Saturday, June 15, 2013

Michael the Explorer

After a trying few days on the teething front, we've finally had a couple of days' respite. To celebrate, I took Michael out on a solo trek in the backyard yesterday while his older and younger siblings napped inside.

We only stayed out perhaps twenty minutes or so, but Michael wasted no time at all. He was intent on exploring every corner of the yard- and beyond- and explore, he did.



I dutifully followed my little adventurer, snapping pictures while attempting to keep him out of (too much) trouble.


He's really into pointing at everything nowadays.

The weather was glorious, and the sunshine was beautiful, but quite difficult to photograph in. Normally, I'm working under the constraint of too little light, but this time I had too much. Perhaps the hardest part, however, was the inconsistency. There was a bit of cloud cover that day, and as it shifted, so did the light intensity. Especially in the clearest patches of sunlight, I found myself wishing that Michael were wearing a darker colored shirt.


I started to get the hang of it after awhile, though. I quickly figured out that using auto settings was my best bet in the changing conditions. Beyond that, I learned to pay attention to the direction of the light and to try to find an angle that would confuse the camera the least.

The shady spots were the easiest to manage, so it was always nice to run into them- not least because it was getting bit hot and tiring to be constantly running after a moving target.

I never thought I'd find a reason to love that hideous shed, but it really does make a great background.

Cloud cover, for the win.

Wishing the neighbor's dog were out to play.


Daddy's Little Helper (someday)

Taking a closer look.

Investigating every angle.

Circling back to the play yard again.

Trying to figure out the sprinkler.

He finally noticed the soccer ball.



Moving on to the rocks.

Wading in ivy.

Sadly, the fun had to end at some point.

After I'd had my fill of slapping at mosquitoes, waving off gnats, and halting attempted escapes to the front yard and street, I scooped up my little man and brought him inside.

No worries- the exploration continues on, and the trouble-seeking too. I imagine that when you're such a little boy, and the world is so very big, it's bound to, is it not?