A big thanks to Simone and Mike for these books they sent over. They are expecting their little one any day now!
I feel the need to mention that Canada Post is unforgivably slow. It’s not cool when the baby naming and pregnancy books arrive 4 weeks after your baby is born!
— Strobist — 1 SB-28 @ 1/4 at about 11 o’clock shot into reflective umbrella 1 SB-28 @ 1/4 at about 6 o’clock lighting the background
This a shot taken back on this day. After I was done I coaxed these kids up onto this rock. I like the dude in the blue acting all like The Man and the littlest one hidden way in the back.
I missed grabbing a photo today. This is an old one from July 18th, one day before Chaka’s one month birthday. Every time Hyun Mi sees this she melts, it’s one of her favs so I figured I’d post it.
I cheated, but I don’t feel nearly as badly about it this year. Having a newborn makes it pretty tough to photograph everyday. I OCCASIONALLY missed a day during my pre-baby 365 and the rule I made for myself then was that I had to shoot the missing photo ASAP – no using old photos or the same set-up for two consecutive shots. If I try that this year I’ll just get further and further behind so here’s another photo from yesterday’s waterfall excursion.
— Lessons Learned — As so many people have said before me, you often need to go out of your way to get a good photo. I was lazily shooting from the comfort of a bench, wasting pixels, when it dawned on me that I needed to get to the centre of the action which meant sitting my ass down in the middle of this little pond and interacting with the kids in it.
Our stroller + car seat arrived!!! Not only that, it arrived about 3 weeks earlier than was promised! Of course I have a lengthy review all planned out for the stroller product shot so I’ll save all the commentary on the stroller for later.
So 6 weeks after Chaka was born we are finally mobile. We decided to check out the local waterfall early Sunday evening. It was cool to think that we were taking Chaka the furthest she’s ever been in her life from her birth place with every passing meter.
I didn’t want Chaka to feel left out of the fun and games once we got to the waterfall so I put her over on the stone in her car seat next to the kids playing in the water. Of course, I threw rocks at any child who got even remotely close to our baby for fear of them knocking her off the stone and into the water.
The processing on this photo is not my usual style. I tried to create a more vintage looking pic for a change. Rather than use a pre-set I made all the adjustments myself in LightRoom and a little dodging and burning in photoshop.
If you’re the slightest bit interested in motorbikes than stop reading this and watch On Any Sunday (1971)… now! As one friend put it, it’s the Dogtown / Z-Boys style documentary of the motorcycle world. If you’ve never seen Dogtown / Z-Boys either then get extra pop corn because that’s two movies you gotta take in tonight.
So Chaka and I watched On Any Sunday at 5am in the morning which is when she decided it would be a good time for breakfast. She fell asleep after the first 20 minutes but I was wide eyed right to the very end. That’s when I decided it was time for a much needed spin on blender and took to the mountains. I’d forewarned my wife about a bike excursion during my summer vacation and while she was worried, as always, about my safety she was very understanding.
I’m not kidding when I tell you a few tears rolled down my cheek when I was standing on my pegs making my way to the mountains in the brisk morning air. This is what my life in Korea used to revolve around so it brought back a lot of nostalgia and a sense of adventure I never realized I was missing so much.
I spent from 7-11 exploring the neighbouring district and mountains. I found some great tracks, puddles and scenery along the way. The temple in the top left is only a 10 minute ride away yet I’d never seen it before. The grave site tucked far away into the mountains had the coolest little dog just chilling there on the grave stone as though grading his deceased owners. The best find of the day was this stream I fount following some fairly rugged paths one might consider impassable. Finally I returned to Okpo, had a beer over a newspaper on the patio and got back home to Chaka and my wife a half hour early!
(All shots taken on iPhone as riding time is so rare I couldn’t be bothered with caring for my 5D) — Critiques Welcome — - www.gregsamborski.com – - www.chakababy.com -
Observe how sounds of flowing creeks and rolling waves calm the easily stirred Chaka-beast into a very deep slumber. These sounds, also known as white noise, resemble what Chaka heard in the comfort of her mother’s womb.
I’ve been experimenting holding Chaka in all manner of ways, trying to find something that suits both of us. This one is one of my favourites. More to follow.
You can’t take this whole baby thing too seriously – it’d be no fun then. Hence this marks the beginning of the ‘Bad Dad’ series. I have more than a few ideas brewing!!!
When Hyun Mi brought out the grapes I just couldn’t resist spitting the seeds on peacefully sleeping Chaka. After all, she has drooled, barfed, peed and pooped on me, sometimes all in the same day… she’s lucky I didn’t drop a deuce on her!
