This is quite possible the world's longest blog entry. Seriously.

Well, I took some photos today that I just LOVE. But, before I get to that, I wanted to say thank you again to all of you that visit & leave such wonderful, really, really nice comments. Seriously...I'm a little embarrassed (in a good way) about how sweet you all are to me.

So, the least I can do is take a little time to answer the questions some of you asked in your comments. Please know that I want to answer you guys, but sometimes I don't know how to do it. Should I answer in my own comment section or in a new post or on your blog (if linked?) I just don't know the right way to do it! :-) But, today I'm just gonna answer right here in the beginning of this post!

**Technical stuff starting here:

Chantale (and Lulu)- I've always liked photography and wanted to learn, but I only really made that happen just about a year ago. I got my first DSLR on April 13, 2006. :-) Before that, I had started learning the photographic triangle, but I was limited with my Canon point & shoot. My first camera was a Canon Rebel XT with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. I had a kit lens for a short time, but I ended up getting rid of that and opting for a vertical battery grip instead. I think you can do FABULOUS things with the XT & the 50. In fact, that's all I had for a long time. :-)

I've since acquired a bit more equipment, but my list is never ending! Ha! Now, I shoot with the Canon 30D, any my hubby (Curt) uses the XT. I have the 50mm f/1.8 still, an 85 1.8, 30 1.4 and 28-75 2.8. My absolute favorite is the 85. I love, love, LOVE to shoot at wide open apertures, so that's always the leading factor in what kind of lenses I buy.

I'm self taught, sort of. I mean, I never did any formal education aside from one photography class in college for fun. I do, though, have to credit all the great photographers on ILP that are so willing to share their knowledge. I learned OODLES there. I read, and read, and read everything I could get my hands on and still do. I practice with whatever is around me. I've got at least a billion pictures on my computer of water bottles or tennis shoes or whatever was laying around when I felt the need to practice what I was reading. That's been THE single biggest learning tool for me. I think photography is never ending. There will NEVER be a time when there's nothing to learn. As it is now, I feel like I don't even know a quarter of what there is to know! It's INSANE! So, yeah, I still read, read, read.

I'm not in business at this point. I thought I might want to be, but I've since decided that I jumped into it way too soon. Photography is my passion, my "thing", my outlet, and I found that doing it in a business setting made it almost unenjoyable. So, I backed outta that REALLY quickly. Haha! :-)

Oh, and I don't know how I get full body shots in focus at wide aps. :-) I mean, I guess I just obsessively push the back button (I use back button focusing) about a billion times before I actually take the shot. I try to snap the shutter as quickly as possible after focusing. I know that's not as technical as you were probably looking for, Lulu, but I guess I've just never given it a lot of thought. At first, when I started learning to shoot wide open, I practiced ENDLESSLY on just headshots so that I could really gauge the sharpness by the eyelashes. Once I felt like I had that down, I started shooting wide open for full body shots. I like to take baby steps. :-)

And, Angela - YEP! I most DEFINITELY take a bad picture. In fact, I take LOTS of them! Ha! :-)

**And ending here. :-)

Okay...so, on to today's post. Tonight I set out to really capture my girls playing...just in the moment. I don't want to leave those fun, portrait type photos in the dust, but I started to feel like my photos are all really leaning that way. I started to realize that, yes, I have cool photos of my girls in cool locations, but I have less of them just in their day to day. Their day to day is what I need to remember as a mom. So, yeah, that's what I was gonna do tonight.

When I started to upload the pictures, my heart started to feel full. I could tell that I'd captured the essence of Emma. I'd captured a moment that, in the past, I would have consciously told myself, "DO NOT FORGET THIS. It's so special that I never, ever will forget." Ummm...yeah right. Who am I kidding!?! I told myself that I would ALWAYS remember what my babies smelled like right out of the bath. Nope...that's gone. I've done that at least a billion times, and, though the memory is vivid for a few days, it quickly fades no matter how hard I try to hold onto it. So, when I saw that I captured one of those moments on "film," it made me feel fulfilled & grateful. And this is why I love photography. :-) Now, I'll always remember what Emma's bare piggies look like dancing through the grass. I'll remember the adoration I felt for her as I sat three feet from her & watched her twirl in the sunset. I do wish I could stop time. It saddens me to think that one of these days will be the last day that she does that...she'll outgrow it at some point, just as she outgrew the baby smell. But, at least I have photos.





And a few of the girls together:




And, because I do so love them as well, here are a couple of those more portrait-y type photos. (I'm betting that's not really a word. Anyone wanna take me up on that!?!)


And, in typical Maya fashion, here is what I got from her. (Man, I love this kid & her SASSYness!) She was mad at me for asking to take her picture. :-)

And, FINALLY, just for fun, here is one that Curt wanted me to take for the yearbook that he's working on.