1st Birthday Party Nemo balloon chase! - f/2.2 ISO 400 1/400th SB-600 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mounted - St. Petersburg
One of the most significant birthdays of one's life, the first, is one that is impossible to remember. Thus, 1st birthday party photographs provide a significant visual window for those curious to see what theme their parents chose for such an important day. Sitting here now I cannot recall what mine was, and I do not have any photographs nearby to remind me. The theme for Brooks' party was FINDING NEMO related. How easy or difficult will it be for him to remember that when he is 36 years old? I wonder . . .
1st birthday cupcake smash - f/5.6 ISO 200 1/80th SB-800 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mounted - St. PetersburgI have spent a very limited amount of time around babies having none myself and always living far from relatives. I was aware though that babies seem to have a hard time putting an optimal amount of food into their mouths. In this case, in Brooks' defense, he was given no fork so frosting covered fingers are perfectly understandable. This solved some of the mystery surrounding babies eating abilities for me.
custom underwater cake - f/4 ISO 400 1/200th SB-600 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mounted - St. PetersburgNow this cake remained pristine the entire 90-minutes I was in Brooks' home shooting. That also means, unfortunately, I never got to taste it myself. Therefore, I cannot vouch for its flavor.
Brooks chewing his mom's necklace - f/4 ISO 400 1/100th SB-600 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mounted - St. PetersburgNow, I do know why babies put everything into their mouths thanks to a college professor who in addition to the subject he taught, was also extremely knowledgeable on baby behavior. Babies put things into their mouths for a very simple reason, the nerve endings inside their mouths are fairly well developed from birth, but the ones in their fingers are not. So what sensory data adults can get with fingertips, babies need to mouth to find out.
emerging from the deep! - f/5.6 ISO 400 1/800th SB-800 @ 1/4 power hotshoe mounted - St. PetersburgThe challenge of photographing this birthday party was largely due to going indoors and outdoors repeatedly. This meant a whole sale change of settings and use of flash, on two cameras! This is why I tell my DSLR photo students they need to be able to change all their settings in under five seconds if they want to start doing paid photography work.
It was a fun afternoon photographing Brooks on day 365 for him.
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