Baby in Black & White

As some of you know, or all of you since I am pretty sure only people I know read this blog, I recently had a son. Since this has happened I have taken well over a thousand pictures and he is only three weeks old. I am obviously not going to share a thousand photos but I would like to share a few.

I constructed a frame to hold a backdrop and fiddled with many lights until I produced the shadows I was looking for. These were all shot in color and converted to black and white with slight tweaking of contrast in Photoshop. Though I have found babies to be rather inconsiderate models who refuse to cooperate I feel that the end result is in fact adorable. Please enjoy.

Shooting pictures of my Little Buddy was challenging enough. Trying to do self portraits while handling a three week old proved to be too much. I enlisted the help of my lovely wife and got real creative with tripod placement to help frame these shots. In the end the results made me happy. I know I am not as cute as my Little Buddy but thirty years from now he might look at these and be amazed by how much like me he really looks. I know that happens to me every time I see an old photo of my father. Anyway, that's enough words here are the pictures.

Maxwell's Big Arival

Last July my wife and I found out that we were going to have a baby. This was possibly the most exciting and scary news I have ever received all in one package. Becoming a father is something that I have always wanted but never really felt ready for. But then again I have been informed that no matter how ready you think you are, you are not nearly ready enough. Over that past nine months construction projects in my house shifted from man cave and office to nursery and planning vacations turned into planning day care.

My son has finally arrived and like any good parent I am trying to document as much of his life as possible. These moments that my wife and I share with him are going to be some of the most precious of our lives.  So here is a little introduction to my new favorite Little Buddy.

The morning began, much like the last few, with a sleepless night and painful contractions. We arrived at the hospital in the early morning and were told that the procedure, though the doctor planed to assist the progression, would last quite a while.

Once it was time for the epidural I was asked to leave and when I returned there was chaos. Apparently there was a complication that the anesthesiologist has seen twice in twenty years. The absolute scariest moment of my life occurred when I was told "we have to deliver this baby now". With that twelve people rushed in, ran out with my wife, and said that I couldn't come. After one and a half minutes of pure panic and pacing a nurse arrived with operating room garments that I needed to put on I was taken down the hall. The baby was already born when I arrived, a record four minute c-section, and my wife was finally starting to calm. The doctors were able to show us our son and then he was rushed to the nursery in an oxygen tent.

My Little Buddy is now doing fine and my wife is recovering nicely, but I cannot adequately describe the emotional roller coaster that I was on that day.

 A few hours later the doctors were able to bring him by so that we could meet him properly.

It turns out that my wife and I make a really cute baby. So here he is.

Due to the fact that I think I am a decent photographer I also need to take a few of the more artistic shots.

After the first day of course we had some visitors. Lots of visitors. However none of them as excited as his new cousin.

Since grandmas always steal the spotlight I am only going to highlight the also very happy and proud proud grandfathers.

With this addition of my Little Buddy, my little family will never be the same. Ahead of my wife and I are some great times and I am sure a few challenging moments. I am looking forward to all of them, the good and the bad. I also happen to be looking forward to adding another player to game night.

The Baby is Comming

Sometime within the next month I am going to be a father. This is quite an intense feeling. That being said, when a baby is on the way there is usually a baby shower. A few days ago my wife had her shower and being the amateur photographer that I am I could not resist going to take some pictures.

Most showers have similar themes one is sweets ...

... the other is games.

I don't find myself at too many baby showers but I must say that they are joyous occasions for friends and family to enjoy company and celebrate a wonderful upcoming event.

We had a fantastic time and are grateful for everything and every one. I am sure that our little Maxwell will love all of his new toys, clothes. And elephants, so many elephants.

Pats vs. Colts 11-18-12

I am not one to normally go to a football game but I am also not one to turn down an invitation to attend one. This past Sunday I had the opportunity to attend the New England Patriots versus the Indianapolis Colts.

I originally was thinking that I would try and get a bunch of action shots of the Pats doing well and the Colts messing up.

However, it turns out that the people in the stands are not only extremely entertaining but they also make fantastic subject matter for photographs. Without leaving my seat these are some of my favorite shots from the night.

For this particular game there was much celebration ...

... For a good reason.

I always try to have my camera with me to capture life but it sometimes can be difficult because of the size of the camera. With the increase in technology and phones people are very rarely without a camera. This last shot happened to be my favorite of the evening. I was able to capture someone else capturing their moment and it has an almost ironic aspect to it.

As always thank you for reading. I hope you keep your cameras with you and shoot well and shoot often.