Wow. What a day. With two children already in double digits, this is certainly not my first trip to the rodeo. My eldest was the king of the tantrums, so I am keenly aware of what comes packaged in the adorable little body of a two-yr-old. I also have a tween daughter... I am equally aware that it doesn't necessarily stop when they hit three. But we aren't even two yet! All this to say, this is not just typical toddler behavior... especially this toddler. He is usually a wonderfully happy, playful little fella! So cute, with those squeezable cheeks :)
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| 1/100 f/4.5 ISO 800 55mm |
but on this day those smiley cheeks were nowhere to be found. Instead, we got lots of this...
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| 1/125 f/4.0 ISO 800 53mm, with flash |
Still cute, right? Even with 20 minutes solid of tears, I was optimistic... certainly all was not lost. I assumed when we got home and out of the car, he would perk right up... the clouds would lift and the rays of sunshine and happiness would shine once again. Besides, he looked so cute... sporting his Jungle Book tee. I thought this might be a great afternoon to grab my camera and go play around in the yard... maybe get some great candid shots. *This is where I would love to insert some catchy little cliche about being naive, but I have no words* When we spilled out of the car, there were no rainbows or lollipops. I got this...
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| 1/250 f/4.5 ISO 160 60mm |
and this...
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| 1/160 f/4.5 ISO 160 63mm |
and this...
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| 1/250 f/4.5 ISO 160 63mm |
Not having much luck capturing my adorable jungle book boy, am I? Disappointing? Yes. Frustrating? Yes. See, he's normally such an easy subject... so much more natural than my older two. He's busy, and curious, and fast... he keeps it interesting :) But, since he was really not fond of the camera *completely rejecting me at every shutter click*, I switched my focus to more cooperative subjects...
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| 1/160 f/4.0 ISO 160 40mm |
(does anyone else see the brontosaurus in this cloud?)
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| 1/1000 f/3.5 ISO 160 28mm |
and when he wasn't expecting it...
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| 1/500 f/4.5 ISO 160 28mm |
Yay, me! Adorable little grin, isn't it! Sadly, though, the smiles didn't last long, and I was already bored with statues and clouds. I turned my attention to my eldest... and I shot about 20 like this...
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| 1/500 f/4.5 ISO 320 28mm |
Not much variety on a pogo stick...basically the same photo over and over and over. But he was focused on not falling... he was natural... not posed and certainly not saying "cheese". I think he liked the attention... though he would never admit it ;) We stayed out a little longer, but the sun was fading behind the house, and it was taking my optimism with it.
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| 1/250 f/4.5 ISO 200 28mm |
Reluctantly, I surrendered to the will of the littlest and we went inside... we got our magic snack of fruitloops and milk... and we sat down with some cartoons... we were happy... finally...
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| 1/80 f/4.0 ISO 400 50mm, with flash |
but he still didn't want his picture taken...
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| 1/80 f/4.0 ISO 400 45mm, with flash |
Luckily, this was not a typical day. Later in the evening I discovered a new tooth emerging... and that's enough to make anyone cranky. He's still not back to his infectiously happy self, but he will be soon. In the meantime, the advil is helping us both ;)
1 comment:
Hi Tonya,
Thanks for stopping by my blog (thewrightrecord.blogspot.com) and for the kind words. I'm a work in progress myself. . .both with photography AND being a mom! Overexposure - are you using your light meter to determine your settings? When I shoot outdoors I tend to overexpose because the it's hard to see the LCD screen. I started using the histogram option in the display. I was told that you generally want to see a bell curve. If there are string spikes to the left or the right that indicates too much shadow or too much light. That might help some. I think we need to follow Asley's advice to practice practice practice.
You're son is a cutie. Those cheeks. . .I just want to squeeze them!
Take care, Christine
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