Letters to our sons | March

***I am so thankful to be a part of this blog circle "Letters to our Sons" with so many amazing photographers and moms.  In honor of our love for our little boys, we are posting a monthly image(s) along with a corresponding, heartfelt letter.  After reading my post, please click HERE to continue around the circle, starting with the very talented Jennifer Nichols James. 

My beloved Grey Grey,

You are such a yummy age right now.  My favorite in fact.  At nine months old you are learning so many new things, consistently reaching for the gold with your attempts to crawl, stand and dance - especially alongside your older brother. I can tell you desperately want to catch up to him as your eyes follow his every movement from room to room, squealing and giggling every time he comes into your view and whipping your head around to find him when he's not.  It seems as if that is your goal each day - to get up and play with him despite his occasional bullying.  Ha!   

On the other hand, I can definitely wait.  I don't want you to grow up just yet.  Secretly I'd prefer if you didn't start crawling for a little longer.  You are such a happy baby who amazes loved ones and strangers alike with your cool demeanor and sweet little soul.  Like a cherub with your pink lips, perpetually rosy cheeks and multitude of creases on your arms and legs (some of which is now starting to disappear), you make me want to slow down the hands of time and snuggle you more often and tightly before you transform into a lanky toddler boy which I know will happen way too soon.  One day you'll be mortified to learn this, but I've been known to occasionally strip you "nekkid" and show whomever is present your chubby little baby tushie.  Okay, many times.  I'm sorry, I just can't help myself.  Really Grey, I can't.  I refer to you as my "bonus baby" (coined by a dear friend) because for awhile Daddy and I weren't planning to have any more children after your brother.  But then as you know, God changed my heart on that matter and here you are, glorious and beautiful.    

The sounds you have started making this past month are so delightful - raspberry sounds with your lips, little growls and high-pitched squeals that you like to have mimicked back to you, "Bah" sounds and clucks with your tongue.  Your favorite game is the one where you do something like shake your head or clap your hands and I'll copy you.  We'll go back and forth doing this for the longest time, cracking each other up.  When you started clapping your hands last month, the whole family joined in the celebration.  You were so happy to have learned this and below is a photo of you relishing in your latest achievement.  Your smile (with your four bottom chiclet teeth showing) couldn't be any bigger, a tell-tale sign of your amazement.  

This past month we spent a week at Grandma and Pow Pow's house and, since they have these great big windows in their house, I took the opportunity to set up a little photo shoot with you.  They have this old milk crate that Aunt Gail gave them for Christmas with our family name "ROEMER" embossed on the sides and it was Pow Pow's idea to photograph you inside it.  Perfectly snug inside the small box, we had a great time playing around and taking photos.  This is the last time you will ever fit in a container so small, so I was happy to capture some photos to remind me of when you were so little.  

Though you may be little in size your sense of humor is grand in scale.  I love your laugh and more than that, what makes you laugh.  It's actually your brother (no surprise!) who can get you to laugh the hardest.  It's absolutely contagious -- and I find myself laughing when listening to the two of you crack each other up.  I predict we will share joy and laughter in so many things, together and as a family, as the years go by.

 

[Click each image below to view full size and advance slideshow]

These days your loves include doing frog jumps and twirls in your swing, banging spoons on pots and pans, sitting in a big cardboard box, splashing the water in the tub, grabbing your toes, watching shadows move along the wall, the music of Ray Charles, having a blanket parachuted above you, watching your brother dance and playing with his curly hair.  You have a zest for life, a smile that can't be matched and a curiosity that just won't quit.  As Grandma and Pow Pow said while we were visiting, "He really is such an adorable baby."  That you are.  My truly irresistible love.    

Always and forever,

Mom     

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Traditional Contrast :  Light vs. Dark  {Week 24}

For the rest of March, Photo 52 is shifting its focus to contrast.  A broad definition of contrast is the juxtaposition of opposite elements, the most well-known being the degree of difference between darkness and lightness.  During a playful game of peek-a-boo with the bathroom door, I captured my older son in split contrast within a split frame composition.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.   

Peek - a - Boo

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Patterns and Contrast: Broken Patterns {Week 23}

Last week we sought patterns to bring a sense of rhythm and harmony to our photos.  However, patterns on their own can feel somewhat lacking.  Breaking the pattern in an unexpected way can add the tension and vitality that transforms a scene from interesting to captivating.  

My goal this week was to stumble upon a broken pattern in the environment rather than create one, so I carried my camera with me almost every day.  During a family trip to the boogie down Bronx to run some errands, I came across a broken pattern that I felt had real New York City personality.  The empty coffee cups were stuffed in the crevice of an elevated subway beam, most likely from the construction workers on site, creating a line of white lids broken up by a single black lid, as if it were entirely intentional.  The yellow is just the extra POP in a snapshot of urban life.

Click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place. 

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Patterns & Contrast: Isolating Patterns in the Environment {Week 22}

This week Photo 52 is beginning a new month on patterns and contrast.  Our goal is to recognize patterns in our everyday surroundings and see how we can incorporate them into our imagery. For this challenge, I decided to photograph the quintessential New York City bathroom tile (I think all three of my apartments have had this same tile) - a pattern so familiar and so treasured.  It's literally a little piece of home, from a different angle.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.  

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Camera Position : Shooting from Below {Week 21}

Pointing the camera in a direction other than head-on often yields intriguing results, simply because we typically engage with the world at eye level. Or do we? Last week we focused on a downward perspective, which as seen from many of our photographs, is a familiar angle for parents interacting with their small ones. This week, we are shooting upward - this perspective can make something (or someone) small look disproportionately big, or if pointed high enough, may capture the wonder of vast skies or tall buildings. 

I figured that while we were in Pittsburgh visiting Grandma and Pow-Pow for the past week, there was no greater landmark to shoot from below than Heinz Field where the beloved Steelers play.  After several days of cloudy skies and MORE snow, the sun made its debut.  Swirling clouds and a vast blue sky made the perfect backdrop for the great stadium in a city filled with die-hard fans -- one of which was standing on the ground below.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, to see all of our images in one place.

Heinz Field

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Camera Position:  Shooting from Above {Week 20}

Our journey through the concepts of perspective is drawing to a close. After weeks of considering what are perhaps less traditional concepts of perspective - wide angle and long lenses, aspect ratio - we are spending our final two weeks on physical perspective in the form of camera position. This week, we are shooting from above. From standing atop buildings to standing over children, this is a fun assignment with a lot of room to be creative as we capture what all there is to see when looking down.

When the camera angle is located above the eyeline, often times the figure or object appears vulnerable while the image itself is more dramatic.  Below is a photograph of my son during our first trip to the dentist, so I guess you could say he was a bit vulnerable that day.  Shooting from above, I captured him resting his head against my leg, looking up, as if to say, "It's going to be okay, right Mom?".

My dear friend and fellow Photo 52 member, Jessie Wixon, pointed out that it was also a excellent photo for Valentine's Day since the both his eyebrows and his hairline make a perfect heart shaped face!

Happy Valentine's Day All!

Click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, to see all of our images in one place. 

Letters to our sons | February

***I am so thankful to be a part of this blog circle "Letters to our Sons" with so many amazing photographers and moms.  In honor of our love for our little boys, we are posting a monthly image(s) along with a corresponding, heartfelt letter.  After reading my post, please click HERE to continue around the circle, starting with my very talented and good friend Jill Cassara.

"So, how many hats does Cash have?'" 

This is a question Pow-Pow often asks when we go and visit him and Grandma.  

"Well," I say, "quite a lot." 

 

Dear Cash, my son and wearer of many hats ~

You have been wearing hats since before you could walk --- heck, before you could talk!  At six months old you wore your first one; it was a newsboy hat and it was white, for your baptism.  I don't recall you keeping it on all that long that particular day, but by the time summer arrived three months later, you were hardly out and about without one.  On your first birthday that September, a family friend gave you a plaid newsboy hat that looked just like the Kangols Daddy always wears.  To this day, one of my all time favorite photos and the inspiration for me to dust off my camera and delve into photography again, is of you and Daddy in Central Park wearing your newsboy hats.  It makes my heart swoon.     

Just after your first birthday we made a trip to southern California.  By then you had several newsboy hats - plaid, houndstooth and pinstriped.  During a stroll through the village of San Clemente, we came across a black gingham porkpie that would become your signature hat - above all others.  From that point on you didn't go anywhere without your porkpie, drawing smiles and comments from passersby everywhere.  You have gingham, plaid and blue wooly ones for the the colder months and blue/white and black/grey straw ones for the warmer months.  Dad and I are still surprised to this day how attached you have become to your hats and how you fuss when someone takes it off your head.  It's no wonder that Jon Klassen's book,"I Want My Hat Back",  about a bear who has lost his hat and desperately wants it back, is one of your favorites.  Equally amusing to you is Klassen's sequel to the book, "This Is Not My Hat", about a fish that stole a hat and will probably get away with it, that Santa put under the tree for you this Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2013

"A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of masculinity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it's the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it's the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, and to make all others seem jealous over.  A piece of magic is a hat."   ~ M. Sliter

Above is a collage of photos of you wearing various hats throughout your first three years of life, which by the way, was an absolute joy to create.  To the left is the photo of you and Daddy that I cherish most of all, for reasons already mentioned.  Framed and prominently placed on our bookshelf, I find myself looking at it all the time.  

You are my little dapper don, my pint-sized aficionado whose hat wearing is a vital part of your personality and style.  Who knows if your little brother will become such a fan, but it was just this month that he started wearing your white newsboy hat - the first one you ever wore.

Hats off to you my son!  May you always be king of your own swagger.     

Love always and forever, 

Mom

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Aspect Ratio 1:1 {Week 19}

The traditional square format is one of my favorite aspect ratios.  It is mostly used by medium format film cameras such as Hasselblads and toy cameras like the Holga and Diana.  A couple of manufacturers created square 35mm cameras with a negative size of 24mm x 24mm in the 1930's and 1940's, but the idea never caught on.  

Even though there are no square format digital cameras on the market, it has become quite a popular aspect ratio due in part to Instagram, iphoneography and the ease of post-process cropping.  Being an avid Instagrammer has really helped me in my ability to envision an image within a square when shooting with my digital camera.

Below are two of my favorites.  I think the contrast of my son's long limbs, balanced by negative space and all within the small square frame, works quite well.

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, to see all of our images in one place.  

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Aspect Ratio 4:3 {Week 18}

There are many facets to the art of composition including aspect ratio, which is quite simply the ration between the width and the height of an image.  With digital photography you can either set up your aspect ratio in-camera or you can crop an image to a different aspect ration in post-processing.

Most digital cameras, with a few exceptions, use one of two aspect ratios. There is the 3:2 aspect ratio of 35mm digital cameras, and the 4:3 aspect ratio used by micro four-thirds and many compact cameras. The 4:3 ratio is quite popular because it is a 'shorter' rectangle, making it easier to compose photos taken in the portrait format and eliminate unwanted space around your subject. 

Below is an image taken on 34th Street in Manhattan.  With the 4:3 aspect ratio crop in post-processing, I was able to focus in more on the subjects.  Even though the shot is taken within the urban landscape of New York City and the viewer gets a glimpse of said surroundings, the 'shorter' rectangle allows it to be primarily a portrait of father and son going about their daily business. 

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Specialty Lenses for Creative Purposes {Week 17}

This week Photo 52 utilized various types of lenses - telephoto, fisheye, macro, lensbaby, etc. - in order to get our creative juices flowing in this dead of winter (ever heard of Polar Vortex II?).  I chose to use my lensbaby which is in short, a specialty lens designed to focus on one portion of the frame while leaving the rest blurred.  The creative effect is often quite ethereal and dream-like --- a perfect choice for capturing my 8 month-old baby playing with his blanket.  

Please click HERE to visit our collective site, Who We Become, to see all of our images in one place.  

Babe and a blanket

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Wide Angle Portrait  {Week 16}

This week and next Photo 52: Within the Frame will be challenging the "traditional" use of lenses - first seeking to utilize a wide angle lens in a portrait or other non-traditional use.  Choosing a wide angle lens for portraiture requires the photographer to consider the consequences - one of which is that items placed near the edge of the frame often appear larger and sometimes distorted.  However when captured with intention, this consequence can greatly add to the visual impact of an image.

Recently my son has taken to boxing with his father and the portrait below has since become one of my favorites.  The enormous size of the gloves and the distortion caused by the wide angle lens gives the image an edgy, editorial look.

BAM! POW!

Click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place. 

Crowned Winner

Letters to our sons | January

***I am so thankful to be a part of this blog circle "Letters to our Sons", with so many amazing photographers and moms.  In honor of our love for our little boys, we are posting a monthly image(s) along with a corresponding, heartfelt letter.  After reading my post please click HERE to continue around the circle, starting with the very talented Jojo Pedri Clark.

Dear Cash and Grey, 

Well this past Christmas was your first Christmas together as brothers.  As usual we spent the holiday in Wilmette at Aunt Gail and Uncle Elio's house.  Grandma and Pow Pow drove in from Pittsburgh, Uncle Jim flew in from Oregon, and your cousins Alex, Laura and Nicki worked hard to have everything ready for your arrival.  Even Rocky and Penny, the family's two four legged pals, were excited that you were coming to visit.  But we all knew Cash, that there was one visitor who you were especially hoping would arrive, traveling all the way from the North Pole!

SANTA!  

For weeks you'd been anticipating his arrival, maintaining your best behavior in the hopes that that might help - and that maybe, just maybe, because you'd been such a good boy, he would bring you a "B" subway train car to add to your collection.  Your biggest concern was how Santa would know you were in Chicago and not New York City, but Dad and I assured you that Santa knew where each little boy and girl would be on Christmas morning.  

During our stay for the holiday, cousin Alex generously gave up his room for us.  We took it over with all of our luggage strewn about - a blow up mattress, crib, books, toys and enough clothes for a week long stay.  After our Christmas Eve dinner with the family, the two of you dressed in your matching festive pajamas and put out the Christmas cookies & milk for Santa & the carrots for Rudolph.  You said goodnight to all of the family and were off to bed for it would surely be an early morning.  And that it was!  During the predawn of Christmas, the four of us hung out in Alex's room, waiting for a decent hour to gather the other family members and descend downstairs.  It was during this time that I took some of my favorite photos of the day.  Candid, playful and imperfect.  What fun watching the two of you in your bare feet on a messy bed, cracking each other up in contagious excitement.  Your first Christmas morning together is captured in this series of photos, silly and unposed - just brothers in their natural and playful state on a very special morning.    

[Click photo to advance slideshow and continue reading]

Christmas morning was truly magical.  The family went downstairs to discover that Santa had indeed arrived and presents were everywhere - one of which was the coveted "B" train.  You were over the moon Cash.  And Grey, Santa knew you needed socks!  How on earth he knew that is a big mystery!  

It was such a beautiful Christmas morning spent with family, filled with love, laughter and joy.  Of course we managed to take a few formal Christmas photos like the ones below, but it was the time we shared together upstairs as a family, playing on the bed, that I will remember most.  

Always & forever,

Mom

 

[Click photo to enlarge]

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Isolation {Week 15}

Continuing our focus on perspective this week, Photo 52: Within the Frame sought to isolate our subjects through the use of a telephoto lens or otherwise.  Zoom lenses, with their longer focal lengths, magnify the scene and create a shallow depth of field which, in laymen's terms, means that the environment surrounding a subject is compressed and often quite blurred.  Lovely portraits occur when the subject remains prominent in the frame and the other elements are reduced.    

This past week the weather was either brutally cold (have you heard about the Polar Vortex?) or too rainy to venture outdoors.  Therefore a great deal of our play time was within the four walls of our apartment.  Below is a detail captured with my 70-200mm telephoto lens of my son landing a jet plane onto his aircraft carrier.  Even without his entire face, body or a sharply focused background, the viewer is able to piece together what is happening within a little boy's room, within his greater world of imaginary play.  

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place. 

Comin' in for a landing

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Wide Angle | Inclusion  {Week 14}

It is a new year, new month, and a new topic for Photo 52: Within the Frame.  We will be spotlighting perspective for the next month, examining the way your choice of lens can alter your viewpoint.  Wide angle lenses allow our camera to see wider than the eye can, and therefore allow us to include a great deal of the environment along with our subject.  The perfect lens for a snowy landscape!

This past Thursday night Hercules, the first blizzard of 2014, descended upon the Northeast.  The following morning I went out with my oldest son, traipsing around the neighborhood.  While he had fun tossing snowballs up the hill, I took some wide angle photos of him within the winter landscape.  My favorite is the image below which is intentionally shot out of focus.  The bright red hat reminds me of one of my favorite books from childhood, "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.  It was the perfect book to read to my son when we got home from our adventure.   

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.  

The Snowy Day

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Photographer's Year-End Choice {Week 13}

For this final week of December, our theme is "Photographer's Choice". Some images will be a 2013 personal favorite, some will be a continuation of our month-long exploration of lines, and all will be a reflection of where we are in our photographic journey.

This was a big year for our family with the arrival of our second boy in May. I chose this photograph as my year-end "finisher" mostly for its emotional significance. Not only is the irresistible chubbiness on prominent display, but it is one of the few self-portraits from this year. My handy dandy assistant, who helped press the remote control to set off the timer, just happened to be my three year-old son. I was very proud of him and cherish this image even more because I know we were all a part of its creation.

2013 - you were fantastically crazy, awesome and amazing.

And to our followers, thank you for being a part of our photographic journey over the past year. It would not be the same without you. Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Please click HERE to visit our collective blog, Who We Become, and see all of our images in one place.