look at this photograph...part deux

what happens when something you love affects the people around you? over christmas i was talking to my niece and nephew about the fact that i'm constantly taking their pictures. since they were born they have been two of my favorite subjects, so if it's going to affect anyone it's them. i have several albums of our little "photo shoots" where i will make them stand on this ladder, pose by this tree, sit on this hay bail. i don't know how many times they've heard me say, "wait, don't move, let me get my camera." so, i asked them....does it ever bother you? my fourteen year old niece just shrugged her shoulders and said, "it's just who you are."

one of the reasons i love pictures so much is that they tell a story and that story can be different for every person that looks at it...it's subjective. but, to the photographer it's something very different, because they know everything that went on in the creation of that photograph. there is a picture i took of my niece years ago that demonstrates this completely. she was about four, in the backyard picking flowers. i crouched down to take her picture, trying to be really quiet so i wouldn't disturb her, trying to be sneaky. without even looking at me she said..."i know you're taking a picture of me Beckie."i love this picture, with the flowers in her hand, the band aid on her knee, her little hand brushing her hair back. but, that one sentence from her makes it perfect.

my nephew's response to my question was pretty similar, just in boy lingo..."naw". but, one of my favorite pictures of my nephew was at a time when it did in fact bother him. he was around two or three and i think it was one of those times when he was doing something cute and i wanted to capture it. but, he was having none of it. i don't remember why, but he did not want me taking his picture. so, i did what any good aunt would do...i took it anyway. totally. worth. it.
the story behind this one is that he wore that little blue tank top for years. it quickly became a little half shirt on him, but he wore it anyway because it was his favorite....so cute.

if cassadie and jarod had answered my question differently, if it did bother them, then i don't know what i would do. but, i'm glad that they're ok with it, because when they're on board i get pictures like this...