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I had the honor last week of meeting and photographing a great little boy and his parents. Three year old Ty was diagnosed with neuroblastoma 2 years ago. Just last month, after undergoing  ”7 rounds of high dose chemo, a stem cell translpant, 27 rounds of radiation, surgery to remove the tumor, countless blood and platelet transfusions, CT, MRI, and MIBG scans, and bone marrow biopsies” he had no evidence of disease. I was so happy to be able to spend some time chasing this little health guy around. Yes, I said chasing. Ty was not too interested in sitting still and when he was ready to get his picture taken, it wasn’t always in the perfect location.  Ty was adorable and full of energy. It warmed my heart so much to see him on the go knowing everything that he had been through.

When I went to moms facebook page this morning to let her know that I would have her photos ready soon, I saw that she had recently updated her caring bridge site and that they were on there way to Stanford today to have some pain in his leg checked out. The sadness I felt when I read that overwhelmed me and once again put things in perspective for me. I decided to put my to-do list aside for a bit and get a few photos posted so I could share a little of Ty’s story.

As a “photographer” I always want to capture the “perfect” picture. It is very easy to doubt myself and feel like I am never good enough as I try and capture a technically and emotionally perfect picture. It is very easy to lose sight of why I pick up my camera and the surge of energy I get when taking and viewing photographs.  It is shoots like the one with Ty and his family that help remind me why I LOVE being a photographer. It is such a gift to me to be able to get a glimpse into a brave little boy and the strong parents that support him.

I know I am supposed to be sharing some photos from the great sessions I had at the end of last year, but I just had to do one more of this little guy.

Ari in the morning+ my camera + the perfect light coming through our front door + lightroom = My Happy Place.  Simple as that.

We are on week 4 of Todd being  gone during the week and to be perfectly honest, it’s not so fun. He is a wonderful husband and father who does a ton around the house to help out and him not being here is making things a little stressful.  Ari & I cried when we dropped him off at the airport yesterday and at least 5 times a day I hear from each of the kids, “I want my daddy”. But..I do know though that is nothing and I really shouldn’t complain. My good friend Wendy is a military wife and I know she is laughing at me when I complain. Her husband is deploying this week  this week and he wont be able to come home on weekends like Todd.

Yesterday morning, the house was a mess. There were dishes to be done, laundry to be folded, phone calls to make, business stuff to be done, and the thought of all of it overwhelmed me, especially knowing that I am on my own until Friday night. Ari was looking out the window waiting for Zoe to come home and I decided to pick up my camera. As soon as I picked up my camera all the other stuff melted away. After getting some pictures of him looking out the window, I opened up the front door and had him sit tight there and chatted with him. This was one of those times when he was more than happy to look at the camera as long as I kept showing him the pictures I took. The result of those few minutes..my favorite pictures of Ari..ever.

Can’t you just hear the seagulls in Finding Nemo saying that..Here is Ari, all mine.

I was actually planning on not taking any pictures of my kids this year until I finally went through and organized all of last years photos, but then I see that face, that face that is always changing and I can’t help but pick up my camera. I then tell myself, that it is fine for me to take pictures of my kids as long as I stay on track of going through them each month and do some deleting. Easier said than done.  I was going through the 400+ photos I took of my kids in January and had a very hard time hitting delete. To most people, all the photos in this post may look the same, but to me, I see a different part of his personality in all of them and just cant get rid of them. I look at photos like these and am reminded why I love photography and feel such a jolt of excitement every time I hear the shutter click of my camera. Sure…his hair is a mess, face is dirty and they may not all be technically perfect, but I don’t see any of that when I look at these photos. I just see all the little faces and things that make Ari who he is at 2 1/2.

This post is also another little test to try different ways of posting photos, so this is a little different than the last. I like the gallery that people can click through, and also that I can use the same files to post photos on facebook. Enjoy…

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