Notes and Memories

I just thought this seemed rather applicable to the end of one and beginning of a new year...

Christmas Family Photos - Albuquerque

I did two last family photo sessions on December 8th. I try to work with times to get the best light, but even if it isn't ideal, I work with it anyway. I'm posting photos here from the second session that day, done in the late afternoon.

This is a beautiful family who are also good friends of ours. The mom picked out all the clothes, and included just enough red to provide the right pop. She came up with the idea of a wheelbarrow full of gifts, and had them wrapped and ready. The location is a favorite of both of ours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appreciate the Real Moments

I did a couple of Christmas family photo sessions a week and a half ago, and spent another day editing and processing them. Then this last weekend we traveled to Arizona for an Irish Dance Feis (competition).

Today I just wanted to share several photos I took a few months ago. My house seems to be in a constant state of disaster. With four children, one of which is a rather intense toddler, homeschooling, and working to get other things done as well, we do not seem to be able to ever catch up with cleaning.

So, instead of making it a huge priority to have that ideal house, I am working to appreciate creativity, the fact my kids live in my house and use it, the fact they constantly are coming up with new ideas and things to do, the fact that they are real, alive and busy with life. We are a family with a lot going on - activities, creativity... I would rather have creative, interested kids, than a perfect house. I want to make sure we spend time on school, and when they are so interested in learning something, I want to put a priority on that, rather than on some ideal I have in my mind for neatness.

My heart truly goes out to the families of the children killed in the recent shooting in Connecticut. The thing that bothers me so much is wondering what those little children were experiencing inside when a man was standing there shooting at them. I can only imagine the panic and fear they felt. I can't be inside them, but I do know my children panic over small things - falling off a bicycle, tripping on the stairs, a new ballet class, uncertainty of surroundings, etc. And then I wonder what could have happened inside this man that he could fathom doing something so horrible. My only guess is that some sort of mental illness was there.

And so I check myself: do I know what is going on inside my own children? Are they open with me? When they panic or get angry, what are they feeling? My job as a parent is not to have children who are perfect on the outside. My job is to teach, to understand, to appreciate, to support, to love.

Pecan Picking Storyboard

Here are a few pictures I took over Thanksgiving. I intentionally created a story with pictures:

Here it is in slideshow form:
http://lonelymountainphotography.com/Pecan Picking Gallery

Fall on the Rio Grande

I drove out last night to create a few images of our autumn colors along the Rio Grande River. It was chilly, and I made it just as the sun was beginning to set. I parked and hurried out along the bridge so I could look back to the mountains. It turned out to be not as good of a vantage point as I was thinking, as the mountains were mostly hidden behind the flaming trees. And there was shadow along the river that contrasted starkly with the beautiful trees and mountains. I took a few photos and hurried back to the car after the sun had completely set, shivering. 

Once home, and after the little ones were in bed, I could sit down and reassess what I'd taken. This afforded me the opportunity to do some processing and creating with them. Here are a few:

Beautiful Children

Cousins

I've done a few minor photo sessions lately, but here I wanted to post a couple of fun images we created when my sister visited with her children. The cousins had a wonderful time together the entire week, and my kids were sad to see them go. They live far away and we don't get to see them often.

Flamenco girls:

Unfortunately, my littlest came down with a bad cold and the last afternoon just was not herself. The group photo of all of them together didn't go so well...

Our family loves to go to the local International Rattlesnake Museum. The guy who runs it is not only friendly, but awesome with kids. He had done a fantastic job of creating a museum that displays the largest collection of different varieties of rattlesnakes in the world, but using the museum to truly educate the public about snakes and reptiles. We took our cousins there when they visited, and all loved sporting their shirts here.