Kids - nobody told me it would be this hard...on me or my photography trips!

[Steve Smith]

26 years after what - having a kid, or the vascectomy?

Just judging from my own parents' experience. i.e. I didn't move out until I was twenty six!


Steve.

 

[Vaughn]

Even more important is to take this opportunity to stretch and improve one's photography. Not just document because that is all one has time to do, but to push one's envelope. Everyone take photos of their kids...but what else can one do with the subject matter?

When my three boys had yet learn to crawl and I had them to take care of by myself from get-up to go-to-sleep, I manipulated SX-70 images of the boys in between bottle-feeding 3 infants every couple of hours (not to mention diaper changes!) -- I had no time for darkroom work. Eventually I could use my small camera (Rolleiflex) until I could start using the 8x10.

What do you do when life hands you lemons, and you don't have any sugar? You just pucker up and enjoy it!

 

[paul_c5x4]

When I was 7 my Dad took me camping for the first time, made me carry my own backpack with sleeping bag and supplies, [snip] even young kids can do it they just have to be taught early to carry their own weight then they can come with you

I have memories of being dragged across the Derbyshire moors in cold, wet, windy weather getting soaked to the skin.... Now that I'm a little older, it is payback time - Took mother backpacking in to Yosemite and went up Half Dome via Tenaya Lake, Sunrise, Merced & Little Yosemite. Each time I heard the immortal whine of "Are we nearly there yet ?", I would reply with "Once you've been to the top of Half Dome, you can have an icecream.."


Be nice to your children, for they get to choose your retirement home :devil:


Oh, and a 70+ granny on top of Half Dome on finding out there is no icecream kiosk there, not fun.

 

[StoneNYC]

I have memories of being dragged across the Derbyshire moors in cold, wet, windy weather getting soaked to the skin.... Now that I'm a little older, it is payback time - Took mother backpacking in to Yosemite and went up Half Dome via Tenaya Lake, Sunrise, Merced & Little Yosemite. Each time I heard the immortal whine of "Are we nearly there yet ?", I would reply with "Once you've been to the top of Half Dome, you can have an icecream.."


Be nice to your children, for they get to choose your retirement home :devil:


Oh, and a 70+ granny on top of Half Dome on finding out there is no icecream kiosk there, not fun.

~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[StoneNYC]

Just judging from my own parents' experience. i.e. I didn't move out until I was twenty six!


Steve.

If the economy is anything like now it might be even older...

Moved out at 23 when I bought a 2 family house as an investment, failed and moved back at 28 and still there at 30...


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SuzanneR]

My kids simply became my main photographic subject! I'm sure you'll find your path as a parent and photographer even if at times it feels that the photography is on the back burner for awhile.

 

[blansky]

The answer is at 1:19 of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptTwi6-ii-s

 

[BrianShaw]

My kids simply became my main photographic subject! I'm sure you'll find your path as a parent and photographer even if at times it feels that the photography is on the back burner for awhile.

Same with me. At 15 one of mine is less willing... and miss having him as a frequent photographic subject a lot. Rocks, trees, and abandon buildings just aren't as much fun.

 

[mgb74]

I feel wounded.

I feel that with the exception of holiday periods, my days of adventure are behind me...at least until they are old enough to come with me and trek 15 miles. So about another 9 years then!

Enjoy the 1 week period between when they're old enough to do it and then when they're old enough not to want to do it.

Seriously, if they're motivated (i.e. something they find interesting and not forced upon them) you'd be surprised how much they can handle at a young age.

Oh, by the way, your parents probably did tell you, but you weren't listening. (again )

 

[StoneNYC]

Same with me. At 15 one of mine is less willing... and miss having him as a frequent photographic subject a lot. Rocks, trees, and abandon buildings just aren't as much fun.

Put him in some cool clothes and bing him to an abandoned building and tell him of he does this and posts the pics on Facebook that all the girls will want him...


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BrianShaw]

Ha ha. The scary thing is that he doesn't need my help to get the attention of girls, and he never has.

 

[StoneNYC]

Ha ha. The scary thing is that he doesn't need my help to get the attention of girls, and he never has.

Oi!


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[benjiboy]

Kids, once my wife and I found out what caused them, we stopped

 

[Peter Simpson]

Enjoy them while you can. They're worth every bit of effort you put into them, and when they grow up, the things they remember about their younger years won't be the things you remember. Your life is changing, yes, but many of the things you did before, you can do with children...just at a slower pace. And all those things you *didn't* get to do as a kid yourself, well, this is the perfect excuse to try them! Nobody will say a word when you get up on the merry-go-round to hold your child on They'll probably call you a "good dad".

...and kid hugs are the best!

 

[Katie]

Vaughn - that first image is one of my favorite ever.

I enjoy images of childhood just about as much as anything else there is ... Kids are about as real a subject as you will ever shoot. Do what Suzanne and I do - just turn the camera to them and get some inspiration!

Mine are 4 and 11 and don't even pause when I pull the car over and exit saying "just one second - have to get a photograph of this"... my husband is even tolerating it now (it only took 15 years).

 

[StoneNYC]

Vaughn - that first image is one of my favorite ever.

I enjoy images of childhood just about as much as anything else there is ... Kids are about as real a subject as you will ever shoot. Do what Suzanne and I do - just turn the camera to them and get some inspiration!

Mine are 4 and 11 and don't even pause when I pull the car over and exit saying "just one second - have to get a photograph of this"... my husband is even tolerating it now (it only took 15 years).

Haha lucky, I've found that my shooting suffers when my GF is with me as I'm rushing and not thinking about the shot like I should. I guess I'll get used to that too.


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ic-racer]

I feel wounded.

I'm blessed to have my two young kids - at one point we thought we wouldn't be able to have any. But my god, they're sapping the life out of me. Pre-kids, I used to go to work all week and then get up early at the weekends with my cameras and try and capture some early morning shots out in the great outdoors. I loved it - the morning air, the peace, the sounds of nature and of course the light. But these days (one 4 year old, one 1.5 yrs old), I'm that exhausted at the end of a day that the prospect of ruining my sleep-in the next day (and by sleep-in, I mean 07:00...no later than that unfortunately, no matter what the day of the week is) to get out and capture some photos just doesn't do it anymore. I can't fatham the strength.

I feel that with the exception of holiday periods, my days of adventure are behind me...at least until they are old enough to come with me and trek 15 miles. So about another 9 years then!

Photographs of your kids will, in the end, prove to be more valuable to you than anything you leave the house to photograph.

 

[barzune]

I doesn't get any easier Ted when they get older, and when they become teenagers they'll tell you brought them up all wrong, but you never stop being a parent and worrying about them no matter how old they get, our sons are middle aged and we still worry.

+1

 

[mark]

If you think photography trips are a pain try fishing. I also flyfish and with two little boys "fishing too" I never get a line wet.

My oldest used to go on photo trips with when he was a toddler. Except for the diaper changes and learning it was alright to pee in the weeds we had a lot of fun. The youngest did not have that opportunity. We had to move and I was working two jobs. No time for photography trips.

By the way, that pee in the weeds thing can back fire when they drop trou in the landscaped restaurant parking lot.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I keep a camera set up with flash on autoexposure so that either or you can pick up the camera, turn on the strobe, focus and shoot.

 

[Vaughn]

...By the way, that pee in the weeds thing can back fire when they drop trou in the landscaped restaurant parking lot.

Or do like one of my boys did at a Burger King -- dropped his pants and peed in the ball pit. Too bad I was not there to see it!

But on my watch one day, the living room was awfully quite for three boys in diapers -- I walked in and was hit by a wall of stink! The boys were finger-painting a mural on the wall -- using what was in the backend of one of the boy's diapers as the paint. No photos -- all I could think of was getting the boys in the bath, the walls cleaned up and the house aired out before their mom came home!

I do not know if the SX-70 could have captured the moment of not.

 

[Renato Tonelli]

Photographs of your kids will, in the end, prove to be more valuable to you than anything you leave the house to photograph.

How true!

When my children were small I couldn't photograph my usual subject matter as much, so I turned the camera on them! My oldest children are in college now and when they come home they browse the photo album(s) and loose prints in the various boxes. We all enjoy this immensely. I have a 3-year old now (don't ask!) and I photograph her quite often. Last week I was photographing in the large garden area near my apartment and she came along - I let her press the cable release - got to start training them early.

 

[StoneNYC]

How true!

When my children were small I couldn't photograph my usual subject matter as much, so I turned the camera on them! My oldest children are in college now and when they come home they browse the photo album(s) and loose prints in the various boxes. We all enjoy this immensely. I have a 3-year old now (don't ask!) and I photograph her quite often. Last week I was photographing in the large garden area near my apartment and she came along - I let her press the cable release - got to start training them early.

That last part is really cute nice share.


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ted_smith]

We (my eldest daughter and I) went out a few weeks ago to a nearby riverside to photograph some swans on the river. As you can see, the swan photos didn't really materialise but we had a fine time! (Fuji Provia 100, 150mm f4, hasselblad 501CM handheld)

 

[StoneNYC]

View attachment 64514

We (my eldest daughter and I) went out a few weeks ago to a nearby riverside to photograph some swans on the river. As you can see, the swan photos didn't really materialise but we had a fine time! (Fuji Provia 100, 150mm f4, hasselblad 501CM handheld)

OMG this is going to turn into an adorable children's thread .. haha so cute!