Smells Good!, originally uploaded by lmentler.

Ok, so today I decided to try to scout out a location and see if I could get any good pictures of my son. I was hoping to see if I could use this place in the future with paying clients (someday ... hopefully!) it was a nice place, but a little bit of a fiasco when you are big and pregnant, you have a toddler and a stroller and you take a path that doesn't lead where you think it does!

Anyway, I was happy with a couple shots that I did get, like this one. He likes to put flowers ritght up to his nose to see how they smell. I did not capture the wrinkle he gets in his nose, but I like this photo anyway!

Party

Party, originally uploaded by lmentler.

This is a photo I took of my niece at my son's birthday party. She is only a few months younger than him. I like the look in her eyes in this photo. She is such a sweetie!

A Different Viewpoint

A Different Viewpoint, originally uploaded by lmentler.

I am going through some online photography lessons and this photo was part of an assignment for that. I was to take pictures of something from all different angles and viewpoints. I like this one of my son on the slide. Not the side of him I usually post, but still cute!!

By the way ... it isn't too easy to catch different viewpoints of a toddler when you are almost 32 weeks prego!

Strange Expression

Strange Expression, originally uploaded by lmentler.

This is another picture from this morning. I was trying to get better clarity on my son's eyes. I used my 50mm lens and was still shooting in manual. I think that he has a sort of strange expression, but I am glad for two things. 1 - He actually looked up at the camera for me and 2. You can see catchlights in his eyes. It was originally in color - I chose to convert to B&W in Photoshop.

Shooting in Manual Mode!

Playing on the Deck, originally uploaded by lmentler.

I have purchased a book called "Understanding Exposure" by Brian Peterson. It is about time that I expand my skills and really figure out how this whole photography thing works. I am going to start shooting in manual mode as much as possible. This is a picture that I took of my son this morning while playing on the deck.
After reading about other photographers (on www.ilovephotography.com) and how they also try to take pics of their two-year-olds without too much success, I feel a bit better. I thought that I was the only one who had trouble getting him to actually look at the camera (or at least look up!!) Today I shot a lot less pictures and still came up with some that I liked.

Wesley, originally uploaded by lmentler.

This is a picture that I took a while back. This little boy was having a blast playing in a cardboard box. I wish that I had better lighting, but I still like the photo. I want to get better at focusing in on the eyes and getting catchlights to show in the subject's eyes. The catchlights here are almost non-existent. As I said, I still like it though!!

Beach Bum

Beach Bum, originally uploaded by lmentler.

Here is a picture of my son playing at the beach. Even though you can't see his eyes - I love the expression on his face! Whenever he is working (or playing) with something his tongue tends to stick out like this!

Green-eyed boy

Green-eyed boy, originally uploaded by lmentler.

This is a picture that I recently took at Ocean Isle Beach. We were visiting with some friends and we took the kids to the fire station. This little boy loved the trucks - especially the wheels. I took this photo while he was exploring the fire rescue boat's propeller. I love his eyes - they are beautiful!