If you've ever met me in person, you'd know that I'm not usually lost for words, but I'm sitting here staring at a blinking cursor really unsure of what to write for this post. It's not that I have nothing to say, quite the opposite actually, I have too much to say, too much history and too much knowing to choose what my focus will fall on. So here goes...
This little ball of pure delight is the second son of one of my dearest friends. She's my 'every day' friend, the friend I talk to most frequently, the friend I can talk about pretty much anything with - even if it is by text message more often than not - the friend who I text at lunch time to say that I've baked a cake, the house is a mess and I'm in my trackies with no intention of changing ... wanna come around? And she does. In her trackies and we let our kids make a bigger mess while we have a cup of tea, two slices of cake and half conversations. In this season of our lives, we're parenting together. We celebrate and commiserate over parenting, we wrangle, cuddle, reign in and love-on our gaggle of kids, no matter who they belong to. We have a seemingly endless supply of hand-me-downs passing back and forth between our boys, that means so much more to both of us than a few dollars saved.
She is the most thoughtful person I have ever met. Ever. Without exaggeration. So when I asked if I could come over to run a test roll through my new camera with Cameron, I left with a loaf of warm homemade sourdough, half a chocolate cake and a box full of her mother's glassware that will be much loved in our home. And these photographs of her little love, are for her.
We've known each other since we were twelve, though we only became proper friends as adults. We've had lots of wonderful times together, one of the best New Year's Eve's I've ever had, cried and celebrated at each other's weddings, snuggled every newborn baby like they were a little piece of us too. And they are.
The best thing to come after all these years is that our families are friends. So much so that every now and then I float the idea of building a home on the spare block next door to them. The thought of a gate between our fences and kids running back and forth brings me so much joy. Our own little village raising small children together, which we're already doing now, except how much better would it be in person instead of via text?! Which would mean extra cuddles with this happy little guy.
It's Friday afternoon - let's give a cheers to our wonderful friends like this fabulous woman, via text message, with martini glass emoji'sxx
We spent about 15 minutes on this mini session with Cameron. Two rolls of film. To me, it's the perfect amount of time and photographs resulting from it. Too much longer and he would have become bored with me, any more film and we're just starting to double up on what we've already taken. If the whole family was involved in a session, we'd most definitely use more film, and spend more time, but not by much. Mini sessions are all about quality over quantity - both in the photographs you take home with and the time we spend getting them. Head to the contact page to ask for a look at my 2016 mini session dates before they're announced next week.
Pentax 645n | Kodak Ektar & Kodak Porta 400 | 75mm 2.8