13 Years of Capturing Memories / Project 52 ~ Week 4

  We've had an exciting {and busier than normal} week since last Sunday.  First, my oldest had his 13th Birthday last Sunday!!  As I write this, I still find it completely unbelievable that 13 years have passed by so quickly!  Last Sunday morning, I woke up a bit earlier than usual and I reviewed his first 3 years of photographs, looking for the perfect one to place in his Birthday diptych {or as he called it his "before & after}.  I have thousands of photographs that I have taken {seriously, thousands}!  When I get a chance {normally on Birthdays}, I love to look back at these images and sometimes there's smiling and more often a lot of happy tears.  Looking at his first 3 years of photographs really reminded me that life moves too quickly.  I am forever thankful for the memories I was able to capture over the years and I know my little ones will enjoy all of these images to share with their future families!

  It is so hard for me to think of him as a teenager...even a week later.  He was my first baby and continues to be 'my baby' ... even against his will.  He is an amazing child {ooops, teenager}, he's super smart, full of humor, gracious, very humble and just the right amount of sensitive.   I have no doubt, he's going to be an amazing adult {in like 5 years?!?}.  I've spent his whole life teaching him to embrace everyone's differences, to be thankful for everything and everyone and to turn the other cheek when people do not treat him with the same amount of fairness that he was taught to show others.  He is now an awesome young adult!  I'm sure as he begins his next 5 important teenage years, we will have some ups and downs as he needs more independence, but I have no doubt he will keep his great core values.

  {Sidenote:  You can NEVER have enough photographs of your little ones.  Whether with your camera, phone camera or professional images - it's so awesome to be able to look back at each year of their lives and they also enjoy looking at these photos through the years.  Cataloging these digital images by child, events and/or years helps to easily find the images when needed.  And don't forget to back these up as often as possible!}

  I chose this photograph for Week 4:

Project 52 / Week 4
{Captured:  ISO 100 / F5.6 / 1/500}

  I picked this image for a few reasons:
    1. He's a little sullen in this picture, more serious - which really worked well for a "teenage" theme.
    2. Black and White can be difficult  - but this image was easily transformed with all the tires, metals and shadows. {I never capture images in b&w, instead I capture a highly contrasted and rich image first, then transform to the right amount of b&w}.
    3. This one wasn't planned out - but instead we used what was available, sunlight included, to capture this image.
    4. He 'posed' himself, making him more relaxed and at ease.

  On a different note,  my sister came down from VA to visit with us this weekend!  The kids and I were so excited to visit.  She is one super amazing sister and aunt - and a very important part of Y.D.P.  I captured this image of her yesterday as we were crossing the road to photograph some baby lambs.

  I love my little sister - she is so super cool, and forever patient with me when I get an idea like this one.  I wouldn't choose such a busy road to photograph on normally - but when the idea hit, and we were already on the road, it was a must.    Next time {if she's willing}, I have another idea I'd like to try on a road...with yellow dotted lines....fingers crossed!

Hope everyone has an amazing week!
-Jennifer