My little one is almost two and a half. She’s growing up, doing more, finding her own voice. When I look back at photos of her I want to be able to see who she is and remember the moments as they happened. A couple of days ago I decided to take 30 minutes and follow Scarlett around with my camera. For the most part I tried to be invisible and just let her carryout her activities. These photos are some of what resulted from this exercise.
I’m currently participating int the most amazing photography workshop with Val Spring of The Red Balloon Photography. It’s been amazingly inspiring and I feel like I’m learning so much. I had an assignment due for this workshop, so I decided that Scarlett and I would take a photography field trip. We walked up the street to the Monastery turned Museum and I let her explore the gardens while I photographed. The whole time I was observing her I was struck by how independent she’s getting. This week, after months of crying before going to preschool and holding me as tight as possible, she walked right in the door without so much as a goodbye. Then, instead of wanting to snuggle with me when we read books at night she pulled up her own chair next to mine. I’m so happy that she’s finding her inner strength, especially after the struggle of not only moving houses, but also continents, but it also breaks my heart a little bit to not be needed quite so much. While photographing her for this assignment I followed her around trying not to inhibit where she wanted to go. I felt like she was letting me in on her adventure, but only as an observer, not as an active participant like herself. She was so focused and so on her own, but then it happened. Something she thought would be fun, ended up scaring her. She ran for me and then for her favorite dolls, Jessie and Sleeping Beauty, that I always have on hand. And that’s when I saw it. Yes, she’s growing up quickly and is facing the world more and more on her own, but at least for now, she still needs me close at hand…along with Jessie and Sleeping Beauty.
I’m starting THIS photography workshop tomorrow and I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. In preparation and in an effort to better understand my point of view and style, I thought I’d look through some of the photos I’ve taken over the past few months and choose my favorites. Most of them are of Scarlett, as she provides me with inspiration everyday and I kind of feel that’s to be expected. They aren’t all masterpieces and some won’t appeal to most, but there is something in these photos I chose that I love and that truly feel like me. Here they are, in no particular order.
I had a great time with this wonderful family! We had a shoot scheduled and then the three days prior it POURED down rain. Fortunately for us, the day of the shoot was beautiful, but the ground was super muddy! Still, it turned out great and we had a blast! I hope you enjoy these pictures!
As some of you know, we finally moved into our Italian apartment in Vomero. Vomero is an absolutely stunning area of Naples that sits up on a hill and overlooks the rest of the city. Not only is the area beautiful, but it’s full of amazing shops, restaurants, art galleries, museums, 7 gelato shops within a 2 block radius…you name it, it’s here. The only little teeny sacrifice one has to make to live in such an area is living space. Not really a big deal as you have the whole city as your backyard, but it’s kind of a big deal when you move in and the movers don’t come again for two weeks to pick up your boxes that are blocking any free space in your apartment. Anyway, for the past two weeks, my camera has been stuck in a cabinet behind said boxes. It’s been driving me crazy! Inspiration will strike and then I’ll remember, oh right, my camera is stuck in a closet. We kept calling the movers and they kept saying, “Be patient”. Resigning myself to the fact that the movers were never going to come and rid our house of the boxes stuffed with paper piled to the top of our 15 foot ceilings, I plead my camera case to Nathan and he gallantly tackled the box wall and rescued my camera from its prison. I was so excited! I almost immediately took it out and took these photos of my favorite little model.
The two photos above don’t have any post process editing. They’re just taken with a ziploc bag over my lens. Thanks to my new friend and amazing photographer, Liisa Roberts. for the awesome photography hack.
First off, welcome to my new website!
Moving on to my favorite subject, my little girl. Well, it’s happened. My sweet baby girl has turned 2! I know every mother says this, but it seems like yesterday I held her in my arms for the first time. Now she’s her own little person. Her favorite things right now are coloring, jumping, singing and getting really bent out of shape if things don’t go her way. She actually turned two while we were visiting Rome and I had big plans to do a photo shoot there, but due to inclement weather and an overall feeling of being completely done with the trip, that plan failed. A couple days ago we took a day trip to Sorrento and it took my breath away. The pictures that follow are what transpired there.
Amanda Voelker Photography 