Carol Swales Photography

Where Does The Time Go?

2010-04-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Even on maternity leave my days were pretty full. Now that I'm back it work life is even more hectic. Now I'm at the end of another three-day work week and wondering "Where does the time go?" A three day work week goes really fast, and efficiency is key.

The other four days at home go even faster, when you're a mom of small children there is always something that needs to be done urgently.

Diaper change
breakfast time
bum wipe
get dressed
don't take your socks off, I just put them on!
preschool
get drink of water NOW!
spit-up
clean up spilled juice
feed hungry baby
where's my . . .?
hurry up
eat your dinner
blow out!
brush teeth
say goodnight
get back in your bed!

This is how my life is right now, chaotic and messy, yet full of fun and love. Some days are harder than others, but I know I will look back on this time and wonder how it went so quickly.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

Niall came down with the stomach flu Saturday evening, so we spent Sunday at home in family quarantine. After being sick every hour all night long he did suprisingly well today! We had a mellow day doing crafts, face painting, and we even managed to play outside briefly.

I'm back!

2010-03-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a year since I've blogged. How's that for procrastination? It's been quite a year for the Swales family.

To summarize the last 13 months, I had a very difficult pregnancy (more details to come) and finally in September gave birth to a tiny, breathtakingly beautiful baby girl. I was on maternity leave until just before St. Patrick's Day, and now I'm back at work.

Here is a picture of my sweet baby girl, India Rain. Kelly took this shot when India was just a few days old.

I'm trying to enjoy every day because both of my babies are growing up way too fast!

Triceratops Picture Published in Seattle's Child Magazine

2009-03-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

Dinosaur Day at the Burke Museum is coming up this Saturday. Several weeks ago I shot some promotional pictures for them of Niall with the Burke Museum's gigantic Triceratops skull. The lighting was challenging, but Niall did a great job standing with the skull and I got some great shots. Today, I found out that one of the pictures has been published in the March printed edition of Seattle's Child Magazine. How exciting!

Here's the picture they used, posted here with permission:

Where Were You on Inauguration Day?

2009-01-20T10:30:00.001-08:00

Over the course of my life there are many moments that are personally meaningful, memories that I will always cherish; my wedding day, the birth of my son. Today our nation and much of the world shared one of those moments. We will forever remember this morning as the answer to "Where were you when Barak Obama became the first black President of the United States of America?"

I was at home, watching the ceremony on TV with Niall and Jude, and helping them get ready for preschool.

So, where were you? Leave a comment and share your Inauguration Day experience.

Niall Is A Famous Liverpool Fan!

2009-01-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

One of Niall's favorite songs to sing is "You'll Never Walk Alone", which is Liverpool's team anthem. Can you guess who's daddy is a huge Liverpool fan? For Christmas Niall's grandparents sent him the full Liverpool kit, complete with socks and a scarf to wave while he's singing. He was thrilled!

My brother-in-law shot this video of him wearing his kit and singing in front of the Christmas tree. It's got nearly 600 views on YouTube and has been posted on the biggest Liverpool fan site. Fun! I'm enjoying being the mother of a famous person, and he's so proud he's been watching it over and over again. I don't think he really understands where it's posted, but he really likes to watch himself sing.

Happy White Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:37:00.001-08:00

Growing up in Seattle I always wished for a white Christmas. As inconvenient as the snow has been, now that the presents are wrapped and Niall is tucked in his bed everything seems perfect. His eyes were wide with wonder as I read "The Night Before Christmas" and he then he went to sleep without a peep! Looking at Christmas through my little boy's eyes has become my favorite thing about Christmas, and one of the best things about being a mom. Hope your holiday is full of love and wonder!

Night Pictures on a Snowy Walk

2008-12-13T22:25:00.000-08:00

At our house tonight it was Niall that saw the snow first. He told me "Snow is falling from a place". When I went to look, sure enough it was snowing! The news has been going on and on about how it's going to be the coldest weather since 1950, but still, part of me is always suprised when it actually does snow.

We were going to go for a walk after dinner to look at Christmas lights anyway, and snow made it even more exciting. Too bad Niall didn't have a nap today, he fell asleep in the first ten minutes. By the time we got back there was enough snow sticking to make a nice winter photo, and with a sleeping child we decided to get the tripod and try some longer exposures.

What makes this shot possible is a tripod, a long exposure, and of course, a sleeping child. I had Jude stand with Niall under a streetlight, and then set up the tripod and camera. I used auto focus to get the focus just right, then set it to manual so it wouldn't change. Then I composed the shot, set the exposure, and took the picture. My settings were F 5.0, ISO 400, 6 second exposure.

There is very little post-processing on this shot. In Lightroom I just adjusted the white balance and turned down the saturation a bit. This is what it looked like before any processing, straight out of the camera:

Isn't it amazing the difference a little white balance adjustment can make?

Enjoy the snow and stay safe!

The best idea ever, followed by a VERY bad hangover

2008-12-08T22:27:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had too much to drink, and had an idea that seemed like the best idea ever? That happened to me on Saturday night at my company holiday party. The idea was to take Zoolander pictures. So I asked people to show me their best Magnum or Blue Steel. Granted, Ben Stiller's is hard to beat.

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So, armed only with my Canon G9 and soaring enthusiasm, I approached my fellow partiers and asked to take their picture. I explained that I was taking Zoolander pictures, and gave a quick summary of the movie for those that weren't familiar. Then I would demonstrate, and show them my best "Blue Steel" for inspiration.

After that I would put my drink down and take their picture while saying things like "Work it, baby!"

After all this, you can imagine how much fun my Sunday was. Not fun at all!!! Now that I've recovered, I've had the chance to refect on what went well and what I could have done better on Saturday night. I have created a list of tips based on my experience. Hopefully this is just in time for your holiday party!

Top five tips for drunken party photography:

Use only your small point & shoot camera. Don't risk your SLR and big lenses!!!
Use full auto or "green box" mode. If you have face detection auto focus, use it.
Set the camera up before you go to the party and start drinking.
Do not go up to the paid professional event photographer, who BTW is sober, and show him your brilliant Zoolander shots. Trust me, even though he'll probably be really nice about it, you'll be embarassed later.
Don't be so distracted by taking pictures that you forget to drink a glass of water every now and then.

Happy Thanskgiving!

2008-11-27T13:44:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving means so much to me. Time with family and good friends, wonderful food, and thinking about how fortunate we are. In another way, it's also a bit of a sad time. My brother's birthday was November 25, so it always fell on the week of Thanksgiving. We lost him in a diving accident six years ago, and even though he died in September, Thanksgiving is really when it really hits me every year, and I have a lot of time to think about him while I'm baking pies. This year I took a few minutes and played a sad song, Bad News by Kanye West. Thinking about my brother reminds me to enjoy my family and friends every day, and cherish every moment along the way.

I've also been thinking a lot about how I can use photography to give back to my community. I have some ideas for next year, but I still need to work out a lot of the details. More on that coming in the next few months!

I feel like I have so much more to write, but I'm running out of time today. I'll leave you with a shot of the pies I worked so hard making, and the wish of a happy, healthy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

PANIC at the Science Center

2008-11-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

Today I had my most harrowing experience as a parent to date. Today Niall went missing at the Pacific Science Center.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we wanted to do something fun as a family. We headed down to Seattle Center, had some lunch, and then walked over to the Science Museum. Jude really wanted to see the Lucy exhibit, which is expensive and not really intended for the two-year-old crowd. We decided to split up and I took Niall to the general exhibition area.

Alone with Niall I felt completely loaded down with stuff so I was happy to find lockers on the mezzanine level. As I struggled with coats, backpack, camera, and my purse, Niall was running up and down the hall. I chased him down and told him to please stay with me while I put our stuff away. He said “Ok, Mom.” and stood next to me for a second while I read the locker instructions. And just like that, he was gone.

I looked around in disbelief, at first thinking he might just be around the corner or in the bathroom. Then I realized that he was really gone and I had no idea which way to go first. We were right next to the stairs so he could have gone up, or down, or run down the hall and gone somewhere completely different. Someone walking down the stairs could have picked him up, carried him downstairs with them and out the door, never to be seen again. Or he could have just wandered off and become completely engrossed in something fun.

Where would he have gone? I scanned the first floor below and didn’t see him, but ran there first anyway because we’d just been there and it seemed the most likely. I didn’t see him anywhere, so I quickly ran up to the third floor to check there. Still not finding him and having no idea where to look next, I decided it was time to get help. He can run fast, so by now he could be pretty much anywhere. I ran into the store and told the cashier that I had lost my son.

On the edge of complete panic, I held back tears as I described him and what he was wearing. I waited for what seemed like an eternity while she looked for the number to call security. She tried to calm me down, saying they had never lost a child and they would find him. She said that the security manager had radioed everone that there was a lost child and she would come right down to meet me. A family in the store said they would look out for him. I felt completely helpless and terrified, and also embarassed because I was completely freaking out and there was nothing I could do about it.

While I waited for the security manager I called Jude to tell him so he could come and help us look, but he didn’t answer and just then the security manager showed up. I described him to her, told her his name and where we’d been, what he was wearing. We saw him at the same time, a moment later, off in the distance. It looked like he had just come up the stairs. He appeared to be completely calm and was just looking around, which was very striking to me because I of the state I was in. We walked over to him and he was happy to see me, but not nearly as happy and relieved as I was to see him. By the time Jude called me back a couple minutes later it was all over.

I am so relieved, but still completely shaken by this experience. I know that we were lucky, that in those minutes he was gone anything could have happened and nothing did, and I am so grateful. I know that I will never forget this experience, that it will always be with me.

What terrifying experiences have you had as a parent that will always be with you? Leave a comment and share your story, and help me recover from this experience.

Could it be - the end of the Hair Saga?

2008-11-21T15:15:00.000-08:00

Jude has been in an experimental phase for the last couple of years, growing his hair out and doing strange things with his beard. It's not a secret that this has not been a fun time! But after years of helpful suggestions, nagging, and complaints, I finally gave up. I figured marriage is forever, in sickness and in health, richer or poorer, with good hair and bad, etc, etc.

This is us on our wedding day, nearly six years ago. Wasn't he adorable?

But after Niall was born this experimental phase started. This picture was taken in January, I like to think of this look as sort of a motorcycle-Chachi.

As if things weren't bad enough, in February he decided to shave the beard into sort of a General Custer look. Amusing only in retrospect!

After all this I was just so happy when he finally shaved!

But then one Friday night he said he wanted to go get a haircut. By this point I was beyond hope, so I didn't even ask him until we got to the salon what he was going to get. When he said he wanted it quite short I didn't even believe him at first! Here he is with his new haircut and the Trilobite bread he baked for a party we were going to.

And he looks so innocent! You would never guess what he's been putting me through for the last couple of years. So even if this too is just a phase, I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

Meet Shannon, Kayvann, and Toby

2008-11-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

I had the chance to get together with Shannon, Kayvann, and Toby to take some fall family photos. We know each other from preschool last year, so it was really fun to have the chance to catch up. This is one of the best parts of taking family photos, getting to hang out with friends at a park, taking pictures and watching them play as a family together.

It's amazing to see how much Toby has grown up over the summer. Look at that face! Who could resist?

Shannon and Kayvann, thanks so much! I hope you like your photos!

Insomnia

2008-11-15T04:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes lately if I stay up too late I seem to miss my window of opportunity to fall asleep. When I finally manage to tear myself away from whatever I was doing and go to bed, I just end up laying in bed with my mind racing.

What does it mean to be a great photographer? Do I have what it takes? That reminds me, I am way behind on our family photography projects. Hopefully I can get caught up before spring when I start booking clients again. Why did I even start this business when I already have an almost full-time job and a toddler? What will I miss out on? Will I regret this someday? Don't forget to get lemons at the store tomorrow. . .

This all started from reading Matthew Jordan Smith's blog tonight, which is fascinating and very insightful. It really got me thinking about how I work and how I can take this to a new level, but also the why. What draws me to photography so strongly? Why do I have to do this when there is so much else to do? I don't have all the answers yet, but I feel like photography is part of my journey and eventually I'll figure it out.

Meanwhile, I'll keep documenting and never lose sight of what is most important:

Meet Tina, Jeff, and Ruby

2008-11-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

Tina, Jeff, and Ruby are friends we know from preschool, and I was thrilled when they asked me to do their family pictures! We had a fabulous time exploring the Arboretum together.

I think the first shot is my favorite, but I love both of these because the light is so dreamy.

Ruby is so sweet, and she has such an independant spirit. Can you tell?

Tina and Jeff have a beautiful old Ford Falcon, and it was fun to get some shots with the car as well.

Tina and Jeff, thanks so much for trusting me with your family pictures. I hope you like them! I'll have the rest finished for you soon!

Amazing Moment in History!

2008-11-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

We spent election night glued to the TV, coloring in our maps as the results came in. Regardless of which candidate you were supporting, I think we can all agree this was a historic election. I am so proud to be a part of this incredible moment in history!

The election has been quite inspiring as a photographer as well, with some great images of the candidates. Here are links to a few favorites:

The Obama family on election night in Chicago
Barack Obama on the cover of Rolling Stone and in front of a huge crowd in Berlin
Joe Biden on stage at the Democratic National Convention
Sarah Palin in the Governer's Office, shaking hands on the campaign trail, and on stage at a rally in Virginia.
John and Cindy McCain boarding the campaign plane on election day.

As I was putting Niall to bed last night I was trying to explain to him how important and historic it is that we have elected the first black president. As I was struggling to find the words to explain this in a way that my 2.5 year old could understand, I realized that the beauty of this moment is that he and his generation may never fully understand. Of course they will understand the historic importance, but they will grow up taking for granted that anyone can grow up to be anything they want to be. Even the president of the United States of America.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

Today is Halloween and I am so excited! As usual, I stayed up way too late working on things like carving my pumpkin and roasting pumpkin seeds. Niall and I even baked pumpkin cookies last night. Yay! Happy Halloween everyone!

Twins! Special Sneak Preview for Emily, Andrew, Max and Grace

2008-10-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I met up with some wonderful friends from preschool to take some family photos. We always had so much fun at preschool with Max and Grace, and I was continuously amazed at Emily's ability to handle life with two high energy two-year olds. It was really fun to catch up!

Talk about a happy family, these guys are just smiling all the time and just enjoying each other. We had so much fun romping all over the Arboretum together taking pictures and running around.

I think this last shot is my favorite, they look like such little angels!

Emily and Andrew, thanks so much for trusting me with your family photos! I'll have the rest of the shoot finished very soon!

The Cutest Robot

2008-10-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's almost Halloween and we have been busy carving pumpkins and making Halloween costumes. We got to take Niall's robot costume for a test run at the Pumpkin Prowl last weekend. He is so proud of his costume, and he does his best robot walk to top it off. I've always loved Halloween, and now as a parent I find it even more fun!

Fun fall session

2008-10-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

Last month I had the opportunity to get together with some friends from preschool for an excellent fall session. Meet Eric, Jonna, Owen, and Trygvy!

What a fun family! I had a blast hanging out and chasing these two rambunctious boys around. Eric is the kind of dad that seems so natural, you can tell he loves every minute of it. I think he looks like "Super Dad" in this picture!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend we made a trip out to the pumpkin patch at Craven Farm in Snohomish. Niall was excited to see the animals and pick his very own pumpkin. We had a blast getting lost in the corn maze, the kids were just running and running!

Niall loved the hay ride on this tractor, and when that was done we headed out to the pumpkin patch. Luckily I remembered to share the camera with Jude so I am actually in a few of the pictures!

Niall picked out his very own pumpkin and carried it over to the wheelbarrow all by himself. Anyone else in the "do it myself" stage? He would put it down and then pick it up with a big "Uggh!". You would have thought it was much heavier, but I think maybe he got the idea that pumpkins were really heavy and hard to move when Jude was picking up our huge pumpkins. We were just cracking up watching him!

Blog Shmog

2008-10-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while and I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, but seriously, who can blog at a time like this? The economy is melting, the election is two weeks from tomorrow, and the last time I looked my 401K was down 34% and that was a couple weeks ago. After that I decided to stop looking for a while, luckily I have another 30+ years before I can retire anyway.

So to catching up, Niall started a new co-op preschool this fall. He goes two mornings a week, and Jude is the preschool parent this year. He goes with Niall one day a week and works in the classroom, and I drop him off on the other day. Last week was the first time I actually left him and he did great! At first when I told him that I would be leaving he decided he didn't even want to go to preschool, but when we got there of course he started having fun and his buddy parent was there to help him. So he kissed me goodbye and off I went for an hour of worrying about how he was doing. I swear this was much more difficult for me than it was for him, which is probably a good thing.

Photography has been keeping me super-busy this fall, and I'll be posting some pictures from a recent session later this week. I've had several sessions in the last two weeks and I'm swamped with post-processing work now, but with so much practice I'm getting much faster so I'm not worried.

I did have to slow down a bit a few weeks ago when I strained my neck. I woke up one day and it was a bit sore, and it stayed sore all day. The next day I woke up and could hardly move. I went straight to the doctor and spent the next week on painkillers, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflamatories. Just when I was starting to think it would never get better, it did. Now I'm back in action and hopefully that will never, ever happen again.

On Saturday night I got together with some of my mommy friends for an evening out. It was so much fun! We used to hang out nearly every weekend, and now with kids and everything else we don't see nearly enough of each other. It was great to spend an evening catcing up with friends and yummy food, and it was extra nice because I'd just been out on Thursday night with some other good friends that I don't see nearly enough of. I think Jude might be the best husband in the world for letting me go out twice in one week! Honey, you're the best and I owe you big time!

Amazing Pet Photographer

2008-10-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

My friend, the lovely Kelly, is a finalist in Me Ra Koh Photography's recent pet contest! Can you believe it? Check it out here and make sure to vote for your favorite image while you're there, especially if it's hers!

Kids In Trees

2008-09-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

Kids and trees, a fabulous combination! We found some great trees to climb when we were at the Stillaguamish River Festival, so of course I had to take some pictures. My nephew Jude is very good at climbing trees, check him out:

Even the little ones loved being up in the trees, of course after seeing Jude climbing all over the place they wanted to try too.

I had to Photoshop out two pairs of arms from this last one because Jude and David were standing right underneath ready to catch.

Stillaguamish River Festival

2008-09-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Back in August we went to the Stillaguamish River Festival with my sister-in-law Sarah and her family. This is a great event! There is music, food, activities for the kids, and a Pow-Wow with dancing and story telling. We all had a blast!

We started out watching the English Beat. They were great and even the kids loved it!

After the show, we met the lead singer Dave Wakeling! I took Asha and Sarah's picture with him.

After that we just explored the event. We had dinner, the kids played, and we watched the dance.

During the dance there was an amazing rainbow! This is one of my favorite shots of the day.