cutest little subject ever

I was looking back at pictures of Gavin in his first 2 weeks.

 These first 2 pictures were on our first full day home from the hospital, at 3 days old.

I remember pulling the blinds in our room to let the natural light in, something we hardly do since our window faces the street and it's totally weird to me to have people be able to drive by and see in our bedroom. I grabbed my camera and even though I was still in quite a bit of pain from my c-section, I battled through some pretty painful positions to try to capture my sweet little boy who was finally opening his eyes and waking up a bit more than he had been since birth.

And then I was looking at pictures from the last 2 weeks and couldn't believe how much he's changed already.  Mostly in the cute baby chubs category.

 I sure hope there's no photography critics out there who are cringing at issues with my pictures.  (that's not the point of my blog anyway) I just love to take pictures of my kids. I love having a place to post those pictures and the stories that go with them to be forever remembered. I have grown to love photography more than ever over the last few years. And I love learning about photography.  I love the challenge it brings me - with such sweet rewards of having moments in time frozen forever. And even when I know my picture has technical issues, I still look at the picture and see the face or the moment I just captured.  I don't want to hold back from posting and printing pictures just because I know the exposure is wrong, or the lighting is bad, or they are too grainy.

I've been trying to shoot in manual for a few months now.  Some of my pictures probably show that I have a lot to learn.  But I'm having fun, and I'm noticing what a huge difference manual can make sometimes.

A sweet friend got me this book for my birthday, and I am really really loving it!

It's helped me get a good grasp on all the basics (plus some help with manual) and get more comfortable with my camera.

I wasn't so into photography when Taylor and Mason were babies.

And I didn't have a dslr then either.  So I sure am having a blast with this cute little subject.  He gives me a great reason to learn to take good pictures!

 And I'm really hoping he won't get sick of a camera in his face, because at this rate, I may burn him out by the time he's 6 months old.

He's changed a lot already.  So I guess that's more of a reason to keep snapping away with my camera. 

I don't want to miss a thing.