Like her sister and her father (her mother used to be, but now is more of a voracious crafter and occasional reader), Zara is a voracious reader. She loves thumbing through books, making up words to go along with the pictures. And of course, she loves being read to. On her current rotation:
Berenstein Bears Bedtime Battle and a vintage Little Golden Book
ABC book that I picked up at a Seattle flea market, plus any book within reach at the time. I love how she fits perfectly in my lap while I read over her shoulder. She will often turn the pages prematurely if she gets bored, but I just keep reading.
So, I am taking
Willette's Family Joy class. Self-portraits using a remote and a tripod is the first week's assignment. Coincidentally,
Dear Lizzy (one of my all-time favorite photo/DIY/crafting/scrapbooking/lifestyle blogs) is also having a little self-timer challenge.
I took this photo after Sofia left for school. Their room gets gorgeous light in the mornings. I set up my tripod and used the self-timer. I focused on Zara's face, hit the timer and ran into place. Bummer that my newish remote control doesn't work on my Canon 60D (which I got last Christmas for my 30D). So I had to make do with the mad dash into the shot.
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| We moved to the bed for a closer shot. I'm out of focus, but Zara is in focus. Not tack sharp, but I like her sweet expression. |
And then we took the photo session outside. These were more posed. And I didn't quite get the focus right. I grabbed the red-cushioned chair that Jamie uses for his morning meditation and faced it towards the house under the shade of our huge elm tree in the back yard. I had Zara sit in the chair while I toggled my selective focus points to focus on her face, hit the timer and ran to the chair and plopped her in my lap.
For the second one, I tried something less posed, but the focus is not there. But I do like the overall feeling more. Will definitely have to try some more self-portraits with the other half of the family this weekend.
