Week 22: Window on the World

One of the benefits and drawbacks of the apartment we bought is that it is on the first floor - first two floors, actually. Benefits: it's a whole lot easier to get strollers in and out of the apartment; same goes for groceries or anything else you buy and bring home; we have outdoor space! Drawbacks: noise; people on the bus are at the same level as our windows and stare right in; there's not as much light; etc. Kristi's dad was in town to help when we first moved in. After everything was moved in, he opened the window, stuck his head out and decided it was good. He thought it was just like Sesame Street!

The first floor apartment, however, has been great for Jonah. For one, he can run up and down the hall to his heart's content and there are no downstairs neighbors to annoy! Additionally, this window in our kitchen has been a favorite spot of his since he was an infant. He loves to sit and play in the window, watching the people, cars, buses, trucks, dogs, bicycles. . . you get the idea. When he was younger he would get excited when he saw people and start banging on the window - most people would be startled, turn, see him beaming back and laugh.

So, this week is a tribute to one of his favorite spots! We've spent a lot of time in this little nook. We've watched plenty of cabs, buses and people, but the real treat was the day when there was some construction outside. They were laying new pipe in the middle of the street and had to dig a trench in the concrete. Good times! Jonah and I stood and watched for 90 minutes without moving.

Photo - this one was a little tricky to figure out, but I think I got there. This is in our kitchen and our kitchen is not large by any standards outside of Manhattan. (by Manhattan standards, we have a decent sized space). The circles up in the top left corner are pans hanging on our pot rack - so I had to work around that. Plus, glass can be tricky. It's very easy to get a glare and reflection of the light source if you're not careful. So, this is a Profoto head in a 1x4' stripbox. The stripbox is turned horizontally - so 1' tall and 4' long. That light is above the camera and slightly right. The stripbox is turned a bit away from the window and Jonah - so the light is feathered in onto him and, for the most part, keeps off the glass. The trick here is to meter the shot to expose for the outside light and then build up the inside light to match. I decided to underexpose the outside light about a stop - just liked the look a little better - made Jonah stand out more. This is my 24mm at f/4.

Week 21: Sleep Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope

Yep, that's right, a Big Boy Bed! Or, as Jonah calls it - "my cool bed!"

This past week we had a big delivery - a twin bed and mattress for Jonah. We went to look at beds a couple of weeks ago and, ironically, Jonah slept through it. However, we got an idea of what was available and what we liked. We also got the measurements of the various options so we could find the bed that fit his space best. We went back last week to let him look and to place our order. This past Wednesday, it arrived. (We also received a couple of these fab foam triangles that fit under the sheets on either side - they form the valley he is sitting in - so far no tumbles from the bed and his is a really restless sleeper.)

After many different attempts at getting Jonah to sleep through the night in his crib, all of which failed, we decided to throw caution to the wind and make the big step into a bed. Jonah only climbed out of his crib one time; he was absolutely terrified that night and it sounded more like he jumped out of the crib than climbed out. So, we didn't face the situation that most parents seem to face of getting rid of the crib to prevent an injury. Rather, this truly was a last ditch effort to get everyone in the apartment some rest.

Kristi brought Jonah home from school Wednesday night (I had stayed home to tear down the crib and accept the delivery) and talked up a big surprise when he got home. He walked in the door and went straight for his train set. . . we had to coax him back to his room to see the new digs. He got pretty excited when he saw the bed and quickly climbed in. One of Kristi's colleagues with children advised her that we should not get in the bed with him - that was his space and we shouldn't set the precedent of mom and dad being in that space. We decided to heed the advice.

That night, Kristi knelt beside the bed and read a couple of books with him, turned on some music and the nightlight and left the room. He never made a peep and didn't stir until the next morning! It hasn't been quite that easy getting him down again, but he has slept through the night every night since we got the bed. Hallelujah! Now that I've written this post, I'm sure I've jinxed it - but here's hoping this trend continues and we've solved the sleep issue. For now at least. . .

Photo - this is my 24mm at f/11. There is a strobe in a 4x3' softbox camera left, up a bit higher than the bed dialed down to f/4 for fill. The key is a strobe with the wonderful Profoto Zoom reflector zoomed in on Jonah and the top half of the bed. So - a soft fill with a hard key. I kind of like that combo. I like the crisp light on him for the environmental portrait. That light is at f/11.

Regarding the title - yes, I am a big nerd.

Week 20: The Commute

Jonah certainly is growing up in a different world from that of his parents' childhood. Since he was a few weeks old, Jonah has been a regular straphanger. Like most boys his age, he loves trains; I'm so glad that he also gets to ride one on a very regular basis. When we decided to move to New York over five years ago, we also made the decision to sell both of our cars. It was absolutely the right decision. We truly have no need for a car in the city and when we need one to get away, we rent.

We ride the subway at least twice a day and almost every day. It's such an easy and inexpensive way to get around; it's safe; it's relatively clean; it tends to be just as fast if not faster than a car. (It is really a shame that more US cities haven't embraced public transportation.) So, I knew from the outset of this project that I needed to get a shot of Jonah on the subway. I may even get more than one, who knows. It really is a large part of our lives and something that I feel separates Jonah's experiences from many other 2 year olds - even many here in the City.

Jonah still gets to and from the subway in a stroller, but more often than not, he now begs us to get out of the stroller and "sit on the train." When there's a seat by the window, he normally ends up standing so he can watch the world go by. Some day we'll ditch the stroller altogether, but not yet.

Photo: this is my 24mm at f/2. This is lit by nasty subway car "fluorescent" light. I still have no clue what color that light actually is. It's ugly, though - especially in the old cars on our line. I've been practicing shooting on the train for some time now and am getting better at it. It really needs flash to get some decent light in there, but I haven't been brave enough to whip out the lights yet. This is the way it should be done. 

Week 19: Just a Portrait

Sometimes you just want to take a portrait. . . that was this week. We've had a lot going on lately and have had a lot on our minds. Plus, Jonah is currently sporting a fresh haircut, so I thought I'd just try and get a portrait. Unfortunately, with Jonah, those are often the harder shots to get. He's not very fond of sitting still and looking at the camera. I finally had him entertained by the big flashing lights tonight, but that meant he wasn't really looking at me. Oh well, we went with the 3/4 profile shot! Some week, maybe next, I'll get back to the bear photo. . .

Jonah's sleep issues are slowly getting better with much effort from mom and dad. Unfortunately, I can still easily count the number of times he's slept through the night in the past month on one hand.

So, this week was more about me trying a lighting technique that I've been wanting to try. It worked to some extent, but focusing lights on a target that moves as much as Jonah is futile at best. I've read many lighting blogs lately about setting a fill exposure with a softbox and then layering a harder light source over it to bring more specularity and pop to the face - that's the idea above marginally executed. So this is a Profoto head in a 3x4' softbox camera right at f/2.8 and a Profoto head in a beauty dish camera right in front of the softbox, more or less focused on his face, at f/5.6. He was far enough from the lights, though, that it started to merge together more than I wanted. I think I needed a grid on the beauty dish, which I don't own. OR, a subject that was a bit more cooperative and stationary! The photo is shot with my 24mm at f/5.6.

Some more "keepers" from the shoot are here if you are interested. Many of them I kept purely because they made me laugh.