52 Variations - Variation Thirty-One

Hide & Seek

Another variation from out trip to Guatemala.  Grabbed this one while Gustavo was playing hide and seek. It is a classic name that requires no explanation.  Even with Dulce growing up in Guatemala and Gustavo's Spanish being a bit limited, they were able to bond amazingly quick and find ways to play that both loved.

No great photographic skill went into this, but I've found as this project progresses that is as much, if not more about, the moment than the planning and execution of a artsy shot.  In the beginning we did staged shots that captured variations of Gustavo, but in the shots of late I am getting spontaneous variations of his personality.  The spontaneity of this is more him, much more natural.  I won't be moving away from the staged shots permanently but it is fun to explore the spontaneous road with my son.  I hope you enjoy this little diversion with us.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Thirty

Duck!

Another entry from out trip to Guatemala.  In this one Gustavo was playing in the ball room of the Guatemalan City Children's Museum.  The objective of the room is to, through various devices, get the balls into a over hanging container.  When the container if full enough it empties and this is where the fun comes in.  An alarm goes off and the children and families run under the container so it can shower balls down upon them.

This is where we see another variation/side of Gustavo.  He is a bit timid regarding getting hurt or bruised.  It took a lot of encouragement from me to get him under the ball container.  And as the picture shows, Gustavo being on the far left of the group, he covered himself up as best possible so as to not get bruised.

In the end he came out fine proclaiming that it was cool and that he wanted to do it again.  Yep, dad's know best sometimes, after all we are masters of fun for all ages.  :-)

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Twenty-Nine

Little Sister

Today is a to-fer; yes you guessed it, I'm trying to catch-up.  :-)

As I mentioned in Variation Twenty-Eight, Gustavo loves being a big brother.  It is something he has asked for since age 3.  In my opinion, while I know many children love being brothers or sisters I have never met one that wanted it the way Gustavo does.  For example, every Christmas list has had little sister on it.  I don't know about you but it just warms my heart to see such desire for family.

The one drawback to this desire for a little sister is that the waiting has been hard on him.  For years Yesenia (my wife) and I tried to conceive naturally, thinking it would be easy as it was with Gustavo, but unfortunately it was not.  Then when we decided to adopt things have taken longer than any of us could imagine.  This has been hardest on Yesenia and Gustavo, each wanting Dulce home with us more than they have expressed.

I worry the most about Gustavo though.  On several occasions I have found him standing outside what will be Dulce's room in house, staring at it with an expression of longing.  (We painted and prepared it two years ago based on when we were told she would be home.)  When I ask him what he is doing he always says something like "Just wishing Dulce was here...or...I wonder what Dulce is doing right now."  It breaks my heart, all I can do is hug him and thank God for such a son.  I often wonder if I'm worthy of having him in my life.

I don't mean for these entries to be overly personal and I had to stop to find a tissue, but I wanted to take a moment to share a bit of Gustavo's psyche.  To appreciate the above variation you need to appreciate how much he wants to be a big brother.

The above is another shot where I needed to make noise work to my advantage.  I grabbed this one while walking to breakfast Friday morning.  The light was horrible and the onboard flash of my G11 was causing all kinds of color casting, so I turned it off, bumped up the ISO to 3200 (what I knew would be grainy as all heck) and shot away.  This picture is evidence of the "any photo is better than none" adage.  I was going to stop shooting but didn't and I'm oh so happy I didn't.

They problem was I had make the grain work.  I ran image through Noise Ninja and got the noise out but at the expense of detail and the resulting pic was fuzzy to the point of distraction, even for Gustavo who usually does not notice such things.  Then it hit me, how about a vintage look, pictures are always grainy in vintage photographs and it is almost expected that they are to boot.

The above is the result, what do you think?  I'll share that Gustavo doesn't like it too much, he likes color pictures, but for me it works.  It has an old feel to it, like the feelings of love and devotion Gustavo has are old, but eternal.  Feelings we all should have toward are families and loved ones.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.

52 Variations - Variation Twenty-Eight

Hug

We are in Guatemala this week visiting our adoptive daughter.  While this adoption has dragged on longer than any of us could have imagined, her having been referred to us 3 years ago, it is always a joy to be here and spend time with her.  At 3 she is a joy to be around as I've forgotten how much fun a 3 year-old is.  Gustavo at 9 is a whole different kind of child and while also a joy it is a different type of Joy.  She (Dulce Maria) has a joy of everything, of the simplest touch or interaction.  Gustavo has a joy of learning, testing his limits and discovering things for himself.  I love the contrast and Gustavo loves being a big brother.  More on that posts to come.

Now on to the purpose of this entry.

Above is my humble submission for this variation.  The time we wait for Dulce to arrive is the most anxious of these visit trips.  This picture is one of Gustavo attempting to console his mother, ensuring her Dulce will be with us soon.  Not to mention, he loves to hug; hence the variation's name.

When I travel in Central and South America I make it a habit to only bring my G11 and a little bit of strobist lighting equip.  This allows me to stay under the thieving radar and still get some good pics.  The biggest drawback to this setup, especially for someone used to shooting with full frame DSLRs is the noise I get at what I consider to be low ISOs.  This is why the above is in B&W.  At ISO 800 there was too much noise to make a color version look tack sharp the way I wanted it.  However, in B&W the rendition is soft and contrasty, just as I wanted.

I'm very pleased with the outcome, what about you, I want to hear your thoughts.  Does this picture work as a B&W?

Anyway, stay tuned, more variations will come from this trip.

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As always go to the Flickr set for all project pictures by Clicking Here. You can also find a full explanation of the project along with an index of the shots by Clicking Here.