If you’re the mother of toddlers, you’re probably at that photo-crazy stage. Toddlers must be the most cooperative photography subjects. When Sam and Alex were at that age, when I said “Smile”, they obliged. They would dress up for me, they would parade their toys and pose with them, they would pose this way and that. And they stayed that cooperative all throughout nursery school and most of grade school. So, we have loads and loads of photos and home videos like these and these.
At around age 10, Sam had a change of attitude. Suddenly, she wasn’t so comfortable in front of the camera. She would cover her face and get upset when I followed her around with a camera. When Alex reached the same age, it happened too. It’s like they were suddenly conscious of how they looked and they didn’t want evidence of their not-so-good moments. And lord knows it made me unhappy because if there was something I was really obsessed about, it was recording their growth on film. And I felt they were denying me that.
When I started blogging, it just got worse. I couldn’t post just any of their photos. For instance, when I wrote an entry on Sam’s last birthday, there were four photos that were originally posted with it. Sam read the entry, saw the photos and demanded that I remove two. And I did. You know, it’s her face after all.
So, last night, when she saw that I was halfway done with the toys, gifts and shopping loot photo gallery that I had been working on for two days, she asked if I wasn’t going to include the new T-shirts that I bought for her. And what about the Homer Simpson t-shirt? Wasn’t I going to include that as well? I said I would if she would wear them for me so I could take photos. Surprise, surprise! She did. And you know, when Sam is in that mood, you don’t give her a chance to change her mind. Tripod or no tripod, I started shooting. The only proviso was that I take the photos without including her head. I understood. She hadn’t taken a shower, her hair looked like she had been shooting overnight for a horror movie and I UNDERSTOOD.
The biggest surprise was when, after the shirts had been photographed, she VOLUNTEERED to have head shots of her taken. Head shots. FOR POSTING IN MY BLOG. She was even willing to “arrange” her hair the way I wanted. And then she started posing without any prompting from me. All I had to do was focus and shoot.
Well, that’s Sam’s Halloween look. Duh, she took her sweet time putting on the mask and messing up her hair. January might be too early for Halloween but she was in the mood so why not, eh? 
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Em Dy 01.06.08 at 11:51 am
Uso naman ang halloween look now that the networks are hyping up horror flicks. No wonder she agreed to pose for you.
Sam 01.06.08 at 4:45 pm
Kasi hindi naman kita mukha ko e.
Connie Veneracion 01.07.08 at 1:23 pm
Em, when Sam does not brush her hair, she’s always wearing the Halloween look hahahaha
Sam, mas happy ako had you posed without the mask on.
Em Dy 01.08.08 at 1:30 am
Sam, I would have done the same. I’m also not comfortable showing my face on the net. Hanggang Meez avatar lang ako.
Connie Veneracion 01.08.08 at 7:23 am
Camera-shy people? hehehe
julie 01.08.08 at 7:08 pm
Connie, kasama ba ang frog sa springform pan?
Seriously, thanks,been wanting to get one like that. Without the frog, of course.
Connie Veneracion 01.09.08 at 9:28 am
LOL hindi. hahaha But really, a springform pan is such a wonderful tool to have. At Gourdo’s, it was just a little over 600 pesos!