Ahhh- sweet baby bliss! We are happily ensconced in our daughter’s cozy Yellowstone house with our adored grandbabies! The parents are out for a couple hours, and we are babysitting. Our best babysitting method at this point is divide and conquer- Lonnie plays with Miles while I take care of Henry. Before Henry went down for his nap, I managed to snap a quick photo of his EAR, the topic for today’s Flickr group challenge.
f/2.5, 1/80, ISO 800, 35mm
Grainy Black and White was today’s challenge- hmmmm…
I love black and white portraits- actually black and white images in general. My husband cooperated with me by looking away from his computer for a moment (he works from home), so that I could quickly snap a photo. He didn’t mind that I show his unshaven self to the world (how come men can get away with this and still look good?). I made some adjustments in Aperture 3 and then converted it to black and white in Photoshop. I struggled with the graininess part of the challenge, but did as much as I could to emphasize lines and shadows.
Today is the last day with the grandbabies. 😦
Miles and I had some special time outside today, mostly involving moving all the rocks back to the places they were before he came to visit. While Miles was trying to smell the lavender that was finally blooming, I took a few photos of one of the flowers with my macro lens. When I uploaded the photos, there was Miles in the background!
f/3.8, 1/640, ISO 500, 85mm
Whoa- this photo takes me back to the seventies! Who is that mouse?
Miles is wearing his mommy’s homemade mouse costume from Halloween when she was his age. It’s fun to see how much he looks like her!
f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 500, 35mm
After months of phone calls and letters, our son, Matt finally received the correct license plate for the truck he bought last year (there’s a very long story involving a mess-up by either the car dealership or the DMV, depending on who you talk to). Miles was right there to help put on the plates. Whew- end of story!
Miles has had his entire life documented in photos by his mama and grandma. Now that he is three and a half, he has turned the tables, using the iPhone camera to snap family photos.
BTW, he is WAY too comfortable with iPhone apps. During our lunch out yesterday, he managed to send me an email filled with emoticons. I have no idea what he clicked on to get the address field filled out- so, if any of you received random, undecipherable emails from me yesterday, it wasn’t a virus- it was Miles!
One of Miles’s favorite places to go when he visits our house is Train Town in Sonoma- this is his third time. Today was Henry’s first time riding the train- and he LOVED it!
Memorable quotes from Miles:
“I want to see the flamingos, the camels, and the camelopes.”
“Now I blow them dry.” (after brushing the goats at the petting zoo)
Memorable moments:
Miles watching the river otters (his favorite animal is the sea otter).
Miles walking on “lily pads.”
Miles “driving” the little fire truck and play acting putting out fires with a group of children.
Matt and Miles on the merry-go-round.
Miles having fun with his mom all day, while Henry was attended to by the rest of us.
Ratio of good photos to photos taken- terrible!
But. . . a great family outing!
Baby Henry at eight months old is crawling, trying to pull up, and generally getting into everything. One of the skills he has mastered since his arrival is going up steps. He can also go down the one step into our living room with ease. It is getting harder and harder to keep him from going up the stairs to the bedrooms. And it is pretty hard to say no to anyone who looks so cute from behind!
f/2.2, 1/100, ISO 2000, 35mm
Our kids don’t get to spend too much time together- so having a full house is a time for Caitlin’s boys to get to know their Uncle Matt. Conveniently, Uncle Matt has a new minivan, which we were able to use to make the trip over to Petaluma for the Rapunzel Reunion. We had a great day- connecting with good friends, their kids (who were in the original baby class where we all met), and the grandchildren.
I took a zillion photos, and I like this one of Henry chilling on his uncle’s lap. He fell asleep in this position a few minutes later.
We had a special outing today- to the Build-a Bear Workshop where Miles chose a lop-eared bunny, not a bear, to build. Mommy and Henry were out shopping, and we met them later for ice cream, where I snapped this photo.
f/3.2, 1/320, ISO 200, 35mm
Sadly, we haven’t had any pets for a few years, and Miles is used to feeding his two golden retrievers at home. So, his pet feeding job at Grandma and Papa’s house is now putting out birdseed for the birds that come to our yard. He is very careful and precise with this new responsibility.
f/3.5, 1/800, ISO 800, 35mm (ISO set high, because I had been shooting in the house and forgot to change it!)
Lonnie, Miles, and I had a late afternoon playground outing today. After trying out the slide, swings, and climbing equipment, Miles settled into the sandbox for a half hour of digging and imaginative play.
When it was time to leave, I was concentrating so much on getting Miles to the car safely that – now get ready for this- I forgot the camera.
Yes, I left it at the park.
We drove away and left it. My D7000. Left it.
A few blocks away- I realized. We drove back, and I RAN to the bench where we were sitting.
And it was still there.
I am still getting over it.
f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 200, 35mm
For my friend, Nevin: Yes, I was using the 35mm lens- and 2.8 was probably not the best aperture choice. I was using aperture priority.
Henry was fascinated with his reflection while he played at Giggles today. What a fun place for babies and preschoolers!
f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 3200, 35mm
While Miles went to the hardware store with Papa, I had some Henry time. Caity happily assisted me in getting some sweet baby photos.
f/2.5, 1/1600, ISO 250, 35mm
melinda anderson photography 