Photo Shoot: Michelle, Matt & Mattix

I had the pleasure of photographing my nephew, Matt, his former girlfriend, Michelle, and their eight month old son, Mattix, yesterday afternoon.  Challenges: WIND!  And a baby more interested in doing what babies do – looking at everything except the lady with the camera and putting everything that interested him into his mouth. Hey, it’s what eight-month-olds do!

I had big ideas for the shoot which all came crashing down when the wind would not allow my white umbrella to stand, so I did what I could under the circumstances. I shot completely hand-held and did a lot of crawling around on the ground.

A few family shots . . .

Look at that face!

Kissing baby cheeks is the best.

(For this one, I used onOne’s FocalPoint 2.1 to highlight Michelle and Mattix.  I really like how it turned out.)

Crawling and exploring . . . that’s an eight-month-old’s job. 

I’m thinking he’ll be walking before he’s a year. 

Num! Leaf!

What’s that over there?

Binky shot.

And, as always, I learned what worked, what didn’t, and what to do differently next time. (For one thing, I could have utilized the stray person not in the shots (Michelle’s mom) as my assistant That thought came me as I was driving home!)

I didn’t want to let the light go to waste

I was supposed to do a shoot this evening at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno, but neither of the two young women were able to coordinate their transportation. Not wanting the early evening light to go to waste, I wandered about the park shooting whatever, and whoever, caught my eye.

There were a lot of people enjoying the warm weather.

And a little color . . . (more to come).

Marching to his her own tune – UPDATED

This fellow was hanging out with all the seagulls at the duck pond. I have no idea what kind of bird he is. Can any of my bird-watching readers help me out?  I love the subtle colors in his feathers. (Her?)  EDITED TO ADD:  Definitely a “she.”  She is a Brewer’s Blackbird.

Also found in Nevada’s Nifty Fifty.

Weekly Photo Challenge: My Neighborhood, Take 2

Well, not exactly MY neighborhood, though I spent a couple of days there last spring at a friend’s home.  And I did shoot this as I was making the six-block walk up Rhode Island Avenue to the Shaw-Howard University Metro.  Does that count?

Washington, DC – Near Howard University.