Equal time, photography and kids

okay so i mentioned my other furry child, Frankie, the other day and felt it only fair to show you his handsome self. He was helping me do some laundry (thankfully staying out of the dryer today) and he looked just too darn cute.

Frankie is difficult to photograph. I hold no special photography skills. Every now and again i wished i had taken photography in college. At the time i had too many other things i wanted to do - classes to take like every drawing class, every printmaking class, painting, and a class in ceramics (to further the skills i already learned in high school and at the kick wheel of a family friend) and a silver jewelry making class. i have to be honest here and say i don't really have a burning desire to take better pictures - i don't want to be a photographer. i do fine and isn't that what this lovely digital camera is for? I don't have any fancy schmancy camera. It is a HP R927. It does have a lovely large screen - i love that. gone are the days of squinting thru those little peep holes - now there are big screens on these wee cameras - its just so wonderful to see what you're capturing - and in an instant knowing if you got the picture. Call it instant gratification if you want - i call it - i got that picture. now in years to come i can look at this and remember this - how cool is that? The pictures are a reference point for me. The only reason i even floated the idea of taking the photography class way back then is that i like to have that reference point. I draw. Sometimes i see something and i want to remember it clearly. i want to recreate that moment in a drawing or use that picture as a stepping off point.

Now, when lizziebelle said she was interested in taking photography in school (she's a high school sophomore) my reaction was YES... DOIT. Interesting huh? But i see its potential for her. Lizziebelle did indeed take the class last semester and i have to admit i was fascinated by it. (Just as i was fascinated by it when my other art major friends in college took it - but life is about choices and i'd made other, happy ones.) The stuff Lizziebelle came home with - most cool. She even had her dad and me helping her - we were subject matter for her assignments on a number of occasions. The girl has not been without a camera around her neck since she started that class. Now that the photography class is over she has moved on to a graphic design class. This time she is borrowing a digital camera from school and that camera has taken permanent residence upon her neck. i really am in awe of her most days. She has so much talent and dedication. It is just something to see.

And speaking of kids - furry and non: my other non-furry child is coming home today for his spring break. We are so excited to see him. We miss him while he's at school. He is a funny one that joseph. We called him last night as we hadn't heard from him and were wondering: a. if he needed a ride home and b. was he still coming home for the break. He sounded so happy and was filled with tales of how he was "destroying" his classes this semester. Translation: he's doing really well. He had a rough semester in the fall so this was good to hear. He and the girlfriend (whom we adore) will be heading out around noon - they'll be back here mid-afternoon. Of course we know we'll see him only for small moments during the weekend. Home friends will get most of the attention - he'll run in and out - eat probably one meal with us and borrow my car a lot. But that's ok. We just want to hear his funny self (he has a most amazing perspective on things LOL) and see his face. I'll probably take a picture. Or two.