Week 33 – Friendship

children by water
children making silly faces outside by water
children having fun in nature

Brenda and I met in high school and re-connected when our first-borns were a year old.  We were pregnant at the same time with our second children and our friendship only grew from there.  Our kids have spent thousands and thousands of hours together and each Summer become ‘campmates’ in our similarly run ‘mom camps’.  Since we both work from home, during the Summer months we split our days between work and tiring out our kids, often together. We also camp throughout the Summer and every year in September our kids go into withdrawal when school starts and they no longer see each other every second day.  

We spent the last weekend of Summer together at Samuel de Champlain provincial park and I was amazed (a) to get a photo of all 6 kids looking in the camera (b) that no one ended up in the river.

Don’t forget to take photos of your kids with their friends.  The kids they spend their days with at school, daycare, and their recreation activities are an important part of their lives and even as they move on to different friendships, it’s wonderful to be able to look back and talk about those relationships and what the friendships meant to them. 

Week 34 – First Day of School

There was a VERY brief window where all three boys started school on the same day at the same school. Last year they were at two separate schools and this year we had different starting weeks! I realize that my days of taking posed back to school photos of them on the first day of school are numbered, which is why I take a photo of each of them on the first day of school no matter what they’re wearing or what their mood is. For my littlest guys first day of preschool I have the most photos of him with his arms crossed, scowling, as well as several with his back to the camera.

Even if your kids aren’t wearing your preferred outfit or it’s a bad hair (or bad mood!) day, take whatever photo they will allow as part of your annual back to school tradition. Maybe it’s best for your family to take the photo the day before or the week after school starts or maybe a silly face is the only way they’re comply. Having a memory is far more important than having a ‘perfect’ memory!

Week 35 – Fog

children on a dock at sunset
child on rocks near a foggy river
child on a dock

How does one end up waist deep in the water when it’s only 10 degrees? When the light and fog are beautiful! We spent the first weekend after school started camping at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park. On our last evening there the sunset was spectacular and I loved how the fog looked as it rose off the water. The only way to capture it was to wade out into the water and cross my fingers that the sporadic movement I could see on the surface of the water was fish and not water snakes heading ashore for the night.

More often than not the best place to stand for the photo is one where you’ll end up close to the ground or up above. Don’t be shy when it comes to getting down low (or high) to find the best angle for the photo you envision.

Week 36 – Fast

boys apple picking
boys apple picking

Raise your hand if you’ve already picked way too many apples this year and aren’t sure what to do with them?

When the boys were little, apple picking was a slow moving tradition.  They would toddle down the rows of trees and wait for us to lift them up to pick the fruit.  Then, inevitably, they would find a delicious apple to snack on and we’d end up doing most of the picking ourselves as they were distracted by their snack.  Every year we head to the orchard to pick apples and every year I’ve amazed at how much they still love to go and by how fast the tradition has become. Once they have their bags in hand, they are off running between the trees looking for the reddest apples they can reach.  We try to stay nearby so we don’t end up with 30 pounds of apples but it’s like their sibling rivalry kicks in and they can’t help themselves from trying to fill their bag the fastest.  

If you find yourself taking photos are are overwhelmed by a predominant colour in the image (e.g., green), try adjusting the white balance on your camera or phone.   White balance refers to the colour temperature you are taking your photos in (e.g., sunshine, an overcast day, tungsten light) and sometimes the light or predominant colours in the photo can alter the look of your photos so that the colours no longer look natural.  Adjusting your white balance can help solve the problem!