Picture Taking.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

We spent most of last week at my in-laws' house. Even though we live in the same town, we still like to go and stay the night during the holidays, since the best memories are usually late at night and in the morning, you know? Pajamas, games, leftovers ... all fantastic. On Wednesday, as we were heading out the door to leave for their house, I glanced behind me and saw my camera bag sitting on the floor next to our fish tank. I lingered for a minute before deciding to put it in the car, just in case. For as much as I love taking pictures, sometimes it can begin to feel a little stale, with the pressure of pleasing clients taking away my joy in the hobby. I find myself using my phone to take pictures more than my camera, and I knew I needed to take my camera along and fall in love with it a little bit more.

I left my heavy-duty (and more pricey) zoom lens in the bag and clicked on my 50mm set lens. I wanted to make myself move my feet to get my shots. I shot in manual the whole time, too, to play around with the settings and have some fun trying different things. I had the time, so I needed to use it!

The morning of Christmas Eve, I stepped outside of my in-laws' house to take some pictures of the scenery. I found the palette to be breathtaking--the muted greys and greens contrasted starkly by dry yellows and burnt oranges. I loved it.

Later in the day, my father-in-law and I bundled up Cub and set out for a walk through the neighborhood. While G-Ma and my husband stayed home with Naomi, we ventured to the pond to let Cub burn some energy. He absolutely loves to throw rocks in the water. And I was happy for the photo op with my cute little kid!

("BIG splash!")

(Papa threw a "BIG rock!" in the water, hence the crater-like splash pattern. :) )

(A neighbor stopped us and offered to take our picture. Ta-da!)

Then, on Christmas Day, I stuck Naomi by the back door to play with the lighting. Ma petite souris est tres belle! (In my opinion, of course. :))

It was a lovely week and I'm so glad I decided to bring my camera. It was good to remember that even if everyone else in the whole world decides they hate my pictures and never hires me ever again ... I still love to do it. And I have the cutest little models, whose lives are precious and worth capturing. So fun.

I caught some other moments, too, like ...

... Caleb and G-Ma making Christmas cupcakes ...

... Naomi rolling around in the same walker her Daddy used as a baby ...

... Dadda and Caleb making a gingerbread house ...

... Dadda frying a turkey and not catching the house on fire (yay!) ...

... and Uncle Andrew in an awesome pose while modeling my new pink ear warmer that I love.

I have pictures of opening presents, too, but we all look a little tired and I'm not sure I have everyone's approval to post them on the Internet. :)

Yay for pictures, yay for family, and yay for lots of fried turkey.

Have a lovely day, friends.