Point and Pray Photography

Lovin' his Uncle Jim

I caught this quick, candid moment between Logan and his Uncle Jim on Halloween morning as they played catch - y'know, like, "catch the baby".  Logan loves that game... and his Uncle Jim.

 

Too joyful to just walk

This is now one of my all-time favorite pictures. A completely unscripted moment, as the saying goes, as this little man skipped across the bridge after posing for a few shots. I don't know which I love best - the dichotomy of the Pull-Up peeking out of the grown-up clothes or the fact that he seems to have so much joy in that little body that walking just won't do.

Shot with Nikon D200 + 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Nikkor lens; 1/80s at f/5.6 at ISO 200 and 300mm.
 

Fiercely Independent

Audrey & Chris call Logan "fiercely independent" ... and this photograph goes a long way to documenting that side of his personality. At 15 months, he's quite opinionated about what he wants to do and when he wants to do it. Can you tell?

Shot with Nikon D200 + 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Nikkor lens; 1/160s at f/5.6 and ISO 200 at 145mm. 

"It's Not Funny!"

This is the very last frame of a family photo shoot from several weeks ago... and I laugh every time I see it. Poor guy ... he was playing on the swings, and I'm shooting away, and he accidentally let go with one hand at the same time his mama gave him a push. He dangled upside down for a few heart-stopping seconds, until - with one arm - he pulled himself back upright.

We couldn't help it ... we laughed ... until he turned around and insisted, "It's not funny!" I, of course, was continuing to shoot - and captured this candid.  Sorry, little guy ... it wasn't funny ... it was hilarious. We're just glad you weren't hurt!

Shot with Nikon D200 + 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Nikkor lens; 1/200s at f/7.1 and 165mm at ISO 200.

Moody Light

I'm fascinated with shadows right now. I caught this with my handy-dandy 70-300mm lens the other night at one of the middle school football games, while Jim was walking back to our seats. The sun had set about 20 minutes before, and the field lights had just come on. The result: a moody candid shot that makes me smile.
  

Comfort from big brother

Isn't this just about the sweetest thing you've ever seen? She ran ahead of us and when she reached the playground without us, she got scared. I heard a shout and a cry, and when I rounded the swingset, I saw her big brother comforting her. Once I knew she wasn't hurt, I wasted no time taking a picture. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I did at least check to make sure she was okay first...
 

Toddler + Slide = Magic

What do you get when you combine a toddler, a slide, and flexible parents? The magical photograph above.

Logan had never been down a "big kid" slide before, so this was a complete experiment. Lucky for us, he loved it.

To capture these, I used a combination of my new zoom lens (Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 with VR and SWF) and my favorite fixed 50mm f/1.4 (which I used for the first photo in this post ... capturing his expression when he got to the bottom of the slide by standing right over him). I should have been shooting in shutter-priority mode, rather than aperture-priority - it would have eliminated the blur you see in his feet above - but I vascillate on whether or not I like the effect.

 
The one thing I'm sure of, though, is that the trick to dynamic photos of a toddler is finding something they enjoy and allowing them to do it, while you chase them with your lens. Just make sure you're wearing lace-up shoes, and bring a change of clothes. Some of the best shots require kneeling, crawling, or sitting in the dirt.

What Generation Gap?

Logan just hangin' with his grandparents, who were visiting for the weekend from New Braunfels.

Shot with Nikon D200 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens; 1/1600s at f/1.8, ISO 600, using natural light on an overcast day. Edge burn applied during post-processing using Photoshop CS3. 

Looking Up to Daddy

I'm learning that, when shooting a toddler, one has to be both patient and always at the ready to fire off the camera. This photo was the result of that patience and of being down at Logan's level. I didn't much care where the adults were ... I was following him ... trying to capture the world through his eyes. And even though Chris's face isn't in this photo, I think it manages to capture an aspect of his relationship with his son quite nicely.

Shot with Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, 1/90s at f/5.6 and ISO 200, using natural light on an overcast day. 

A comfy spot for a nap

Eddie slept quite peacefully on Veronica's chest during our last trip to San Antonio. I suspect it's because it was the only place he could lie down where my parents' Morkie, Bear, wouldn't bother him.

Shot with Nikon D200 using 70-300mm Tamron lens. Post-processing in PS3.