Photo-A-Week: Sleep

Sleep is this week's theme. Something that, for me, has been very elusive this week. There has been a sickness running around the Eaton house this week and I am glad it has decided to leave and take residence elsewhere. Waking up in the middle of the night coughing is never fun, especially when you wake up the rest of the house doing it at 4am. Alright, on to the reason you came here.

I chose to do a photo a week challenge for a few reasons, one being to force myself to picture an image in my mind and execute it during a weeks time frame. One of the most difficult hurdles I have found to get over in photography is creating a product that is what I had in mind. Many times I struggle with aspects that I can't control or determine in order to get the picture to look how I want it. The specific one for this week was opportunity. Do I fake a sleep shot or try to stumble upon one? Do I stay up late and sneak into my daughter's room a start popping the flash, or better yet do that to my wife? I pictured that moment in my head for a little bit, but it didn't look like sleep.

What was re-enforced for me this week is I have to be ready when the opportunity presents itself. I am getting in a mode now where I am constantly looking for that week's theme. So that way I am ready when the opportunity presents itself, whether candid or planned we, as photographers, have to be ready when the shutter needs to be pressed. Joe McNally wrote on the subject in a book called The Moment it Clicks. Probably one of the most influential / inspirational books on me as a photographer.

So this weeks theme, Sleep, fell into my lap during a photoshoot with one of our (Open Sky Studios) families. They have signed up for a product we offer called My Baby Steps. This session was three months. We decided to use some props from the family that detail some very special moments currently going on in their life. Daddy is studying and volunteering to be a fireman. We struggled and struggled with getting the little guy in place among the props and he just wasn't having it, then opportunity knocked. A bottle, a little time in Mommy's arms and viola lights out. The first thought that came to my mind was "SLEEP SHOT". Of course there is also needing to get that prop shot for the family, so two birds with one stone.

So without further adue, our sleeping hero.

P.S. Good luck Dan on the firefighting career, you are a hero of mine already and I can't wait for the rest of our community to get to feel the same.