Photography

Having photos taken of myself has never been something I enjoyed. Usually they turned out with a funny smile or an odd look, or I blinked when the shutter snapped, or my hair decided to be wild and unruly, or I hadn't noticed the stain in the center of my shirt.

But at least I sat still and looked at the camera.

We took family photos yesterday. We spent nearly an hour taking half a million family photos, in the dearly held hopes that one or two might work out for inclusion in our Christmas cards. Do you know how fast a two year old can move? Or how impossible it is to induce him to smile for a camera when he'd rather crawl inside Daddy's shoulder and disappear?

Thankfully, we were not doing this at a normal photography shop. We hired Daniel (a friend from church who takes beautiful photos - take a look at his website!) to bring his gear to a park and snap away. He was so good with our kids - he put "hats" on heads, created "frisbees" from bits of his (unbreakable!) camera gear, and moved incredibly fast. :) At one point he commented "this is like sports photography!" Yes. Well. That is my oldest son!

I do think we probably got some cute photos. At one point we arranged the three of us who weren't running around like maniacs, and then Dan convinced Jonathan to run full force at Gabe and give him a hug. We all tried not to fall over with the impact while smiling in the general direction of the camera. I think that the sheer volume of photographs taken must mean we got a few good ones.

After Dan fixes them up, he's going to give us the digital photos to print ourselves, so I can both print and post some. Stay tuned for photos of three smiling family members and a blurred toddler running out of the frame!