Jump!

Zoe has become such a great little muse. I have a confession. I am an Instagram addict. While I will not go into the details right now, I will say, if you are on Instagram, do follow me @athousandstars. Now, how does this relate to the kids? As this blog right here, is all about our lives, my life only as it relates to my Mommy persona, and the goings on of The Weasels. Well, I am always taking pictures of the kids, in various environments, catching great light etc., and they wind up in my Instagram stream. My life revolves around them, around "us", and so the images that I shoot everyday, wherever I happen to be, often have the children romping through them. Sometimes I will try to pose them to be a subject in an otherwise bland shot, or add movement, or simply catch them doing something lovely. While Julian is still very tough to pose, Zoe usually likes being in the pictures now, and will often play along. Every Friday, Instagram will post a weekend "homework" project- something to work on over the weekend. You take your shot, or shots along a theme, edit them, post them with an assigned hashtag (#hashtag) and on Monday, Instagram posts their favorites on their stream and blog. It's fun to play along, and see what other people come up with too. This is known as The Weekend Hashtag Project. And I love to play along. Often, Nico gives me a hard time as I stare endlessly into my iPhone. But I'm not Facebooking. I'm working on pictures. When I don't keep up at the Boardwalk, or I ask to pull over on the drive, or I linger too long in the forest, or "need" to go somewhere- it's because I'm trying to get a shot. The family has come (finally) to accept my needs, and everyone is pretty forgiving when on Saturday afternoon while we're all trying to get somewhere, I make a request like, "Zoe, would you please help me with a Jumpstagram and jump off the boardwalk right HERE, no over HERE, a little more HERE, okay, AGAIN!" while Daddy and Julian wait patiently on the side. This weekend, the hashtag project featured #jumpstagrams. This is where the photographer attempts to capture their subject/s in midair, during a leap or jump. Zoe really got into it, and insisted on going again and again and again- which helps because a #jumpstagram requires many takes. So here it is, my weekend hashtag project, with Zoe zealously jumping into the air over the sand, hands up, the boardwalk arches diminishing behind her. Jump!