My Little Monkey
I like to call Jason "Monkey," among other things. Sometimes it fits a bit more than others.
Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/1000 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; max recovery; burned over the background; levels to darken shadows; curves for contrast.
Old Poway Park
It's been hard to find time to get out and shoot lately, what with everything that's been going on lately. Happily, I was able to combine some family time and business planning this weekend when I took Jason for an outing to Old Poway Park. I needed to scope out the grounds and check the quality of the mid-day light in advance of a promotional event I'm planning for next month, and Jason needed to get out of the house and play after being cooped up for several days due to illness. He was, of course, insistent that we go straight to the playground first, but once he'd gotten some good climbing and sliding time in, he was pretty agreeable about the test shots I wanted to take.
Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/2, shutter 1/1250 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped to square; curves for highlight recovery; levels to darken shadows and brighten midtones; dodged over Jason; burned over the bright sky and ground; added vignetting.
Silly Names
"Jason, what's my silly name?"
"I don't know." [laughs]
"Is it Daddy Waddy?"
"No! Not today!"
"Not today?"
"No, that's yesterday!"
"So what's my silly name today?"
"I don't know. Ummm... Radio!"
"Daddy Radio?"
"Yeah!" [laughs]
"Oh my goodness, how silly."
"And Cooper is... ummmmm... [looks around] House!"
"Cooper House?"
"Yeah! [laughs] And Jason is... ummmm... [looks around] Bird!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! [laughs] Jason Birdy! Not Turkey today, Bird! And Mommy is Mommy Gobble Gobble! [laughs]"
This is Jason's current favorite game. He loves it so much that it's nearly guaranteed to pull him out of a tantrum or distract him from something else he wants. The best part is how he can so thoroughly crack himself up just by looking around and picking at random something that he can see.
A Kid On Christmas
This is what Jason looked like on Christmas morning while his Nana pushed him around the kitchen on his new tricycle. You may draw your own conclusions.
Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX lens, and Vivitar DF-383 flash (in Gary Fong Lightsphere). Aperture-priority exposure mode, TTL flash mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/60, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: flash WB preset; curves to bring up exposure and add contrast.
My Turn Next
I mentioned this on Monday, but Jason really loved that bus. He kept trying to climb in during the middle of other kids' rides, and even after I made him quit doing that, he still hung around and peeked in the window.
Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: curves for highlight recovery and contrast.
Thoughts for improvement: I'm pretty happy with this one, actually.
Sine Qua Non
"I want a Toy Story party."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. I want a Woody and Buzz party."
"OK, well, maybe when it's your birthday, but is it your birthday today?"
"Yeah."
"No, it's not. It's [your friend's] birthday today."
"Oh."
That was the conversation on Saturday as we drove to Chuck E. Cheese's for Jason's friend's birthday party. Jason has been deep into the Toy Story franchise for several months now. We watch one of those movies or another (or, at least, the first twenty minutes) about every other day, and nearly everywhere we go, Jason has to bring one of his Woody, Jessie, or Buzz Lightyear toys with him.
Now, most likely when you hear "Toy Story party," you imagine Pixar-themed banners and tablecloths, possibly a performer in a Buzz Lightyear costume. But what Jason means when he says that is actually that he wants a Toy Story cake. For him, "party" literally means "cake."
It makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it, since Jason's main exposure to parties has been his friends' birthdays, which have always involved a cake of some sort. Before this weekend, every party he'd ever attended had been at a house or a park, just like a regular playdate. And since playdates usually also involve snacks, the cake would definitely stand out as something unique to parties.
The only thing that really surprises me is that he didn't pick out presents as the identifier of a party. Still, he gets presents at Christmas, and the parties at his day care don't have presents but usually do have cupcakes. I wouldn't have thought that such a young person would be able to make connections like that, but it appears that he has.
So, in Jason's world, if there's a cake, it's a party; if there's no cake, it's not. Though, come to think of it, I'm not so sure that's wrong.
Skee-Ball
Chuck E. Cheese's has changed a bit over the twenty-odd years since I last went there--there's no more ball pit, for example--but one thing that's still the same is the skee-ball. I was hoping that Jason would have fun with that game, but it ended up being a little discouraging for him, as he wasn't strong enough to roll the ball all the way up to the target. Later on I saw a bunch of his toddler friends walking up the ramp and putting the balls right into the holes, but by that time Jason had already moved on to greener pastures.
Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; retouched a dust spot; dodged over Jason's head and shirt.
Thoughts for improvement: I'd like to have gotten a bit better angle, to get the whole target in the frame.
Always Check the Back Seat
I don't really know why the folks at Chuck E. Cheese's thought that putting a grinning Chuck E in the back of this bus wasn't creepy. Is it? I'll let you be the judge of that. In any event, Jason didn't mind (or even notice, really), whatever it might look like in this picture. Actually, this was his favorite ride. All in all, it was a pretty successful first trip to Chuck E. Cheese's, the occasion for which was a friend's birthday party.
Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; curves for highlight recovery; dodged over the interior of the bus; levels to brighten midtones; edge sharpening.
Thoughts for improvement: I'd like to have included the "C" in "Chuck E. Cheese School."
Non Sequitur
"Jason, did you use the toilet at school today?"
"Yeah!"
"You did? That's very good!"
"I just went pee pee, not poo poo."
"Still, that's very good, Jason, I am very proud of you."
"Yeah."
"And you went poo poo on the toilet just now, too."
"Yeah."
"That's so good Jason. It makes Daddy so happy when you use the toilet like a big boy."
"I'm a human being Mickey Mouse!"
"...OK."
While Watching Up
"They got married."
"Yeah."
"You got married, too."
"I got married?"
"Yeah, to Mommy."
"That's right, I got married to Mommy."
"Not today."
"No, it was a long time ago. See that picture over there? Of me and Mommy looking at each other?"
"Yeah."
"That's when we got married. See? Mommy is wearing a white dress and Daddy is wearing a tuxedo."
"Oh... I'm going to get married, too. When I get big."
"Oh yeah? You're going to find yourself a nice girl and get married?"
"Yeah, just like you."