Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Birthdays in the park

Before September ends, I have to take note of one way that this summer was different from many others. I wasn't lugging a camera around shooting birthday parties all the time. No, in fact, I put my camera away a great deal this birthday season and it felt good to be a guest sometimes. For one, it makes it way easier to hold a beer.  Oh, and tend to my own kids too (as if that was really necessary).  And sometimes I was asked to take photos for a fee which was especially nice and fun for me. Seeing these familiar faces year in and out, I know them well and love jumping into the middle of their soccer game or sitting on the track with them while they make conversation. Last year around this time I was debating whether or not I should go public with my photography business and I was bolstered by a lot of the support I had from neighbors. But I also wondered how turning my passion into a for-profit job would impact my desire to do it. And the truth is, I'm only seeing now some of those effects. I have tons of personal photos I've barely edited and posted. I practically stopped loading albums to Facebook because it just seemed so time consuming--waiting days and weeks to edit and then post kind of made me feel I'd missed the point. I wanted every photo to be great, and since I had to take time to work with each one, I started to rely more and more on my phone camera as a way to bypass this.  But really, I think photography has gained more meaning for me, and I am still wrangling with how to express that. 
I have never felt more confident in my storytelling which is something I really hope I can continue to work on for families. I want every session to have that beginning, middle and end. Every party should show the atmosphere, the way the kids played and how the family rejoiced in their celebration. Getting to capture all that for Paul's birthday party recently was a great way to wrap up my first year in business. That Sarah trusted me to get it right was a wonderful feeling, and I could tell in her relaxed pose and smile that the family portrait would become one she'd cherish. And I was right. This is why I love what I do. And being able to work with friends and their kids is just such a good time. I really don't know where this will all take me, or when I might decide that photography is still more hobby than work. But for now, bringing the camera out when it matters to others as much as it matters to me is a nice place to be. Finding that my skills have value was long overdue. And now I'm there. Elisa has even mentioned a few times that she wants to be like me when she grows up. She wants to be a photographer. Oh, child. Don't you know, flattery will get you everywhere. 

Monday, September 29, 2014

Week in review

This past week was just a three day-er because of Rosh Hashanah so the girls were able to rev up with a long park night on Wednesday followed by a rainy morning Thursday baking muffins for friends who came over to keep us company.  The girls were mostly in a good mood, but by afternoon I realized I'd missed my window of opportunity to make them take a nap. They were alternating between hugs and adorable cuddles and punches and kicks to the stomach that sent one, then the other, wailing. Oh yes. This long weekend was off to a shaky start.  Then Friday we managed to make the most of the sun by venturing out to Central Park to meet up with Irene and her two, while Yene and her two just happened to bump into us making it a Sunnyside take over in Manhattan. Elisa has become totally smitten with baby Valentina while German has taken a shining to Elisa. Poor Carolina is left vying for attention which never takes much, but man these kids are always changing things up. After hot dogs and pretzels, ice cream and a little walk, we made our way to the stone slide at Billy Johnson playground. German had never been there before so I asked the girls to take special care and show him how it works. By the second time, he was a pro. Then the kids made different combinations to slide together and I tried my best to get one (or two) not-so-blurry photos with my cell phone. Yeah, I know, it's not a camera. But with two kids on my own in the city, I just didn't feel like dragging the good one. And in the end, we got a few nice shots to remember the day by. Saturday was the Farmer's Market/playground followed by a movie at the probably soon-to-be defunct Sunnyside Cinema. Elisa had been asking to see Dolphin Tale 2 for a while, so it was time to suck it up and pay the matinee price of $5/each and see it. Surprisingly, there were lots of cameos by real actors but that didn't do much to save the maudlin animal drama. No, it was pretty cheesy. But by the end, they showed some real documentary footage of the actual aquatic center in Florida where children with prosthetics go to meet the dolphin who has a prosthetic tail and it was really touching. Finally something to cry about! Nacho returned later that day and on Sunday we started the final day of the weekend with a bouncy birthday party for Elisa's friend Grace. It was a new place in Astoria which seemed to have plenty of space for all these crazy kids. And the weekend wouldn't be complete without a quick trip to SGP where the changing leaves on the big maple made sure to jump out at me as if to say, see, it really is fall. With temps in the 80s recently, it wasn't much feeling like it. But okay, I'm a believer. And the girls are loving all the time at the park after school. So yeah, a new week starts and I'm hoping that with Nacho here til Thursday I'll get a bit of a break. I need it. 

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Farmer girls

As fall traditions go, the Queens County Fair has been on my checklist since our first outing there when Elisa was just two. I remember feeling like it was a relaxed time for all three of us, and we didn't see even half the stuff they had to offer. Returning a year later, I was amused to watch Elisa and her friend Leonardo jump into the "vroom vroom" cars as they called them and spin circles around laughing giddily the whole time. And then this year it was time to make our way back. It had been three years since our last visit and we weren't going away to the beach in NC this month. So off to the farm last weekend for a nice family outing while Nacho made it home for 48 hours. We even enlisted Carmen and Leonardo again to make it a complete reprisal of our roles from 2011. And it mostly went as planned. The girls were racing to see the ponies when we arrived, and Carolina had no reservations about jumping on one for her first ride ever. Of course, she asked for a "pink one" at first, which I attribute to playing with My Little Ponies a bit too much. But after consoling her with a regular brown one, she was fine....thankfully.  Elisa was pretty ramped up as well and barely wanted to check out the petting zoo (an additional $4 per person, including me!) before running off to the cars. I on the other hand was trying to slow everyone down, to savor the moment and the cost of each additional item. What I don't remember from our previous trips was how much it all added up to! I guess with another kid in tow and the petting zoo fee being tacked on, things were getting pricey fast. Not that it wasn't worth it, but with $9 per adult and $5 per child just to set foot on the farm and $8 on pony rides and $12 on the f&*king petting zoo, I'd blown through all of my cash within the first 45 minutes and we hadn't even started the rides yet. Uh oh...
I think my tractor is bigger than yours
But then, that's the price of all this family fun, right? I mean, it doesn't come cheap and we were enjoying ourselves so I just had to take a deep breath and indulge. It's not everyday that we get to take the girls out for these kind of all-day bonanzas and with Nacho gone so much this past month, it felt like we had a lot of catching up to do.  But money is an issue with all the upheaval in our life right now--Nacho's new job, less pay, and no real indication of when he'll have a full schedule.  It's just the way it is and my income is supplementing things but not reliably so.  So yeah, we're kind of hanging on and trying to use our resources wisely which is hard to do when kids equate fun with unlimited treats and tickets and rides.  Later, we managed to snag some beers and brats (okay, mine was a kielbasa) for lunch which the girls let their ice cream and pizza settle. The German polka songs were as blaring as ever and we actually all breathed a sigh of relief when the live band took a break. At least the recorded music was a bit softer. Then it was time to catch the pig racing and who wouldn't want to see that? Leonardo was afraid we were going to miss it, but no, in fact, we had plenty of time to see them set up and watch the pigs race a few times. Ducks too. And then it was time to pack it in. While Nacho and Carolina drove Carmen and Leonardo back to the nearby train station, I took Elisa over to the carnival one more time to finish off the three tickets still burning a hole in my pocket. See, it pays to be the one who hangs with mom. The line for funnel cakes was looking long, so when Elisa spied the giant bag of cotton candy, I relented. We grabbed it and headed out to meet up with Papa and sister who might also want a taste. And on the way home we were all tired, but happy. And that was a marked change from the previous years. I'm pretty sure both visits we had to drag Elisa kicking and screaming back to the car where she then passed out.  I guess things even out in the end. And in the big book of memories that we are making, I know I won't remember the cost. Because it was worth it. How often do I get to see my city girls embracing life on the farm? Not nearly enough.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Fall sneaks in

The signs of fall are starting to creep in and I couldn't be happier. Carolina and I spotted some changing leaves along Skillman Ave, which made me realize that these weeks without Nacho are in fact passing quickly even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes.  I made it to IKEA during the midweek with Carolina in tow and we had a nice time wandering around the store with Irene and baby Valentina as well.  So yeah, the days are passing and we're inching ever closer to the real height of fall with leaf cookies at the Farmer's Market and long sleeve shirts to keep the chill out. Can't wait til we're able to sneak away for a hike at the P.E.E.C. weekend we've heard so much about. That's coming up in early October when Nacho should be done with training. But for now, I'll do what I can to welcome the new season.