f.Light Photography

I finally got the opportunity to have a little impromptu shoot with a little girl. I’ve been trying to find someone to practice on for weeks, and on Christmas I finally got the opportunity. I must admit, I LOVED IT! I never thought that taking photos of a kid could be so much fun. I don’t know when I last laughed as much as I did that day. Kids are amazing. And when they’re that cute, they’re just awesome to photograph. The only drawback about kids is that they move. Alot. Constantly. So most photos will somehow have an element of blur in them, simply because not every part moves at the same speed or in the same direction.

Children have such a classic way of being natural, of being themselves. I find that photographing adults is much more difficult, because they tend to pose more and thus prevent alot of their own personality from showing through in the photos. Maybe that’s why it was such a lovely experience to have this little fun shoot with a kid. I almost feel like sticking to toddlers now. They are just so much fun. Especially when I can concentrate on the photos and others keep the kids amused and busy.

We played with a little red ball for a while, which was fun, until she discovered that being swung around and around by her arms was way more fun. (For her). Lol. Children are so expressive when they are at play and oblivious of the camera. It’s such a joy to work with that. The cutest thing though was every time when she noticed me taking a photo of her, she would come up to me and ask me: “Where is me?”, and then she’d stare in fascination at the little LCD display with her picture on it. We as adults are often so shy to ask to see ourselves when people take a photo – or we go the opposite way and hide every time someone aims a camera our way. Sometimes it would be good to go back to being like a little child. It’s way less complicated!

I can’t wait for the next opportunity to have a photo shoot with a kid. If anyone has one and is interested in having some photos of their kid and themselves, please let me know!

Here’s a small sampling of the cutest kid I’ve had the opportunity of photographing! And thanks a million to her mom for letting me do it!

Christmas is over. At least the feasting and official celebrating part is over. But the heaps of Christmas cookies and received gifts remain. They will remain for a while longer to remind us of the joy and fun we had. God’s love is another thing that remains. It’s something that sustains us through the whole year until another Christmas comes around and we get to celebrate all over again. I love that. The fact that Christmas comes along faithfully every year, come rain or shine, snow or hail or cold or warmth (or in our case intense heat).

After celebrating last Christmas in London in the cold, being back in the Southern Hemisphere has been an adaptation. It’s been a hot Christmas like the ones I grew up with – where candles sometimes generate too much heat and electric lights are kinder to our poor overheated selves. But I still love candles and the lovely atmosphere they create.

Christmas to me has become less and less about the presents and more about the simple fact that Jesus came to save us. I like that. Not that I hate presents or anything, I still love giving them to people I care about, but I don’t feel cheated if I don’t receive anything. The joy remains. And to me, that is the best gift of Christmas. Real joy. Not the quick upsurge of excitement at receiving a gift which ceases as the hours drift by and not the “joy” that a car manufacturer speaks about in their advertisements. But the joy that fills us from the inside and the joy that withstands the tidal waves of life.

For my project this week I donned my brand new Santa-hat, but I couldn’t leave it on too long, as the day was simply too hot for it to be bearable. After adjusting the levels and adding a nice channel filter effect to the image, this is my final result.

I love my new teddy. He’s cute, he’s fluffy and he’s always silky smooth without the need to shave. Aint that sweet. Lol. I got the teddy as a present from my grandmother and I really love him. Funny enough I was never a big fan of teddies. Stuffed animals, yes, but somehow teddies always seemed so ordinary to me and I always preferred other types of stuffed animals. But this teddy certainly knows how to melt my heart. Maybe it’s because he’s got a crooked smile or just because he’s mine. Ownership seems to change our feelings towards things and people. If that is true, then I have hopes for my own children some day.

I played around quite a bit with the levels in photoshop and adjusted the curves too. I love how that intensifies the colour without me having to change the saturation or hue.

The reason for this week’s picture is just to share my teddy with everyone who is reading this, because I like sharing things I love. (Remember I said “things”, not “people”.) LOL. I guess sometimes I can be a bit possessive about the people I love and prefer having them to myself instead of sharing them with others. Maybe that’s something I can work on. For today I’ll start with my teddy. Baby steps.