6 Girls and the Doctor

So, we finally all got a chance to get together Wednesday night and I was so happy to see the Harpers Ferry girls again. Thinking back, I've barely seen Shawna or Carrie this year, and the few times I've been able to see Corey were when I was sitting for Konrad. Having us all together again in the same room was pure delight. I got my Nikon D300 i n the mail on Wednesday afternoon and was very excited to test out it's low light limits with the kids. My old Nikon, the D200 only went to 1600, and the D300 can set to 3200 before messing with the high stops.
I set the camera to 2200, put on my fixed 50, 1.4 and went to town. The kids all look so big and beautiful! They are happy, healthy and so loved. Here's Konrad grinning at Shawna. Look at how big he is!! No flash, no being disturbed by the Photographer, and after looking at these images, I'm so very pleased with the camera.
the noise at 2200 is minimal although I haven't gotten out the long glass yet to see the noise levels. I'm sure it's going to be more, but I'm looking forward to shooting in the Museum's exhibits tomorrow, knowing that I won't have to use the flash and disturb the visitor's experience in the exhibits. Of course I'll have the flash, but I should only need to use it some of the time, not all of the time as I would have to capture exhibit moments with the D200. Here's The Doctor and Ruby getting ready for swivel chair rides. Talking about big, the last time I saw Konrad and Ruby together, Konrad dwarfed her, but now, she's much taller and more agile (and I know that boys develop more slowly, but her sudden rate of growth is amazing!). She's got an immense vocabulary and she's so very sharp. Konrad too is starting to become a speaking machine (and bilingual to boot) but he was pretty quiet Wednesday evening... I think there were too many girls in the house.
You can start to see the grain here, but my depth of field was also really shallow so I'm sure that has something to do with it. Oh, Doctor, I do adore your sweater!
and Ruby, as always is just a stunning little girl!
and she really likes chicken, see?!
Evangeline, Carrie and Chad's youngest just turned a year and I don't think I've seen her since she was a few months old. She's a wee child, and very bossy! She's also adorable and has several quirks that are hysterical.
One of those quirks is that instead of crawling, she scoots around sitting on her little left foot and propelling herself forward with her right leg. Shawna said it looked like she was doing a fly break dance move, over and over... and she's fast too!
another one of her little quirks are her ears, I love how they arc out at the points, she looks like a little elf!
Hahahah, it's tough being the only man in a houseful of women! Poor Doctor...
Ruby and Konrad were fascinated with the TV and the static that it made.
and they took turns touching all the buttons and then looking up at us to make sure that it was ok... very sweet!
Here's Shawna playing with Evangeline, check out the joy on that kid!
Ha! oh baby. This was exactly what I needed, an evening with good girlfriends and their kids, and a bunch of people on which to unleash the capabilities of the new camera. I made very minimal touches to the images in post production because I wanted to check out how reactive the camera was, and how it functioned on completely manual (on which I always shoot), but also on aperture priority, which I think is going to suit me in several places in the Museum this weekend, and I want to be familiar with it's limits and see if I can make the camera work for me, instead of constantly adjusting for the various lighting situations in the exhibits. I still prefer to shoot manually, because this way I know exactly what I'm getting, but,
the aperture priority mode seemed to do an ok job. it's not as contrasty as I like to make my images, but then again, it made subtle shifts in adjustment that would have taken me time, and the images still came out decent. Jeez, by the way, sorry to bore you with gear talk, more importantly, check out this wee angel face!
and this is almost my favorite picture of Evangeline I made on Wednesday night. She is just adorable.
Carrie said to me, as she handed a sleeping Evangeline over, 'there is nothing better than the weight of a sleeping baby on you' and I have to agree. It feels so good and natural. We laughed out loud and a shook with the little movements of storytelling and joy, and she slept through it all, warm and safe on my lap. I would have stayed like that all night if she'd let me, but eventually she woke up and started to fuss. Another one of her beautiful quirks, is that she shakes her little head up and down saying yes, yes, yes. When she woke up and started fussing, I said to her, do you want to go to your Mom and I swiveled in Carrie's direction so she could see her mother, and she sleepily shook her head, yes, yes, yes... hahahaha!! Oh, children... Oh, and Corey made this picture of Evangeline and me, and I love it! Nice job Corey! Thanks!!
as we were winding down the evening (at 9pm, oh hahaha!!!) I asked the ladies to sit for a portrait... hahaha!! I love it! The only boy is on his head and the only person looking at the camera is Corey.
we then made a quick portrait of the kids (hahaha, another beauty), they look shell shocked and every single set of eyes is on their respective Mother...
we got into our coats and made a round of hugs, and the youngest in our party was so over the whole thing! But look at Silly Miss Ruby, giving a hug and hamming it up for the camera. Her eyes are right on me... hahaha!!
oh Miss Evangeline, you are too funny. I love that Ruby is patting her on the head, softly trying to make her stop fussing.
as we were collecting our things, and spilling out frantic last words and important details, I looked over by the front door and look who I found... hahaha! A lone baby comforter, with 2 fingers and a head, waiting to go home... This was my favorite picture of her. If I'd had a wider lens, it would have showed the whole red couch, a bunch of purses, and a lone Evangeline, in her big winter coat, sitting by the door... hahahaha!!! Oh patient baby.
Thank you ladies for being such good friends. I cherish our time together and I love being around, and making pictures of your beautiful children.
Cheers!