Shoot with Denny and Kan in Old Town

Denny and I went down to historic Old Town after work to do a shoot of Kan. Denny was the principal photographer and I was there to carry the bag. However, I did manage to catch a few good shots of Kan, shooting over Denny's shoulder most of the time. Kan's older sister was a model at one point and you can definitely see that the talent run in the family. It was tough getting all the shots in as the sun was disappearing quickly behind the marine layer, but we manage alright.

Fill Light and Dramatic Skies

Denny and I were messing with the popup flash on the camera to get just the right amount of fill light while keeping the dramatic sky properly exposed. Shots like these can always be better with off camera lighting rather than lighting that is coming from the same direction as the camera. The reason of that is in "real" life, the light that falls on the subjects we see with our natural eyes generally come from a different direction. Face it, we generally don't walk around with a light on our forehead. Applying this basic principle usually can elevate your photos to the next level. That said, even with the flatness of this light, it's still deliver a pretty cool photo, even for a on camera popup. The major reason for this is the dramatic background. We set the exposure for the skies, and then we dialed down the FEC (flash exposure compensation) to -1 or more stop. This helps to eliminate that obvious flash photo look you usually see with snapshot photos. The result is a pleasing photo overall.

Denny on a dark, cloudy day in front of his place

Exploding Poo=Exploding Money

Following up on my post regarding newborns sleeping a lot. Well, there's something else they do a lot of, and I'm not talking about eating. Quite the opposite really. Terrence today perfected the technique he first unleased on Julie in this post here. It's like the trifecta of bodily fluid excretion.

After waking up, Terrence gets fed like normal. In the middle of his feeding, Julie usually changes his diapers because he usually soils them during his sleep and during the first initial feeding he wakes. While switching out his diapers and cleaning him like normal, I hear her let out a loud scream. When I go to check, Terrence had apparently unleashed a string of wet, yellow, breast milk feed poo to explode into the air and hit mom and ultimately end up all over the flood. It was so gross! But if you thought that was it...you were as suprised as Mommy was. As she clean up the first round, and pull out another clean diaper...Terrence decided to fire the second salvo and allow his pee to temporarily escape the bounds of gravity. He wets himself and the new diaper. Mommy calls for reenforcement and daddy came running. As soon as I got there, I see him launch the final attach...he throws up all over his changing pad. LOL...very nice. Dad was proud of his son's new found powers but is also sadden that like the US, each exploding bomb equates to money down the drain. Diapers gets expensive...especially when in a single session, the baby goes through three.

After the attacks were done, Terrence just laid there...with almost a smug look on his face...so content and he didn't let out a single peep. He knew his job was done for the day. The only left was to get change, finish feeding and finally sleep to dream up of the next ways to attack Mommy. Nice...the joy of being a baby. I would say, enjoy the pictures...but this is one that many of you guys rather I not share. LOL...gotta have the good along with the ugly ya know.

Exploding Poo...looks kidda like Grey Poupon

Terrence's First Bath

Last Sat, my mom gave Terrence his first bath. I took some pictures of that moment and never got a chance to share. According to my mom, Terrence really enjoy his baths. My mom said that he lays so calm, relaxing in the warm water. After the bath he sleeps very soundly and for a long time.

My mom gives Terrence his first bath

Terrence content after the bath

Lots of baby powder to keep the skin soft and dry

Newborns Sleep A lot

Newborn babies sure do sleep a lot. But that's actually a welcome thing, ask any parents. I love Terrence in his sleep. Sometimes I sneak into the room while mother and child are both fast asleep and just sit there and watch. Terrence always does the funniest things in his sleep. He would be sleeping so peacefully, like in these pictures, but then out of the blue throw up his hands and legs into the air like he's doing some type of aerobic exercise. Then they slowly drop back to his side before going totally limp. It's so funny to watch and took me by surprise the first time I witness this. Maybe I'll try to capture some of that the next time to share. In the mean time, here are a couple of pictures of baby Terrence sleeping soundly in bed and in his car seat.

So cute sleeping with his tongue sticking out

In his cool green Chicco car seat

The funny things that babies do

Julie is back home with my mom and will be there for the next three weeks. In the Vietnamese culture, after a woman gives birth, within the first month there are certain things that she must do, eat, avoid in order to ensure she continues to be healthy in the future. Whether any of that is true or not, all I am concern about is that if she doesn't do any of what is required, our immediate future will be hell...that's for sure. So Julie is up in LA with my mom and I am back down here in SD, taking care of work as some important things are happening there. Julie emails me saying that Terrence did something funny, though he didn't think it was funny himself.

After getting bathed, Julie was switching him into some clean diapers when he let a fountain of pee up over his shirt and square into his mouth and face. He pause momentarily to taste and swallow before making supposedly the funniest face and then proceed to scream his head off. So mother and grandmother must bathe him all over again, laughing at him the entire time. He became one Red piglet by the end of the ordeal Julie said. Too bad I was not there to capture the moment but I am sure I will be privy to many more faces from him. Enjoy...