diandra shoots her dad . . . with her camera

so today . . . i got to go on another photo shoot with diandra. actually, she didn't exactly ask me to go along--i just kind of "stalked" her . . .

she was photographing rollie today at the park right by our house. how could i not go?

they have been talking about doing this for about a year now. after we got most of the work done on the "man room," it became clear that the walls needed something. rollie decided he wanted to highlight his newest hobby, tae keuk won. he had a couple of trophies that he had won, his weapons, his advancement certificates, and of course, his belts. we thought it would be fun to have some photos of him doing his forms as well. but this required diandra and rollie to find a time in both of their schedules when they could go take pictures, and since they are both busy, it just hasn't happened. but today it did.

thankfully it didn't happen until almost 4:30 (the light, you know . . . ) so i was able to go to the grocery store and still get back in time to lurk in the park while they worked.

this was a new sort of shoot for diandra, because as rollie was moving through his forms and her camera was going, "clickclickclickclickclick" almost constantly, i heard her say, "i need a new camera--this one isn't moving as fast as me!" she was down on her knees and laying on the ground and standing on her tiptoes--she was everywhere.rollie was dying in the heat! it has been somewhat cool here--until today. and his gi is black, and made of pretty heavy fabric. and he was going through his forms in the hot sun. but he whipped those numchuks through the air, slashed with the sword, and spun the big, long stick (it has a special name, but i can never seem to remember it . . . ) over and over until she got the shots she wanted. and it was worth it! she got some great shots! which i wish i could show you, but they are still in her camera . . . so here is one of mine.in my defense, i didn't take many pictures of rollie, because diandra was doing that, and i knew hers would be infinitely better than any i could take. so i took pictures of her taking pictures, which is what i love to do.

today it was kind of tricky. usually when she photographs people, she is pretty close to them so it is easy to get pictures of her with the people she is shooting. but today, since most of the shots were full body, she was so far away that i could barely get them both in one picture.

the reason i like to go on photo shoots with diandra (which she doesn't let me do very often,) is because when she is taking photographs, she is the happiest i ever see her! not giddy or silly or ecstatic, but happy and contented. she knows what she wants to see, and she will work until she gets it. she is focused and intense, but when she likes what she sees on the screen of her camera, her face just lights up! it is the most beautiful thing in the world for a mom to see . . .

. . . except for maybe seeing her and her dad having a good time together.it will take a few days for her to blog her pictures of today, but she got some amazing action shots, so be sure and check it out in a few days.

i can hardly wait to see them. rollie worked really hard for a couple of years to earn his black belt, and it is going to be great to have this photographic documentation of his skills. then, one day, when we are racing each other in our wheelchairs, we will be able to remember how high he used to be able to jump . . . :)