I took Shiloh, our 6 year old Coton de Tulear, to visit his veterinarian the other day. Since we’ve been fostering, I haven’t been on top of many smallish matters of life, so Shiloh was a bit late on his vaccinations. On the phone the receptionist told me to bring in a stool sample. O-kay. All day long I stayed glued to the bathroom activities of the dog—super fun, let me tell you—and finally at dusk his little dog body hunched in that familiar pose. I ran for a plastic baggy and when I came back? He was eagerly waiting at the door to be let in.
Have you ever seen a person act oddly in their yard or out on the street? You wonder what in the world they could be doing? Well, that was me that evening. Not only was the sun well on its way past the horizon but the yard was covered in small patches of snow, thus turning this experience into a real life Where’s Waldo with dog poop. I like to imagine the neighbors saying, “Honey, come see this! What in the world do you think she’s doing??” Because there I was, iPhone held high like a torch shining down on the ground with its capable flashlight app, making circles in the yard. I couldn’t have had more intensity in my pursuit if I had dropped my engagement ring. And you know what? I was successful. I WON! I won the, um, stool sample award? Yeah. Who’s keeping tabs on my awesomeness?
So yesterday was another moment like this one, except more gratifying because there was an end product and less humiliating because it didn’t involve poop. As many of you know I frequently collaborate with Maralee Bradley on columns both for her blog and for Her View from Home. Sometimes Maralee will come to me with a specific need, but more often it involves general ideas and I get to figure out what it is we’re looking for in terms of art. (My favorite example of this was when Maralee and I both received new foster children in a matter of days. She literally ran into my house and mumbled something like, “Now Hulk likes them, now Hulk doesn’t” and that was it. Somehow we made it work and it was one of my favorite shoots because I got to play with toys like a kid.)
I knew Maralee was looking for images of plants pushing their way through snow as they come up in the spring. After searching my archives and coming up with nothing, I went exploring. In the snow. And the wind. In the snowy wind. Snow rarely ever delicately floats to the ground in Nebraska; it usually comes down in a sideways driving-rain kind of maneuver, only it was driving frozen bits flying into my eyeballs. So again, were the neighbors wondering what in the world was going on with Mrs. Tredway yesterday? Kneeling on a plastic Trader Joe’s tote bag, I dug through the dirt and dried hosta leaves and found green gold. There it was: Spring making its way through Winter. Spring! It’s coming. Doesn’t matter that we were having a mini-blizzard on the last day of February or that snow is frozen in large patches on the sunken part of our front yard. Doesn’t matter that we’re still donning hats and mittens to run errands or that my snow boots are encrusted in salt from so many days of winter wear. Spring is coming.
I should’ve gotten on my hands and knees earlier. No matter what the neighbors might say.
There’s no greater privilege for me as a photographer than to shoot a labor. It’s a phenomenal thing to witness the birth of a child! Since Maralee posted a few images on Facebook, I thought I’d let a few photos tell the story of the birth of her youngest, big-little Theodore.
San Francisco, January 2015
Hey, all you who participated in the December Photo Project, I am SO PROUD of you. Thank you for giving me the energy and incentive to complete yet another year of this photo project. This year in particular, it took all my strength to simply pick up the camera and then post a photo each evening. In one way it felt kind of rote, but at the same time it was completely satisfying. I felt carried by your zeal for the tradition of the DPP—so really, thank you so much!
Another huge thanks goes to Christine and the Eleanor Creative team who produced the beautiful imagery we used. What a boost for the DPP! Thank you!
I am going to start off 2015 by posting some unused images I shot during the month of December. I love this one in particular. Love my Liv.
After anticipating Tredway Christmas all day, the grandkids made quick work of unwrapping and then put some gifts to good use. Kitty robe, on. Art supplies, out. Canvas, colored. I wouldn’t mind late-night art being a new Christmas Eve tradition, especially if it means us adults can drink something hot and have a conversation with complete sentences.
My other competing DPP shots for the day included sunbeams from various angles in the car (because THE SUN WAS SHINING, WHAT?!), thumbprint Christmas cookies baked this afternoon, and slightly blurry candles beautifully lighting Redeemer Church at the Christmas Eve service.
My eyes are tired tonight, but my soul is full and content. The babe born of Mary, God became man and dwelt among us. How beautiful to remember His birth with candlelight and carols, gift-giving and eating together.
Much love to you, my friends. And Merry Christmas.
This is the fourth year my favorite gift-wrapper has graciously come to my house and cut, taped and stacked gifts alongside me. We put Elf in the dvd player and get the job done. Liv’s assigned task is to lay on the couch and not look at what we’re wrapping. It just gets better and better each year and Rebecca brings me much happiness each time.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
These are the in-between years. The years where one fluctuates wildly between pursuing maturity and wanting to remain little forever. While everyone reaches for the babies and the lisping preschoolers, the ‘tweens remain in their own awkward location, caught between wanting to grow and not wanting to at the same time.
This image will forever remind me of the wisdom of my husband in the pew tonight as he encouraged me to enjoy the moments of “not wanting to grow” a little longer. A split second after his verbal nudge our tween turned and rested her head against me, a solid reminder that he was right—she was still little and it was okay for her to find comfort in stuffed animals and mom’s warm body. He muttered something like, “I am a half-genius after all,” which is a family joke of ours, and my mind and body relaxed and enjoyed my ten year old girl and her armful of babies.
Photography lessons learned from my DPP shoot today:
1) White dogs aren’t always photogenic. In fact, you can hardly see them sometimes.
2) It’s always a good idea to experiment with shooting from various angles—for sure you should try moving around when you’re working. However, candy canes in silver buckets do not look that interesting from the bottom side. Go figure.
3) When shooting glassware, make sure it’s clean.
The end. And you’re welcome.
My beautiful friend Rachel and her girlies, decorating cookies on this December morning.
