Sunrise Abby

I'm relieved to have caught a few shots I really like from some crazy early backyard play with Abby this morning.

See, I'm taking an online photography workshop (which is why my pics are now watermarked, since some get posted on the forum), and a part of this week's assignment includes a shot from the "golden hour."  This is the hour before sunset or the hour following sunrise, when the sun is low and the light is particularly warm in color.  However, this isn't particularly easy, as sunset is later than Abby's bedtime and falls around when Jonathan should be getting into bed.  And sunrise, well... seriously, who's ready for a photoshoot at sunrise?

But today, we were.  Abby awoke nearly an hour before the sun this morning and was adamant about staying awake.  After trying unsuccessfully to convince her to simply cuddle in bed with me for a few more minutes, I figured I'd embrace the morning and get a shot in at completing my "golden hour" assignment.  Can't take a hungry toddler out the door with a wet diaper and PJ's on for a photo assignment, sooo...

In the next hour we managed 1 diaper change, no less than 5 trips to the potty (she's still very enthusiastic about potty training... significantly more so than her mother), 3 changes of clothes (in trying to keep my little model from turning into a total tantrum mess, I did my best to acquiesce to the demanding toddler clothing preferences and her attempts to dress herself... which she really can't actually do), a cup of milk, breakfast, and a good deal of DEET mosquito protection.

It was this final step, the mosquito repellant, which set off the meltdown.  Approaching age 2, her MO is "do it myself."  For the first time in the morning I put my foot down, insisting that this was something Mommy was going to have to do.  It didn't go over well.  But I mention that we're going outside to play and in a desperate attempt to salvage her mood I promise the swing.  DONE! She's ready to roll and has her hand on the door, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.


EXCEPT, that Mommy had just one step left.  So focused on moving Abby through the morning routine quickly in hopes we'd make it outside before it was in fact noon, I'd omitted to get myself dressed, figuring I'd throw something on once she was ready.  But, now we've just barely salvaged a major tantrum, and I'm in my pajamas.  Frankly, it wasn't a granny gown, at all.

BUT, the backyard's well fenced, no one else is up, and I realize if I take her into my room for a quick change, it's a sure-bet for 3 more potty attempts and her insistence of trying on a good selection of my clothes (a recent obsession).  We're talking a good 40 minute delay, easily.  Sooo... off to the backyard we go, with Mommy in a nightie and camera in hand, to attempt our sunrise photo assignment before we lose the light or her brother awakes.

 Once in the backyard, she's not impressed with my swing-pushing efforts.

A little coaxing gets her out of the swing.

But we're still not having fun.

Then things begin deteriorating rapidly, and I pull out the last stop.  "Abby, do you want to turn on the water hose and wash the truck?"

YES!  Yes, she DOES want to wash the fire truck!  I quickly move the truck into the middle of the yard, carefully selecting the position for good light, and turn on the hose.


Now to get the effect I'm needing for my photos, I actually need to be shooting at an angle up towards the sun from under her.  I end up laying on my back in our grass (see the grass low in the foreground on the shot to the right?), still in a pink nightie, keeping an eye out for dog poo, and trying to stay out of the water stream, which is making the grass and therefore me increasingly wet, sticking loads of loose blades of recently-cut grass to my bare legs.  I'm trying to engage her in conversation, keep her happy, and ignore both the discomfort and the embarrassment at the situation.  At this angle, I'm also finding it difficult to avoid including the tips of my toes and a sliver of the pink nightie in the bottom edge of the frame.  It'd be easily cropped out, except that this week's assignment requires that we submit the "straight out of camera" versions of the shots... SO, definitely no evidence of the inappropriate attire should make it into the photographic evidence.

It was totally worth the persistence.  Once the water was out, we had lots of fun.  Sadly, a water hose just isn't the prettiest prop for portraits of a little girl.  But the shots definitely catch her smile and her play, and really, that's the point.

We eventually made it back inside without my camera falling victim to water torture, allowing me to get cleaned up and decently dressed before Jonathan was even awake, as he'd slept quite soundly with his noisy sister out of the house for a while!

By 9am I was clean and dry, in real clothes, we'd had our second breakfast of the day, and both kids were in a delightful mood as I loaded my SD card into the computer hoping against hope that I'd gotten one decent shot out of the mess!

Yeah, I think it was worth it, for both of us.