Child's Play

 This past week I got to tend a family of 5 girls (ages 11, 9, 6, 5, & 1 1/2)  and 1 boy ( age 3) for a day while their mom went to North Carolina to help her sister with a new baby.  Before she left, I interviewed the mom via email just to confirm what I already knew about them and she told them I was going to do a photo shoot with them so they were VERY excited when I arrived.  I went prepared with a bag of musical instruments and some old newspapers so we could make origami hats, and I took of my favorite books to read with them. They had the ideas of dressing up in various Halloween costumes, of dancing, and of playing on the big trees in their back yard. Later in the afternoon we went to my house so they could play with our new puppies. I got a few of the shots from my shot list completed, but really had more of an "Inspired by Life" shoot.  I shot with my 35mm f1.8 prime lens and figured out how to do a little bit of editing in Lightroom 3. We had so much fun that I couldn't choose just 3...

As the girls were dancing, Bethy grabbed two magnifying glasses and held them up to her eyes just as I turned around with the camera.  So funny!  I feel like I still have many hours of practice ahead of me, but I also feel like I'm making progress and learning from my mistakes. :)