Josh's 8yr old pictures!

 

Last weekend we were in Rapid City running some errands, and we went to the Art Ally to take Josh's 8yr old pictures, since his birthday is just a week or so away. He and I were both excited about the idea, and we got some fun pictures. There are a lot of bright colors and cool artwork, and unlike most graffitied places, there was no profanity on the walls that I could see. 

The only problems were 

A. the time of day led to some bad lighting in some places, 

B. the bright light made Josh's eyes hurt and water so he had a hard time smiling for his pictures, and C. after about twenty minutes, one of the kids had to go to the bathroom really bad so we had to leave in a hurry, and I didn't get to make sure I had the shots I wanted. So sad. But that's how it always goes! (Also, I wish Josh had worn different pants. For some reason these ones just really bothered me.)

 As I mentioned, Josh had a hard time because his eyes started watering the instant we entered the bright alleyway, I think it had a lot to do with the light reflecting off of all the bright surfaces. We got several pictures where he was in a great spot, it was all in focus, but he looked like he was about to cry! See:

A.

Despite the fact I would have liked more time to get a perfect photo, I'm having a real hard time deciding which of all the photos I like best. In this group, I like the strong colors, and the pose. By the way, I added a few inches to his pants in photoshop, but decided it was too much trouble for most of the other photos:

B.

In this group, I like the framing of the window, the strong pose in the upper right, and also the bottom right seated one. Although in that one he kind of looks like he's going to sneeze!

C.

 

 In the following group,  I love the brightness, and the smiley face on the wall sticking out its tongue: it really reflects Josh's personality. I like the top left best, maybe. Also, I like how there's a lot of space so if I need to crop it for different photo sizes, it'll still probably look good. In the bottom right photo, I had taken several shots in front of this red canvas, and the others were all centered better, but this is the only one where he was smiling and it was all in focus. Blah.

D.

 

 This red door frame was cool, and I like the one where the pink heart on the door is perfectly framed around Josh's head, in the top right photo. However, that photo was originally shot really dark, and I had to lighten it a lot on the computer, which means it will look really fuzzy and pixelated if I print it any bigger than maybe a 5x7. I wish I could take that picture over again! As for the bottom right photo I really love the background and composition, but Josh's pants just look weird, don't you think?

E.

 We took some photos on a metal staircase that I thought looked neat, but Josh was worried about falling down because it seemed so rickety. Also, the light was a little bright there! We also found a cool doorway with scraps of wallpaper all over it. I wish we had more time there as well, because I know I could've taken a few nicer picture, but out of all those I took, this might be the best standing one.

F.






















 Here are a few more shots in that doorway. I really liked his face in the sitting ones, but I didn't notice till later that his shirt was all bunched up and his pants were looking funny. I cropped the top right one in to see how it looked without his pants, but it might be cropped too much. (Especially considering an 8x10 would require even more cropping off the bottom or top.) I like his face in these standing ones to, but the angle is just weird.

G.
























 Finally, here are some horizontal pictures, and I really like all of these. I just wish the light was a little better in the bottom photo. What do you think? Do you have a favorite?
 H.



































Click on the pictures to see them bigger, if you'd like.