Time with Family...

Chuck's niece, Chloe (nicknamed "Ladybug"), had her 
first birthday earlier this year.  The pictures have been living in suspended animation in a 35mm film canister for months now.  I just received these pictures back this week.  I am disappointed that I didn't have a flash that day because the lighting was just a tad on the poor side and put a great number of limitations on what I could shoot.  




In my day to day life I take mental pictures of things I want to remember.  Sometimes I take these "pictures" when someone is deep in thought and removed from the world around them, sometimes it's a mom kissing their baby on the cheek, and sometimes it's when a person is doing something unaware that anyone else is watching.  My friend Megan said that she had this realization that there are a finite number of emotions that we as humans feel and because of that we are able to relate to each other.  I think this theory also applies to these moments.  For moments worthy of mental pictures -- the beauty is in the ability to see what someone else is most likely feeling.  I am intrigued by pictures that pull me in.  How did the stuffed monkey end up on the floor?  Who was playing with it last?  Why did he/she decide to leave it there?  What was this person thinking or feeling?  I can feel that just in the expression.  Photography is a tool used to convey the human spirit and the many moments that we can't appreciate in depth because life is always moving so fast.