Similarly to how I keep my camera with me to take photos of what inspires me, our daughter has started carrying around her sketchbook and draws when she is inspired to do so.
Our pup knows who to visit for a snack at our table; her food buddy is the best bet!
I enjoyed this moment from the summer. Two sisters, working together, determined to fix a scooter by themselves.
This image brings back memories of playing in the playground next to my childhood home with the kids in the neighborhood. So many wonderful memories of playing together for hours, jumping, swinging, tree climbing, bike riding, rollerskating, and going on adventures are flooding to my mind this morning.
I moved away from the neighborhood and my childhood friends long ago, but my memories of those days with friends are still vivid.
This morning, I am thankful that I have recently found and reconnected with an old friend; I am truly enjoying sharing some of our favorite childhood memories and catching up with each other!
After a day full of riding bikes, zooming on scooters, and running around in the yard, our daughter decided to take a break. She reached up high on the book shelf and pulled down an old favorite: Where the Sidewalk Ends.
When I heard her reading Shel Silverstein’s “Tree House,” one of her favorite poems, I captured this moment.
Tree House
A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches
Cozy as can be house.
A street house, a neat house,
Be sure and wipe your feet house
Is not my kind of house at all–
Let’s go live in a tree house.
With our younger daughter off playing at a friend’s house, I had some time one-on-one time with our oldest. We decided to have some photo time together, which is always fun for both of us.
She has long since outgrown her point and shoot camera and is ready for her own DSLR. When I handed her my old Nikon d50 DSLR with a 50mm 1.8D lens to use for the day (technically, this is my husband’s camera now), she was thrilled! She jumped up and said, “I want to do a photo shoot with Honey!” (Honey is our 1.5 year old Spanish Water Dog.)
I grabbed my own camera as she and Honey ran out the door to have some fun; I definitely wanted to capture her story.
She started with using a pine cone to get Honey’s attention and to get her to stay still,
which worked really well for a few minutes (my daughter’s photo is below).
As she tried a new perspective, I saw a lot of my own style of photography. Obviously, she has been paying attention and observing me for years.
When Honey lost her focus, and we were winded from chasing her all over the yard,
we took a break and headed inside to take a peek at her photos.
She loved her photos, and found herself laughing at how many photos she had of Honey running out of the frame.
To wrap up the photo shoot, our daughter made a sandwich, and, of course, shared a bit with her buddy, Honey!
We both had a wonderful afternoon and are already planning our next photo session!
While the girls were both involved in a quiet activity, I took the opportunity to tiptoe down the hallway and peek into their bedroom. There, I discovered our oldest, deep in thought, letting her ideas flow onto the pages of her new notebook.
Although she was aware of my presence, she remained focused and continued to write. This allowed me the time to capture an image of her doing something that she loves.
These natural moments are some of my favorite ones to photograph.
