Other photographers in my class seem to have a collection of whimsical props just lying around their house— vintage suitcases, oversized buckets, antique globes, and ornate frames. I looked around our house this afternoon— hunting for suitable props. We’ve got nothing. We’ve got junk. Seriously. At first, I thought— books! I’ll use books! But then, looking over our cluttered shelves, I realized that we didn’t really have any good-looking books. So then I thought— maybe I’ll take the fantasy play tent outside. But I’m feeling phenomenally unmotivated. It’s huge, and to take it out the front door would require— effort. Ugh. (Three nights in a row, I haven’t gotten much sleep because Leena has been sick and teething. She’s clung to me like a snotty human milk leech).
Sonya picked the outfits. The girls looked cute. They don’t often wear dresses. In a sense, the clothes themselves were a prop. Finally, we went outside with some plastic beads, a giant heavy ampersand, and a toy stroller (a prop that Sonya decided to bring). I envisioned going to that stone wall again and having the girls stand with the ampersand between them. Sonya & Leena. Yeah, right. What was I thinking? Sonya said, “How about the stump?” It was a rhetorical question. She wanted pictures on the stump at the corner of the park in front of our house.
Even though the props aren’t really prominent (or even mostly visible) in the photograph, at LEAST I got these two cute side-by-side pictures of the girls. I haven’t had one of those in months. They both wiggle so much. When one’s in focus, the other’s a blur.
We finally made it to the wall. Leena sits down in that plastic toy stroller and looks all cute and perfect like a ruffly pink doll, and wouldn’t you just know it? I cut off the top of her head because I’m twizzling a bunch of knobs trying to make the background more blurry! (I did not succeed with my knob-twizzling).
Then there’s ANOTHER golden opportunity, but I just CANNOT get both the girls in FOCUS. (Can I blame it on the lens?) It was a cute moment. Really cute. Leena pushing Sonya in the stroller. BLURRY! ARGH!
So basically, I think that I did NOT succeed with this prop assignment. (1) My props sucked. (2) My props weren’t even IN the frame. (3) I chopped off a baby’s head. (4) Two of the five submitted photos are blurry.
At least I’ll be able to learn from the critiques…
Can I just say that I love your blog? It makes me smile. And if I may, I’d like to steal ’snotty human milk leech,’ because its gross, descriptive, and is just so real. I feel like grabbing a huge box of Kleenex, just reading it! Sonya has really grown a lot since I last saw her (but then, one could say the same about me, unfortunately). Leela was still incubating in your womb, as I recall. Reading about your world helps to distract me from the unpleasant realities going on in mine, and I thank you. Love to all!
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Your photography skills are improving daily.
Keep in mind that for your latest attempt you had chosen the hardest subjects; toddlers. And to add to the challenge you have 2 toddlers!!!
Getting kids to co-operate during a photo shoot is harder than herding cats!!
Keep it up and keep posting your progress.
DEAWN! So good to hear from you! I miss the yarn shop… but at least I still have Molly Ann. Word on the street is, you’re back in the States taking care of your mom. Hope you’re hanging in there. It’s been a long time. Have you not met Leena yet? My goodness. It’s been too long. I hope you find your way to Montreal for a visit sometime… In the meantime, I’m glad my world can distract you. It certainly distracts me! Haha. Have you been doing any knitting? Now that the weather has gotten colder, I’ve started again… Christmas stockings for the whole family… two years in the making… and finally a cropped cabled bolero sweater for me. The cables are mesmerizing but slooooow going. It’s interesting to try to read these tricky charts. Anyway, take care of YOURself, too!
Maggie,
Thanks! You’re really sweet! If you’re up for it, I’d love to do a photo shoot of you and your boys and whole family if you can swing it! Maybe by next week, I’ll be a pro? I AM learning a lot! And the inspiration of new faces would be great! Of course, I would give you all the photos. And hopefully at least some of them would be awesome. Maybe we can FINALLY get together. Like, for REAL.
what about a laundry basket? I know the boys LOVE playing in ours (both the small pop-up variety & the large plastic one)… although that might be a bit weird at the park.
I have a similar problem w/focus, the little boys don’t like to sit still for long. Thankfully my phone captures video. ;)
Sometimes I look at photos on the internet with the types of props you were describing and I think to myself, “That’s so posed!” Nobody walks around orchards with large antique frames. It can make for a nice photo, but it’s not really life. Doll strollers and plastic beads are life.
Toddlers are certainly the HARDEST subjects to photograph! You did take some great shots though!
I’m with Sonya – the stump would make a *great* prop!
Great pictures as always.