project 52:5 {life}

I think sometimes that we I strive so hard to put the perfect pictures out there for everyone to see that I get caught up in results. I'm not thrilled with the, well, results of our Project 52 this week. I've still been working on my camera settings, like exposure and white balance and focus. Yipes! And it's been a hard week to work on this theme. But we made some attempts, and I thought I'd show you the out takes for a change. This one was Callum's favorite and it may yet be the winner. Still, I have through the weekend, so if it changes, I'll let you know!

When I learned of the theme Best Friends (and no objects!), I thought of a couple of things. Callum would tell you that aside from his BFFs here on our block, he has no real "besties." The two boys who are in our neighborhood go to school with him, one is two years older and one is in Callum's grade. They ride into school together four days a week and play together every weekend. When Callum started his new school last year, having J. the younger of the two boys, in his homeroom was the best of blessings. Part of me wants him to branch out more, and truthfully he does. He's more of a free agent when it comes to friendships. Not tied to any one guy. I'm cool with that. And while I'd love to capture the special relationship that these three boys have, I knew it would take some bribery and a command from their mother. That just wasn't happening this week.

So what to do? Callum and his iPod? They're certainly tight. But. No objects. And...well. Even Callum knows you can't be best friends with your technology (But please don't tell my phone which is suddenly and miraculously working again.). He vetoed that pretty promptly. And I knew that as colse as he and Neel are, I didn't want them to be my subject either. For one thing, while we're super-tight with our son and say things like, "We're best buds," to him, we don't actually believe in being best friends with your children. For another, Neel and Callum have often been the subject of my photos. You can see them if you click on the main photography page. So when I asked Callum, he picked Lucy. The beagle.

They are pretty tight. Neel brought five month old Lucy home one early December in a copy-paper box, and Callum was beyond thrilled. Beyond. He loves all our dogs, but these too have some fun. Lucy is totally goofy, all beagle, and that has to appeal to a twelve-year old. Lucy is the one who snuck out of her crate to wish Callum a happy birthday in the middle of the night one night. Lucy is the one he hides under the covers on the sofa. I have quite a few pictures of these two too. Remember my Eleven for Eleven? Well, Callum asked for Lucy, but I wanted to try something different. I just didn't know what. We thought we'd get them together and see what happened.

The other dogs were having none of it.

Violet, who is the neediest and most loving of the three, had to be in on every step of the action.

This worried Callum, who finally admitted he felt closer to Lucy. Lucy, however was in no mood to be photographed.

Violet just wants to love and be loved.

We were surprised when Thea showed up. She's Violet's mom and a bit of a loner. She puts herself to bed in her crate right around 9 p.m. every night, and she always reminds me of a line from Enchanted April, she wants to spend her days thinking of better times and better men. But she loves us too, in her own worried way.

We tried some outside and Lucy was still really wound up. And Violet still had to get in on all of the action.

Violet needs loving and Thea wants to be alone.

It's a crazy menagerie, but they're all ours. It's our family.

Although maybe these are some good best friends pictures. It's like this every night. Asleep together on the same bed. Often one on top of the other. Three-dog night.

So those are the outtakes. I look at these and feel like none of them are great photographs. There are elements I like in many, but mostly I see how much work I have to do. But still, does every picture I take have to be a great and perfect photograph? No way! Sometimes it's nice to just get some pictures of a boy and his dogs. We'll try again this weekend, I imagine. It's been a busy week. I'm swamped all day today. Booked back to back with appointments (Lunch at school with Callum!), and I never get to leave the house!

Thanks for dropping in you guys. I have to admit, as I was writing this post, I had this image of Erin saying, "Pupppppppies!"

Oh, also. I'm doing a monthly "Day in the Life" project, and our January day was last Sunday. I haven't even looked at the photos yet, much let edited them. I'm torn between doing a post on it and just throwing it up in the photogallery. Any thoughts?

his day {life}

So this will be short because I often find myself humbled and without words when it comes to describing Neel, but today's his birthday! Hooray Neel!

I took these photos (Big Daddy!) of Callum and Neel working on an invention that Callum is doing for school (sanctioned parent participation, I promise!) because the singlemost important thing I can say about this amazing man I married is what a stunningly wonderful father he is.

He's creative and kind and patient and a gazillion kinds of fun. Neel's the kind of guy who will notice if you have a new haircut or who decides that he would like to start opening car doors for me and just does it. He's trying to teach our son to do these things too. I know that my happiness is important to him, and I hope he knows that his is just as important to me. I remember once, fairly shortly after we met, Neel and I were roaming a cemetery near our college campus. A deer bounded in front of us and he said, "Watch!" And with each of the deer's leaps he said, "now," timing his words perfectly to the rhythm of the deer jumping. I thought, if a guy can do that, he must be pretty cool.

He'll probably kill me for posting this picture! It's the very first shot I took with Big Daddy. I wanted to include it partly because I want you to see this man that I adore, but also, this photo feels symbolic to me. Neel's support means the world to me. Without it, I wouldn't be half the woman or mother that I am. Babies love him. Dogs love him. Callum and I love him too. Happy Birthday, my dearest one.