Week 5: Thomas!

Jonah is obsessed with trains. Perhaps it's because his mom and dad don't own a car and his primary mode of transportation is the subway? Or perhaps he's just a normal 2 year old boy? Regardless, the kid loves trains right now. So, I thought I should take a week and document his obsession before the winds change and he moves on to something else - because hey, you know, we boys do that. . . His train set stays downstairs in our family room where there is some room to set it up. He constantly asks to go downstairs - we know he wants to play with his trains. When it's time to go upstairs, he always says "Goodbye trains! See you tomorrow!"

Couple of other notes about this setup - along with trains, Jonah loves the train going through tunnels and going over his "mountain." So, I wanted to find a way to capture all of those elements in the shot.

Now for the photograph: This was actually a tough photo for me. I wasn't sure how to get all of these elements in and still make an interesting photograph. I thought about it quite a bit this week and thought I had it figured out. Nope. I set it up, pointed the camera, click - boring. The setup was wrong and the lighting was just terrible. Tweaking the setup was fairly easy. I came up with this look fairly quickly. Then the light.

I started out with a big light coming from behind and a spot on Thomas to highlight him as the subject. Flat. Boring. Then something hit me - I've read it a hundred times - if you want to make something interesting, don't light all of it. So, this week was an exercise in controlling light. There are three flashes in this shot. Can you find them?

This is one flash laying on the floor about 2 feet behind the back of the "mountain," pointed back at the camera. I flagged the camera right side as it was peaking around the back and causing a little flare. That is the light on the wall on the left giving separation to the trains going over the mountain. There is another flash on a stand with a snoot camera right dialed way down and zoomed all the way in to give a little light to the trains on the mountain. The third is gridded on a stand camera left and focused on Thomas.

Curious to hear what everyone thinks of this one.

Week 4: 2 year portraits - take 1

I've been wanting (and am still wanting, for that matter) to take some portraits of Jonah to mark his 2nd birthday. Time was tight last Sunday when I tried this. Then, it took me longer to set up than planned, so it was a little closer to nap time than it should have been. Needless to say - Jonah was less than cooperative. I certainly know that, one - I need to learn how to get kids to work with me, and, two - a bigger light source would be helpful. Perhaps with No. 1 - it's easier when they aren't your kiddo?

Here are some of the other shots from this little session, if you are interested:
http://web.me.com/rwdavi/rwdavi/Albums/Pages/2_year_portraits_-_take_1.html

I'm not completely happy with the results, so I'll need to reshoot soon. I guess that's one benefit when it's your child - reshoot at will!

Camera stuff for those who are interested: one flash in a 28" softbox, up camera right. Shot against white muslin.

Bonus shot for this week - I know, against the rules, but I couldn't decide which I liked better. Any thoughts? (same lighting info, btw)

Week 3: Tiggr Pooh

This was a tough week to get a photo.  I was in Chicago with Kristi for a few days - our first couple's getaway since Jonah was born. I was home for a little over 12 hours before I ran right back out the door and off to Washington, DC for a business trip. I got home in time for dinner on Wednesday. I defined my week for this project as Friday through Thursday, because Jonah's birthday was on a Friday. So, here we are at the 11th hour - literally.

I've been wanting to get a 2 year portrait of Jonah and wasn't able to get him to "pose" with his grandparents around. So, I had an idea for a lighting scheme that I wanted to try. I got it all set up, light set and ready to go - add kiddo, push shutter, done. Ha. Kristi had to work late tonight and didn't get home in time to help me pull off my plan. Scrap it. Plan 2, portrait of Mommy - been wanting to do that, too. Same lighting scheme will work well. Great! Add Mommy, push shutter, done. Ha. Then Jonah decided he wasn't keen on sleeping tonight (he's still awake, by the way). So, Kristi was busy trying to get him to sleep. . . what now?  Time for a "portrait" of something important to Jonah.

The fitting thing with this shot is that they are a gift I brought home for Jonah from my trip to SoCal this January. Most every time I travel I bring a little something home for Jonah. Jonah's a big fan of Tiggr and Pooh, so, when I found myself passing through Disneyland to a work event this January, I knew what I needed to bring home. Jonah loves his Tiggr and Pooh and often walks around our apartment hugging them both, saying "Tiggr Pooh!" So, on a week when I struggled to get a shot because of travel, it was Jonah's favorite travel gift that came through for me. It's always heartwarming to come home from a trip with a gift for Jonah and watch him light up and love it when he receives it.

This is actually the same light setup that I was hoping to try for a portrait - for those who care. This is a flash with a gridspot, shot through an umbrella to take the edge off just a bit. The flash is in pretty close, camera left, just above (height wise) Tiggr and Pooh. They are sitting on our stainless steel kitchen table with a black backdrop about 3 feet behind them.

So, my lesson this week:  flexibility.

Week 2: Family Time

We've had a great time the past few weeks! Jonah's birthday was at the end of March and my parents were in town to celebrate. The day after my parents left, Kristi's parents arrived and we celebrated all over again. Throw in a couple of Easter Egg Hunts (one for each set of Grandparents) and trips to zoos, aquariums, Coney Island. . . well, you get the idea.

As for the photo - Kristi's mom loves daffodils and Morningside Park near our apartment has tons of them every spring. We've made it a tradition to get a shot of Jonah and Carolyn in the daffodils each year when they visit for his birthday. Here's this year's tradition installment. Unfortunately, Jonah wasn't as cooperative with the "portraits" with my parents - don't think I'll share any of those "lessons".

It's been particularly fun this year as Jonah now clearly remembers his grandparents and loves to spend time with them. It's wonderful to see that even though we live halfway across the country and only see them in person every few months. Thank goodness for the interwebs and Skype! I'm sure that one week I will devote a photo to that part of his life.

For those who care about this sort of thing - this is shot with my 24-70 f/2.8. One flash at 1/2 power through an umbrella, skillfully held by my VAL (voice activated lightstand) - Kristi's dad - up-camera-right. Ambient is underexposed about 2/3 of a stop.

Full disclosure - bit of photoshop to remove a yellow caution ribbon tied around the tree in the background on the right. Lesson 1: CAREFULLY check the composition! Lesson 2: thank God for Photoshop.

Week 1: Independence

My son, the speed demon. . .

My wife and I decided to get Jonah a Plasma Car for his birthday; we were a bit unsure if he was really ready for it, but he had the opportunity to try one out at a friend's house and instantly took to it. The photo is literally from the first time he had it outside of the apartment . . .

It's amazing watching him grow so quickly from an infant, completely reliant on us, into a toddler ready to start trying to branch out on his own. The scooter might be his first real taste of truly doing something on his own. He quickly - really quickly - took off down the path in our neighborhood park for about 200 yards, stopped, looked back to make sure we were still there trying to catch up, and then took off again. I had to run quickly to get out in front of him enough to get setup for this shot.

The quote of the day came from a group of 3 or 4 7ish year old kids on scooters headed the opposite direction from Jonah. They passed him (or he passed them?) and, as they passed us, said to themselves "boy, that baby's going really fast!" How right they are.

Here's to the open road!

Away we go. . .

Hello everyone!

Thanks for dropping by my new 52 week photo project. I've been looking for a way to challenge myself as a growing photographer and I simply don't think I can commit to a 365 project at this point. I believe the photo in the header explains why.

My idea here is to thoughtfully produce one photo each week of my son's journey through the "terrible twos." I will strive to capture a shot each week that illustrates something important to him, or important to me about him, and share it here. The idea is to go beyond the snapshots, of which I have thousands, and into something more carefully thought out.

I hope you'll find this something to visit on a regular basis and share this experience as a photographer, and his experience as a two year old, with us.

Please feel free to leave comments!
Rob