Lucybug Is One!

After much computer drama, I finally am able to present to the world: LUCYBUG’S BIRTHDAY! YAAAAAY! Oh — almost forgot — Email Sharon and Mike if you’d like to see the super fun slide show.

See, I was almost finished editing Lucy’s birthday party when my Mac crashed, then it spent about two weeks under the care of so-called geniuses, and now it resides in the back of my car, a mere carcass of its former self.

So FINALLY, I bit the bullet and bought a new computer. And thanks to diligent backing up of original files, here we have some awesome shots from Lucy’s party. Isn’t her cake beautiful? More about the cake later. Oh, there’s a story. There’s always a story!

I don’t normally do much setting up of shots. For this one, I was just laying on the floor playing with Lucy, and I happened to notice mom and dad in the background, so I called their names. Voila! Love it!

Lucy’s extended family came to Princeton from all over the country for her party. We simply couldn’t let this chance for a full family photo pass us by.

And Princeton University has so many beautiful places to shoot! Normally, it wouldn’t be so easy to shoot inside a study den, but it was a few days after graduation and the place was fairly deserted.

Lucy’s mom received her DOCTORATE! Congratulations, Sharon! I am SO impressed!

The agenda for the day of Lucy’s party started with an hour or so of “family pictures,” the plan for which was that they would all be taken outside around the university. SNAG in the plan. It was RAINING. Ugh! But I LOVE these pictures in the dormitory’s den. The light from the windows, along with a little help from my off-camera flash, really make these pictures interesting.

Plus, I think it’s nice that Sharon and Mike will have these unique family pictures from their time at Princeton. Oh, and super bonus, because of the storm, Sharon’s sister’s flight, scheduled for earlier in the day, was cancelled, meaning she’s in the pictures too! Fate! (In THIS picture, Sharon’s sister is “in” it in the sense that she is holding up my flash! Thanks, Darci!)

Princeton also has plenty of covered outdoor spaces, which is also nice. Not so sure Lucy is thrilled about it though. (I love this picture. One of my all-time favorite pictures of Bradley is one of him screaming when he was a baby. You can see so much of his early personality in that picture. That’s why I love it.)

It was great to be able to get some fun and unique shots for Lucy’s aunts, uncles and cousins too.

I love this family photograph. It’s a bit of an unportrait, don’t you think?

Love this one.

This one too.

Fave!

It’s cool how the shape of the window is mimicked by the way the brothers and sisters are standing.

I was quite pleased that it was raining. I love reflections from rain, and umbrellas. In this case, that clear umbrella was useful for keeping light on their faces. A classic black umbrella would have better matched the classic background of the university buildings, but there’s something about the contrast of old and new that I find interesting.

The pop of green on the umbrella echos the beautifully saturated greens of the rain-drenched foliage too.

Love this shot of Lucy’s cousin.

She was loving all the attention she was getting while dancing in the rain.

She was performing for us, singing, of course, “Singing in the Rain.” I LOVE IT!

She’s adorable!

We all had lunch at a restaurant in the town of Princeton. The food was excellent, but the wall art, um… not exactly the best backdrop for a family photo shoot. LOL!

Love this shot of Lucy’s hands playing in the fountain.

Naptime.

Yay! Time for Lucy’s party! In the background, holding up the parachute on the left, that’s Lucy’s nanny. She was amazing as a party host!

All the kids loved the parachute.

I shot this from outside the party room.

I love this shot! Beautiful!

As promised at the top of this post, here’s the story about the cake. Well, it’s a good thing there were plenty of desserts …

… and plenty of happy, supportive people …

… because … sadness …

… Lucy’s dad dropped the cake! Oh no!

No big deal though. Most of the pieces had already been cut and passed around before he dropped it.

This cake meets with Miss Lucy’s approval.

I like to step back and get shots from all over. Sharon and Mike have since moved away from the university, and will be so glad to have all these awesome pictures from Lucy’s “year in the life” set of pictures.

I love how the swirls in Lucy’s bib are echoed by the swirls of frosting on the highchair tray.

Everybody enjoys the cake!

I also like to get a shot at events like this that document some basic technology, like someone using a phone, watching a TV, using a computer or taking photographs with a standard pocket camera.

Happy birthday, Lucy! I hope you all love the slide show as much as I am glad nothing bad happened to Lucy’s pictures (other than a massive delay in presenting them) after the summer of my Mac disaster.

I think this is the view of me that Lucy will remember most. It’s been a great year, Lucy, and I look forward to our next shoot! Boston, here I come!

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