i n • p u r s u i t

I've been wanting to take a decent self portrait for a while now and I really like how this turned out. Of course, it was one of, like, three dozen. For my setup, I kind of channeled (just a wee bit) Jose Villa. I had him in mind when I stood right in front of the window and metered for the shadow. I love how the light is wrapping around. Oh, also! I'm now editing using a Wacom Pen and Touch tablet. It's Mike's and he never uses it so, last night, I thought I'd give it a try. Definitely a learning curve but it's kind of fun. My favorite part so far it that it gives me a steadier hand and more control when editing. And just for funsies, here's the before and after. Yeah, I added some makeup in Lightroom. I don't mind how I look in the original or anything, I was just playing around with the editing and ended up liking how it turned out. Too heavy handed? Probably, but I'm still new to this. Though, if I was to go back and edit some more,

Days like this make me very grateful that I live in the South. While the frigid North is battling snow, Friday in South Carolina was just gorgeous! Joseph and I went to another park to have fun on the baby swings. Also to get upset when Mommy wouldn't let Jojo eat wood chips. ;)

I really love getting photos of these two guys together. And I love that I caught Joseph waving his little pincer fingers on one hand and pointing with the other. He does that a lot.  Today, Joseph had another swim class. He's getting better, but he's certainly not 100% comfortable in the water. He only cries at the end of the class now, when he really need to get home for his morning nap because boy is SPENT. I made loaded nachos for dinner last night and Doritos casserole for dinner tonight. Next week, I'm going to try to cook something healthy to make up for all this junk! But, man, the Pioneer Woman loaded nachos? I highly recommend. So so good. Speaking of food, Joseph is eating like a big boy these days. He eats more table food than purees. I've been trying to go this direction, but he just wasn't having it. But these past couple of days, he's eating almost anything I cut into little pieces and put on his tray. His current favorites seem

Another day where I couldn't decide what my photo would be until I saw it happen. And then, yes, I knew this would be the perfect one. Oh. This picture! So sweet, am I right? These two guys are so happy to see each other when Daddy comes home after work. Makes this mommy's heart just burst!

A few things are happening here, not all of them good. I wanted to take a portrait with me and my Jojo. But my phone died. And with my phone, my remote died. (It's an app.) So, I tried taking self portraits the old fashioned way and ended up with all blurry photos. Well, okay, whatever. Artistic? No, not really.  Also, I've been trying some creative edits. Just playing around with more colorful presets. I don't know if I like it. I mean, it just looks like an Instagram filter and that isn't really my goal. But it's what I have to present, so there you are. Better luck tomorrow?

Letters. I had this word in my mind most of the day. Letters, letters. What photo could I take that says: letters. And then, I grabbed a pair of socks from the drawer and as I was putting them on his feet, I spied them: letters! I loved the concept but not so much the execution. Partially because this is the first of my recent daily photo series to NOT be taken in natural light. This was taken in the yucky tungsten light of the dining room. But its a pretty sweet photo nonetheless. :) -•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•- Today, Joseph had his third swim lesson (did I mention my baby is doing swim lessons? Very superfluous. Still fun.) and he finally floated on his back. When I took him to the pool as a four month old, he didn't mind floating around. Now it scares him and he clings to me for most of the lesson. But today he floated for a few minutes. So, success. This evening, right as I sat down to my computer, my phone started ringing. It was a FaceTime call from my G kiddos!

Joseph and I hung out in the front yard this afternoon, just getting some fresh air and killing time before dinner. (Keeping leaves out of his mouth is next to impossible!) We heard an airplane in the sky and Joseph almost toppled over watching it fly by! It was pretty cute. :) Also, the photos I took today turned out really great! I might have to put him in a photo shoot worthy outfit and do this again!

Okay, so I skipped Sunday. The prompt was "Heck yes!" and I really couldn't think of anything. Okay, I just lied. I thought of something. It was a self portrait of me jumping with my fist in the air. Heck yes! But I ended up not doing it. In large part due to the fact that I didn't feel like it. Today's prompt was "I do this everyday." And I do laundry almost everyday. I better photo would have been me changing diapers or checking facebook on my phone. But the one won out. I do laundry on the floor of Joseph's room a lot so he can play while I fold. And we're kind of hanging out together but he's still playing independently. And, oops, I cut off the diaper I'm folding and my fingers. I had the camera propped on a little table because when I set up the tripod, Joseph wanted to play with it. So, I didn't realize this until later. But, hey! I still took a photo with my big camera and not just my iPhone. Progress, people.

Today's prompt: a place. All day long I was wracking my brain and not coming up with any good ideas for this photo! Joseph and I both have colds. Mine feels much more minor than his, but that's probably because I'm not shooting snot rockets down my face every time I sneeze.  Motherhood is so glamorous, y'all.  After he woke up from nap #2, I decided some fresh air would do us both some good. We went to a little park downtown and, just like I had anticipated, it was almost entirely empty. Joseph isn't at the age where he wants/needs other kids to run around with (the whole running thing isn't a life skill he currently has) so I like this small empty park. We had our choice of swings and there weren't other people watching me as I slid down the slide.  Anyway, that's our place for the photo. And you know what? The fresh air really did us both some good. 

These days, I am embracing my role as amateur. I've decided to officially close up shop. At least for now. (It's not like I've done much work this year anyway!) However, after last night's Shutterbuds meeting, I realized how much I really miss taking my time to create a great shot. I've decided to continue to pursue photography. But as an amateur, which, by the way, is French for "lover of." I'm excited to really hone my skills with the tools I have without having to think about taxes, clients, deadlines, etc. I spent a fair bit of money last year on education, gear, etc, so I'm happy to really use those tools for all their worth. I'm home with my son all the time, though, and I don't exactly have a wide variety of subject matter. So, I really wanted some sort of exercise to, I don't know, help jump start my stalled out photography car. I decided to use the Fat Mum Slim photo prompts and today's was "on the fl