Autumn Joy

James and the leaves. 

Cat Toys for Babies?

Hm... what will keep James engaged?  The toys we have don't seem that interesting to him.  But random dangling bits and bobs... yes those make him laugh. 

But, I guess even those can get boring. 

Oops, I wore him out. 

(Right: My boys in red and white stripes!)

Lana and James (at 12 weeks old)

Inspired (prompted) by my complaints of not having mother-and naked-newborn* photos, Paul took on the challenge this past weekend.

Outside is neither cold enough for a sweater or warm enough for just a diaper, but that's the beauty of a photoshoot: it's a fantasy where these things can mix!  (With a big help from an indoor location and central heating.)  And, another fantastic element that came about: The baby did what we wanted it to do!  

Anyway, here are the results.  Paul did a great job.  The only problem is I want more ;)

 

* I was too exhausted, while James would start screaming as soon as we removed a layer of clothing.  I am super impressed with professionals who work with babies.

Roll Over, Peter!

The key to get someone to do something: Make them uncomfortable.

And so, the little one has rolled over!  Paul put him on his tummy and he disliked it enough to flip back onto his back.  He even surprised himself.

For our photoshoot though, he was fairly happy and malleable.  I'm excited for Paul's photos.

My photo concept: Bunny's ears and a light blue jacket -- James as "Peter Rabbit"!  It didn't quite turn out, but at least we tried.

The Difference the Photographer Makes

I'll delude myself a little longer and look at these, where Paul for makes me look good. 

From the Funny Face (and Body) photo shoot on the U of A North campus back in September: 

From the Greisbach Colours shoot back in October:

Greisbach Colours

The strip of golden yellow trees caught my eye before, but I didn't know this was a pretty well-known/recommended location for fall photos.

With a beautiful (Thanksgiving) day off, Paul directed me to this part of Greisbach for a photo shoot.

What I learn / confirm:
- Developers might call Village at Greisbach "Edmonton's most beautiful community", but at the moment, it's mostly cracked clay dirt 
- Paul's the better model - he can make the model mouth-half-open face
- Paul's the better photographer - he doesn't get distracted by pretty colours

Here are my photos for the day:  

Funny Face (and Body)

Encouraged by the nice photos from our March shoot, Paul suggested we do another... outside.

The weather forecast was in our favour... I had some ideas up my sleeve... But the fact we weren't going to be in the house made me anxious: What the heck should I bring? Clothing... props... make-up? I couldn't bring all my stuff (though I could try).

Backpack and one duffel bag full, on campus and quiet spot* found: Here I go!

Jump!  Cartwheel!  Eyes wide awake!  In my head I was Audrey Hepburn in the Funny Face photos (really should see the actual movie...).  But, unfortunately, my energy didn't last. 

It's hard channeling someone I clearly was not / did not look like.  The preliminaries showed me how disappointingly far from the mark I was. 

A change of clothes later, I was completely out of the mood.  We tried some things with scarfs... changed locations... Frustrated and tired, I changed back into my most comfortable outfit and let my hair down.  There was some potential in those last ones before we called it a day.  And then there was the long bus ride home.  I think Paul was still hopeful there were good ones.  I'm not sure. 

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* It was all pretty quiet, but Mr. Anderson and Shannon happened to be there.  He's back in school this term! 

Close-up Indoors

"Pick your nose!"
Of course this makes me laugh, which is what Paul really wanted me to do for the shot. 

This was definitely a different kind of photo shoot.  Allan had me lugging costumes around campus with the goal to be beautiful and glamorous.  

This time, in the house, I simply had to go to the closet.  Props were also fairly easy to find - How about that apple?  I can balance it on my head... Or a book? 

In the end of course, the best and easiest part was that Paul just wanted me to laugh.  And that was almost natural. 

There were quite a few photos, but Paul's high standards meant not that many made the cut.  

My favourites:

1. A shot while putting on makeup (Right)

2. Yay!  I'm laughing and don't look like I'm crying! (Left) 

 

3. The cowl neck sweater that inspired a shoot in the first place.  (Right)

4. Argh! Throwing a tantrum when I think we've been doing this for long enough.  (Below)
 

 5. Ah, finally some rest.

 

It was pretty fun, though there were a lot of self-conscious moments... about different bits. 

So... will this increase Paul's interest in watching Top Model shows with me?  It'll be research...