Friday, October 10, 2014

Belated Birthday Bash Bouncy Broodings

This post has been nearly three weeks in coming. Like so many before it, I almost let this collection of pictures slip past the blog due first to time constraints, then to a total memory lapse of ever having created it, and then to time constraints once again. It seems I never can settle into a time and space to write and edit anymore.

However, I was determined to get these to press, late as they are, and not least because the brainstorming I've done in trying to creatively introduce them led me to busting out that tongue-twister you now see above. I'm pretty fond of these pictures, which makes me want to share them, I learned a few things in the process of capturing them, and perhaps most of all, I've found it to be more important than ever now to prove to myself whenever I can that I still can.

So here they are, the nine(ish) things I learned the day my children braved a birthday party bouncy castle (and the pictures I took in the meantime):

1. Sometimes it takes thirty minutes of contemplative observation on the entrance ramp before one can muster up the courage to go inside. Only now I wish I'd taken some pictures of my little Michael as he lay on his belly, watching the older children jump and squeal.

2. If your big sister finally decides it's time to give it a try, that really can be all it takes to get you to follow her.


3. It still stings every time I wreck a good shot because I didn't have the settings quite right yet (though the below one came out kind of cool-looking, anyway, I suppose).


4. A shutter speed of 250 is not quite sufficient to handle the near-constant bouncing of young children, who bounce courtesy of the surface they are on even when they're sitting still (but I somehow managed to get enough decent shots to share anyway).

 

5. Once your children enter a bouncy house, they are not so easily coaxed back out of it again.



 


 6. Direct sunlight really is tough to work around (or through).


7. There are some rare instances in which it's actually easier to keep up with my busy little guy than my oldest daughter (she got the bouncy part down).
 
 


8. This was one wonderful instance in which my youngest daughter made it easiest of all (no bouncy castles for her just yet, but she's proof that tricycles can be fun even if you don't know how to use them). Also, natural light (especially on white clothing) exposes so much more than I'm ever prepared for it to- she still looks a little blown out even after adjusting the exposure down a bit.


 


9. No matter whether I got all of the shots I truly wanted, I am grateful for the memories I recorded all the same. Hopefully someday, my kids will be too.

*10. Sometimes the hardest thing about about creating a picture post is getting the images to look the way you want on the page. After messing with this one too many times and still failing, I now officially give up. I think you can enjoy the shots even if they're not spaced perfectly, no?