5 Minute Project: Nerf Guns and Halo
Today is my day on the 5 Minute Project blog. Here is one of the images(please click through to the project blog to see the rest).
This project which started out as a whim for me has really grown into something I'm super proud and excited to be a part of. If you love documentary photography, you should really check it out because the people I'm participating with are awesome. And, cause I know you are going to ask--Jack's shirt is from Skreened.com. And, now that you are super curious to see the whole shirt, you really outta run over to the 5 Minute Project Blog and see it.
~ Dana
Imperfect Perfection
I love photographing kids in their rooms. Anyone who has been following me for some time knows this. I have quite a collection of these sorts of photographs now, but I wanted to share this one for a couple of reasons. First--seriously, she is holding a rainbow loom organizer. If you have a child this age, I guarantee you have multiple rainbow loom kits, elastics, bracelets, etc littering your home. 2013/2014 school year will be remembered as the year of the rainbow loom. Second, I love how imperfect her room is. There is this thought that, when you are having family photographs done in your home, you need to make every room kind of...well...perfect. But, in reality NO ONE LIVES THIS WAY. This room is how this kid keeps it. It is her space. Imperfect perfection. Lastly...I have this soft spot in my heart right now for kids this age. Probably because I have two kids in this sort of age bracket myself...but I just adore this in between phase. This caught between being a child and being a teen. This mixture of cool t-shirt and kid slippers. This sort of thing just tugs at my heart. Soon, this little girl will be too concerned with perfect appearance(it really is inevitable in teenage girls). I love that in this moment she is still just her in-between self.
Not a perfect portrait, but imperfectly perfect to me.
~ Dana
Jack in Jura Creek
I have fallen into the habit that I see many photographers who once documented their own kids falling into. My kids are getting older and more resistant to having their picture taken so...well...I just don't. Especially with my oldest, most resistant child.
It's true that sometimes they don't even notice I am doing it. They are that used to having a camera in their lives. But, often they would rather just live their lives than have it documented. And, I think there is a lesson in there....truly...one that sometimes I agree with. But, I don't want this chunk of time to disappear without any photographs of them.
I was chatting with my friend Leigha Graf who graciously took our family photographs last week...about having older kids(boys in particular) and how there seems to be a reluctance to share our parenting experiences once kids turn about 8 years old. I think that is there for a reason. Potty training, playdates, and learning to explore as a toddler/younger child does are universal experiences. As kids get older, the experiences become more specific...more personal. And, there are limits to what I feel comfortable sharing with the world. One day my kids will apply for jobs and upon googling them their prospective employer will find many, many online images and stories. I feel compelled more and more to curate those stories. So, there is that...
Then, there are the technical reasons why it is harder to photograph your older kids...in Canada, right now, it gets dark at about 4:30pm. My kids get home from school just before 4:00pm. Some days even later...especially Jack who will stay out and explore or stay after school for activities. They simply aren't with me during daylight hours anymore. It is a sad reality that just goes to prove how fast time flies. Arriving at that conclusion helped me to decide to make my weekends more my own and charge a premium for my sessions on those days. My weekends are my family time now. And, I want more than ever to document my own kids again. And, spend time with them while I can.
These were taken this weekend while hiking in Kananaskis. Jack didn't really want to go. He would have preferred to stay indoors doing his solitary thing...he isn't good at transitions, but once you get him there, he enjoys what he is doing. That coat is too small and we keep meaning to buy him a new one. He is wearing sweats and his ugly boots, but that is my boy. My in-between boy...somewhere between being a child and being a teenager. I love him so...
~ Dana