is two front teeth? Nope, not me. I am loving the toothless grin! I couldn't wait for the 2nd front tooth to fall out so I could see that fabulous little smile. I knew I had to get some pictures of it before the teeth start to come in. Today was perfect because Sayer was home sick from school and hanging around the studio with me all day.
This is one of the little milestones that I think are so important to catch when you can. Of course you have to get the "biggies" like crawling, walking, sitting up and so on. In between the big milestone moments are a bunch of other little jewels like the missing front teeth. One of my other personal baby favorites is when they play with their feet - especially when they manage to get the entire thing in their mouth. I also love clapping, the little newborn cheerio face (the mouth all drawn up into a tiny O), the first two teeth on the bottom and pointing (just to name a few).
Without further ado, here's our fun milestone!
This is one of the little milestones that I think are so important to catch when you can. Of course you have to get the "biggies" like crawling, walking, sitting up and so on. In between the big milestone moments are a bunch of other little jewels like the missing front teeth. One of my other personal baby favorites is when they play with their feet - especially when they manage to get the entire thing in their mouth. I also love clapping, the little newborn cheerio face (the mouth all drawn up into a tiny O), the first two teeth on the bottom and pointing (just to name a few).
Without further ado, here's our fun milestone!
One of the questions that I get most often is what equipment I use when I photograph my kids on vacation. I keep it super simple...the key thing here is "vacation". I don't want to miss the experience of the moment in an effort to document it. For this trip I brought my Lumix point-and-shoot (and never used it) and my Canon 5D Mark II with one lens (Canon's 24-70mm F2.8). I did not bring a flash. My choice of equipment (no flash and no point and shoot) did mean a few lost opportunities but I enjoyed having a little time to myself without worrying about the perfect shot. You'll have to visit my Facebook page to see the iphone shots of my Princess Leia costume though. I meant to bring the P&S but forgot (and regretted it actually because our costumes were awesome!).
A few liner notes on the shots...
1. The shot of the castle through the trees is from the top of the treehouse at the Magic Kingdom in case you were curious.
2. The dark shot with the lasers in the background is from the Buzz LIghtyear ride. That was the girl behind us.
3. There are tons of shots from our character breakfast with Winnie the Pooh. Finnian was beside himself he was so thrilled. You'll see how he was just perched on his seat waiting for them to come to him and then he would pounce and hug!
4. Finnian loves the Cinderella story so we waited in line to meet her but he was so shy he wouldn't even look at her! He told me later that she was just too pretty.
5. The last two shots are from our balcony at The Polynesian.
6. The amazing tree is called The Tree of Life and is at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's an incredible piece of work. I asked one of the Disney employees how long it took to build it. He said "well, trees take many, many years to grow and that one was no exception".
A few words of advice...
1. It was hot, bring a backpack to haul your camera stuff in so you don't start to hate lugging it around. I carried mine in a little purse/backpack and it was easy.
2. If you plan to get on the water rides, ditch the big camera and bring a point-and-shoot and a ziploc.
3. The fireworks shows are amazing! Crank up the ISO on your camera and turn off your flash for the best shots.
Anyway, here are some of my favorite images from our trip. Hope you enjoy them!
Michelle Mustari says:
Hi Farrah - it's so funny - I was in Disney World last month and got some great shots using my Canon 5d with the L series 50mm lens - I was so sorry that I didn't have my other lens for the tight shots but the pictures came out awesome. Your firewords shots are great too!
(11.09.09 @ 06:21 PM)
Jennifer says:
Looks like you guys had a great time. I love the fireworks photos. Makes me want to pack up and go.
(11.10.09 @ 09:05 AM)
I know, I know...it's not Monday. Let's just call this a wednesday lesson then. The holiday season is in full swing here at the studio and it's getting busy here!
On monday I had a basic photography class at my studio for the members of the Bellaire Young Mothers organization. One of the things that I talked about was how, when we grab our cameras and go to take some pictures of our kids, we often meddle with and stop the very activity that they are doing that inspired us to photograph them. We start directing them and asking them to do this and move over here and look up. They get annoyed, give us that cheesy grin to make us go away and we end up frustrated. Ever been there?
I would like to challenge you to try something different. The next time you look over and see the kids playing or doing something cute, go secret agent style with your camera. Grab the camera and use your zoom lens to get close to them (but stay back) and photograph them as they are without direction. If you can be really sneaky, grab the camera and sit down with them and play a little while you shoot them doing whatever they are doing. The big key here is minimal direction and interference!
When we were on vacation this past summer, the house that we rented has a little garden in the front and it was full of snails. One of the kid's favorite activities was collecting the snails and making a "snail home" as they called it. One afternoon I heard them chit chatting away out there and peeked out. The sky was overcast (a great time to shoot by the way) and they were playing happily together (not always the case). So, I grabbed my camera and went outside and just watched them and photographed them playing. The only direction that I gave them was, at one point, I said "Cool! Show me your snail, hold it up so I can see!". I didn't move them or ask them get closer or "look up and smile!" or anything like that.
We all want the image of our kids looking straight at the camera and smiling. We want the picture of all 3 or both of them (or however many you have) together and looking up and smiling. Keep chasing that shot but, while you're at it, try this too. Your kids will appreciate less meddling and you will get some nice candid shots. I would love to hear how you do with it.
(On a technical note, I shot these on AV (aperture priority mode) on my Canon 5D Mark II. I have not photoshopped these and I was not using a flash or any other light source.)
And this is the snail home that they made...
Now it's your turn...think stealth, spy-like, unobtrusive, a journalist! Have fun and I'd love to hear how it goes.
Lee-ANn says:
well, you did a great job on these!! I tend to snap under cover. I love the shots that show who a person truly is!
(10.14.09 @ 01:22 PM)
Rhonda Kasowski says:
Love your work & follow your blog! In the images above, what type of lens were you using at the time? Your work is always so beautiful!
(10.19.09 @ 06:06 AM)
Farrah says:
For the info on my lens of choice, see the Monday lesson above on lenses. For these, I used my canon 24-70 F2.8.
(10.20.09 @ 04:15 PM)
This past July we took our summer vacation to Santa Barbara. If you read this blog regularly then you probably saw my July posts from our misc. California adventures. We stay away for a month so, as you can imagine, when I return home it is a whirlwind of activity. So, I am playing catch up with some images that I haven't blogged from our trip. Anyone want to virtually visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium this afternoon?
Finn, appreciating some sand dollars
This was a cool spot. It was a clear glass ceiling and a wave crashed over you into a tank on the outside deck. Sayer loved it but, as you can see, Finn was less sure about the whole thing.
Here is the outside part of that big wave aquarium.
Finn, appreciating some sand dollars
This was a cool spot. It was a clear glass ceiling and a wave crashed over you into a tank on the outside deck. Sayer loved it but, as you can see, Finn was less sure about the whole thing.Here is the outside part of that big wave aquarium.They have an entire area devoted to jellyfish, awesome!
the boys, awed by the jellies...
the boys, awed by the jellies...This aquarium was incredible, it was 2 stories! And...it had sharks so Finnian was psyched!
This was the lower story of that same tank. I love that image of Finnian on the right. This tank and the one where you got to touch everything were his favorites.
The aquarium had a special seahorse exhibit while we were there. Sayer knows what my favorite sea creature is. I was standing next to one exhibit when Sayer came running up to me. He was so excited, "Close your eyes Mommy! Close your eyes!". He led me through the crowd to this...he said, "Your favorite!". It was so sweet.
I love these little guys. For me, this is a perfect example of how incredible our world is. I could have watched him swim around forever. When they are carrying eggs, you can see them all clustered on the outside of their bellies. I would not classify myself as religious but this creature is my version of God. This is our natural world in all of it's amazing glory.
There is your little taste. If you haven't been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, put it on your bucket list. It's an incredible place!
This was the lower story of that same tank. I love that image of Finnian on the right. This tank and the one where you got to touch everything were his favorites.The aquarium had a special seahorse exhibit while we were there. Sayer knows what my favorite sea creature is. I was standing next to one exhibit when Sayer came running up to me. He was so excited, "Close your eyes Mommy! Close your eyes!". He led me through the crowd to this...he said, "Your favorite!". It was so sweet.I love these little guys. For me, this is a perfect example of how incredible our world is. I could have watched him swim around forever. When they are carrying eggs, you can see them all clustered on the outside of their bellies. I would not classify myself as religious but this creature is my version of God. This is our natural world in all of it's amazing glory.There is your little taste. If you haven't been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, put it on your bucket list. It's an incredible place!
I have so much to blog! Since my last entry we're actually back home but, before that, we went to the aquarium, explored Carmel, hiked, seen the best sunrise EVER and more. I need to catch up so I'll start with some exploring in Carmel. After seeing the Monterrey Bay Aquarium (which is a whole other post for later) we set out down the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach. It's a beautiful drive with dramatic coastal views and cool forests too. We've stopped by the side of the road and did a little hiking...
and made a few wishes
and made tiny discoveries.
Next up, we found a little beach along the 17-mile drive that had beautiful bright white sand, barking seals, and amazing tide pools. Inside all the little nooks and crannies of the rocks you had an incredible variety of marine life. The world is such an amazing place.
We spent hours exploring this little beach and practically had to drag them away. This is my favorite thing about traveling - you never know what you might find. We never planned this excursion and it ended up being one of the kid's favorite things that we did. Do you have any little finds like this? Some amazing little gem that you found on one of your journeys? I'd love to hear about them.