There are three very fat squirrels frolicking in the pines outside my office window. There’s a light sugary dusting of snow on the old pine boughs and the squirrels keep messing with each other, sometimes hanging upside down by their hind paws until the other will chase him back up the tree.
Today was not a good photography day, as I attempted to wrangle a different form of wildlife: my progeny. I figured out the most perfect, sweet lighting for the boys’ annual holiday photo, but Aaron simply would not cooperate. He
cried and cried and cried, and cried some more.
The outtakes are hilarious, of course.
A little history: I’ve taken the kids’ holiday photos almost every year since becoming a mom. Khevin always encourages me to do so, because he believes in my talent as a photographer. But every year, as more kids arrive, it’s become harder and harder to get them all to pose at the same time.
This year, Khevin and I were grumpy as hell for most of the two attempted sessions, because arranging the kids and keeping them from tugging on their turtlenecks or keeping their hands out of their various and sundry orifices was daunting. There was much crying and chaos and clamoring to keep the kids lined up and in focus, and a few points where I couldn’t shoot photos because I was shaking with laughter as Khevin danced behind me making all sorts of crazy faces and noises to attract our primates’ attention. We yelled things like (in an exaggerated fake angry voice): “We’re going to have a perfect holiday moment whether you LIKE IT OR NOT!”
At one point, in an attempt to startle him out of ignoring us, Khevin took a rolled up piece of paper and rapped Nolan on the top of the foot to get him to keep his hands out of his mouth. Not the move I’d have made, Mr. Photo ASSistant Who Only Has The Gig Because He’s Sleeping With the Photographer. So there’s this progression of shots where Nolan is smiling and Aaron is crying, and then suddenly, Nolan’s tonsils are the focal point of the shot and Aaron stopped crying long enough to check out what the heck was wrong with Big Brother. And then both their noses were running and eyes all teary. You may notice that in many of these shots, Jackson found all of this very amusing. I’ll be curious to see what stories he’ll tell about our crazed attempts to foist holiday magic upon the universe.
I took some shots upstairs with a different (white) backdrop (natural light and fill flash), but nothing close to how gorgeous I got it looking in the living room (also natural light w/fill flash),with the tree as a soft-focus backdrop. At one point, Khevin just picked Aaron up and held him upside-down in front of the tree beside his brothers. I should just send that one out as the “keeper” card. Khevin pointed out that next year, Aaron will be older and probably more willing to pose. I’m not so sure; wish I had a photo friend who lived closer so we could help each other and do a photo exchange. My one pro photo girlfriend says she does great with other people’s kids, but not her own.
Next year maybe we’ll just have to down a bucket of egg nog, double the booze