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Posts published in “Photography”

A First* Easter

A First* Easter

April 17, 2023 |

Galleries and Photography

I am not festive and Easter has never been a big holiday in my life. Considering the interplay of those two traits, it should be no surprise that we did not put a ton of effort into the girls’ first Easter. I mean, what do a couple of 15 month olds—only one of whom was walking at that point—have to do with the normal Easter festivities?

Nothing, that’s what.

This year is different. It’s not that I have found the joy of holidays or that Easter has suddenly become important to me. Instead, we’re living at Sarah’s mom’s house to be close to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for Wilbur’s birth. And grandma IS big on Easter. When grandma is big on something, she likes to go for it. Easter egg hunts, cute springtime outfits, baskets of candy, the whole thing.

It all means very little to me, but the girls had a blast and looked great doing it. Enjoy this gallery of their first* Easter.

Apologies for lack of Wilbur shots. She was still in the hospital and had to sit this one out. Have no worry. There will be photos of her.

> Continue reading...A First* Easter
Woods Maternity Photos

Woods Maternity Photos

March 27, 2023 |

Galleries and Photography

The new baby is coming in a few days so we took a last minute opportunity to shoot some maternity photos in the dark. That’s what you do when you’re in Maryland and your wife is pregnant. You take photos in the woods at night.

I had an idea about how I wanted these photos to look, but I didn’t really get it. It was late and Sarah was feeling pretty worn out (being super pregnant and all) which meant we were working quickly. Plus, it’s surprisingly hard to work in the dark. And I mean, pretty damn dark. Barely any ambient light. I set the whole thing up by the light from my cell phone. Hard to tinker with the setup when you’re worried about slipping down a hillside in the pitch darkness.

However! I learned a bunch and think I can probably get closer to my original vision next time. Sarah won’t be pregnant anymore when we get the chance to try again, but the properly-executed vision will make a sweet Halloween photo. Always an opportunity for fun photos.

Here are a selection of the more successful photos from the shoot. Enjoy!

> Continue reading...Woods Maternity Photos
Schellville

Schellville

December 10, 2022 |

Galleries and Photography

Here in the wilds of Southern Delaware there is a residential housing developer called Schell Brothers. They also have outposts in Richmond, VA and Nashville, TN, but from what I can tell on their site their major operations happen here in the good old First State. They build a bunch of houses.

For the last few years they have been putting on an event they call Schellville—a winter festival/market/family thing. They have a fake ice rink! They have little shops! They have more than one Auntie Annie’s pretzels from the mall! They have a beer stand! They have a great big slide!

It’s fun!

It’s wholesome!

It’s free!

They wisely require tickets for entry, even though those tickets cost nothing. What could be an absolute disaster for crowds, wasn’t all that bad… once we got inside. But let’s back up.

Last year the girls were too small to enjoy something like this and Sarah knows well how pathologically allergic to crowds I am. We skipped it. And by “we”, I mean “Sarah” because I had no idea it even existed so I really had zero part in making that particular decision. This year, however, she got tickets thinking that the girls are finally old enough to enjoy the spectacle.

She was right.

After waiting half an hour in line to be let in—with Penny absolutely wide-eyed at all the lights and people and snow machines and music and pretty much everything—we got in, found a relatively open, uncrowded space, and let them free. It was like watching their heads explode.

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen them have so much fun. Ever. In their whole lives. It was awesome.

We only lasted about 40 minutes before we had enough toddler-chasing and the crowds started to get a little thick. When we told Bea it was time to go, she responded with “No, stay here,” which was the first time I’d heard that out of her mouth. Too bad for her it wasn’t her decision. She let us know how she felt about it in the car on the way home while Penny drifted between sleep and talking to the night outside the window.

I didn’t bring the right lens with me and the dark was a struggle with two fast-moving targets, so not a ton of photos. I took my trusty 85 which is fantastic with good light and while not trying to chase two speedy jackals, but it was too hard in the dark to focus on the girls. Should have gone with the 50. Oh well. Next time.

Here are the photos I liked enough to spend time on. Enjoy.

> Continue reading...Schellville
Thanksgiving at Poppy’s

Thanksgiving at Poppy’s

December 6, 2022 |

Galleries and Photography

We visited Sarah’s dad in Maryland for Thanksgiving this year. It was a quick trip, but nice even if holidays can be a little nuts sometimes. They had a bunch of friends and family over, all trying to put the final touches on a Thanksgiving dinner for 20+ people. Two little girls were, surprisingly, not being the most helpful.

To help reduce chaos as much as we could, we took them outside to play on the steps. It was the only moment of the time we were there I had to make some photos and I spent most of it preventing the girls from doing real physical damage to themselves. I’m waiting for that self-preservation instinct to kick in. Any day now would be great.

Enjoy the small gallery of a couple of sunset crazies on Thanksgiving.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, no, they were not at all interested in eating Thanksgiving dinner.

> Continue reading...Thanksgiving at Poppy’s
Playground

Playground

November 8, 2022 |

Galleries and Photography

What do you do with two toddlers who are losing their minds because Daylight Savings has totally messed up their sleep schedules? You take them to the playground!

Penny is super into throwing herself down slides right now, and Bea is a little more cautious. You’d think it would be the other way around (and at another time it was) but that’s how it goes, I guess. Kids.

The autumn sun was giving us beautiful light even if the girls wouldn’t sit still. Enjoy the photos.

> Continue reading...Playground
Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

October 18, 2022 |

Galleries and Photography

It’s October! That means a trip to the pumpkin (or “PUMPIE!” if you are the kids) patch was on the docket. I was looking forward to it, too. Last year was great and all, but this year the girls are much more mobile and much more interested in the world around them.

They ran around like a couple of kittens let out of a carrier. Each pumpkin was the most exciting pumpkin they’d ever seen in their lives. There were many attempted pumpkin carries and some surprisingly successful pumpkin carries. Bea spent some time wandering around by herself while Penny contented herself by relocating handfuls of hay from the ground to the wheelbarrow, on top of pumpkins, and into her own hair.

All in all, it was a successful day. Pumpkins came home with us and meltdowns were few. Enjoy the photos.

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Tennis Courting Success

Tennis Courting Success

October 5, 2022 |

Galleries and Photography

It’s not a tennis court. It’s a pickleball court. But, talking about pickleball courts is silly. Does anyone even know what that is?

I’ll tell you what, Bea and Penny have no idea. I’m making an official editorial decision: we’ll continue to call it a tennis court in all future references to the pickleball court.

All this huff is to say that we took the girls out on a sunny morning to run them a little bit. The last time we availed ourselves of the tennis court Penny wasn’t quite walking. Now, however, she is a champion walker, sometimes walking as much as all over the damn place. It was time to revisit the location.

I decided to play around with a wide zoom I purchased around Christmas time. I’m a bit hopeless with a wide angle lens, so I thought a little exercise with it couldn’t hurt. Plus, photographing toddlers is an especially physical type of sports photography allowing me some good practice. I also threw a diffusion filter on because why the hell not. I wanted to see what it looked like under bright, sunny conditions. It’s nice!

Enjoy the photos.

> Continue reading...Tennis Courting Success
Playing in the Rain

Playing in the Rain

September 17, 2022 |

Galleries and Photography

What I’ve learned recently is that toddlers do not care at all if it’s raining or not. They want—they need—to go out. Now.

In order to appease the girls’ screaming and to save myself from tantrums in stereo, I took them outside and let them play around in the grass. The water pouring out of the downspouts was especially exciting. We topped off the romp with some yogurt, which doesn’t seem like a very good post-rain snack to me, but was a hit with them. Who know. They’re nuts.

Enjoy some photos.

> Continue reading...Playing in the Rain