Water From The Moon

Does anyone remember the sappy Celine Dion tune from the 90's, "Water From The Moon" where she desperately pleads with her lover for ways to win back his love? The song goes something like: "Do I have to bring you water from the moon; is that what I've got to do....to make you love me"? Oh, Celine. No man is worth that kind of groveling.....it sounds pretty impossible that you'll find his love again by holding a Solo cup of dirty water freshly milked from the crater of the moon. Really. Just move on.

Okay, so desperate women wanting love is not what exactly what this post is about, but I am a desperate mom who yearns for something. I want to be able to photograph my tiniest tot, Emerie. While gathering water from the moon is a near impossible task, I have discovered that taking a good photo of Emerie is just as elusive.

In my family, being comfortable on camera is somewhat of a genetic predisposition. My sister and I both grew up in front of the camera, and my scrapbooking hobby allowed my children the same fortune (or misfortune, depending on your perspective!). In fact, by 18 months of age, Landrie was very well accustomed to posing for the camera.

My photo karma has been turned upside down, though, by my little Emerie. I cannot get a good photo of her no matter how hard I try! And she's such a camera tease. She will look at the camera. She will find the nearest tree and run to sit and pose in front of it. She will be somewhat motionless while I take the shot. She will even say "cheese." But.........she.....will.....not.....smile.

Instead, she makes face contortions.

Let me give you a few visual aids to help make my point.

Here is Kellie-Laine at my recent "Watercolor Front Porch Photo Shoot." She can hold this pose for days. Even weeks, possibly. Every now and then I'll get a shot of her with a snarling lip or vampire teeth, but 98% of the time I get a great shot. (And thank goodness for photshop!!)

Then there's Landrie. She grumbles and whines quite a bit before the shot, but once the camera points her direction she's all smiles and sparkly eyeballs. My main problem with Landrie is that she gives me too much.....too much of a head tilt, too much of a smile, too much of a serious look which makes her look angry instead of pensive, you get the point. She overdoes it. But again, I can regularly count on her to give me a shot worth turning into a Christmas ornament or a hand-hooked afghan from HEB.

And the piece de resistance: Emerie--first attempt:

Okay, so this is cute, but not really the look and feel I was hoping for.

Second attempt:

More of the same....I told her to give me "pouty lips" and this was her interpretation. I should have known better.

Third attempt:

This time I got smart and said, "Emerie, give me a big cheesy grin" thinking that wouldn't cause the confusion "pouty and sultry" command did. Unfortunately, she's inherited Landrie's propensity to over-do things a bit. And would it kill her to look at the camera? Once? Just once?

Final Attempt:

And so this concludes today's photo shoot at Watercolor. Does this photo scream, "Frame me, baby!" or what?! (I should also mention that in between these shots Emerie was no less active than a rabbit just placed in a flour sack.)

In all seriousness, I am chuckling my way through this post. This is my little fireball. And so someday soon I will frame these photos for display in my home and hope that Emerie doesn't kill me when she's older. It marks this season in our lives. (But you can all together forget about me getting a group shot of all three girls! I'd rather have my mouth wired shut.)

Much like getting water from the moon, once you have it--it's a priceless treasure. I have the pictures to prove it.