few this weekend. In fact, while we were there two kittens and one dog were adopted. What a great lesson for the kids! What I didn’t point out to the kids was the family who were obviously surrendering their pet, as they brought in armloads of pet gear and left empty-handed and in tears. It must be heart-wrenching to work with the shelter, and I have so much admiration for the staff and volunteers.
After our tour, we had the usual party fun: cake, presents and loot bags. A giant cookie cake, in fact, baked at Lucas’ request by Beloved.
I can’t say enough good things about the Ottawa Humane Society or the party they helped us host for Lucas. He loved every minute of it and has already said that he wants his ninth birthday party to be at the OHS, too. And did you know they have camps for PD Days and March Break, too?
Happy birthday, Lucas! Thanks for having a birthday so we could have fun visiting the OHS!
Photo of the day: Contentment
It was early in the morning. I was reading my newspaper and drinking coffee, and I looked up and found them like this:
She’s happy to cuddle, he’s happy to play, I’m happy to get an adorable photo. Everybody wins.
Photo of the day: Simon is 12
Simon is twelve! To celebrate, we had a birthday dinner at Lone Star:
While I’ve been making a lot of black and white photos lately because I’m interested in the expressive qualities of monochrome, in this case I just needed to overcome the nearly insurmountably wicked colour casts from the purple and orange neon lighting. This is what it looked like straight out of the camera:
(I love Granny and Papa Lou smiling off to the side!)
Note to self: no portrait sessions at Lone Star. Great food, terrible lights! Also, did you know you can bring your own cake and they’ll bring it out? Great service, and a very happy birthday dinner. 🙂
Photo of the day: Out, out damn spot!
I‘ve been thinking a lot about identity lately and this idea came to me when I was literally cleaning the mirror. “What if you could erase your reflection?”
The actual erasing was pretty easy to achieve, and the texture made it a little easier to express it as a more abstract concept rather than something to be taken literally. Sharing it is still more than a little scary, though, partly because it’s me (ugh, hate self-portraits) and partly because it’s a little more conceptual than where I usually go.
What does it say to you? Do you see the story I’m telling? What do you think?