JOCY IN BLACK & WHITE

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 II, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/200 sec.

  Lately I have been cutting back on my photography in order to spend more time with my family. My wife works 24 hour shifts for the Monroe County Emergency Medical Services and up until recently I was using the nights that she was working as the time that I would edit photos, post to my blog, and view all of my twitter friends' photos.  What I realized last week was, I was more or less ignoring the opportunity to spend this time with my kids.  I would be on the computer all night and my daughter, Jocy,  would be watching TV by herself while my son, Casey, was upstairs playing video games.
  Tonight was one of those opportunities.  When I picked up Jocy after work she asked if we could go to the park.  When we got home we asked Casey if he wanted to go and he gladly said yes.
  When we got there some of my son's friends were there on the basketball court so he spent his time schooling the playground. It was fun watching him play ball and having fun doing it. When he plays high school ball he terribly serious but on the playground he was laughing and cutting up with his buddies and it was a treat to see.
  Jocy's intentions at the park were to shoot some basketball herself.  All of the goals were taken up though so she had to entertain herself by rolling her basketball down a hill and chasing after it.  I brought my camera along and noticed that the steps going up this hill she was playing on had a wooden railing that extended the entire length of the hill and was wide enough to sit on. Jocy being the budding model that she is was more than happy to pose for several photos up and down the railing.  She was outstanding and was having as much fun posing as I was shooting.
  After a while I decided to rest my eyes and watch Casey ball it up and I let Jocy take the camera and shoot some of her own photos.  She really has a great eye for a 10 year old.  I think if I worked with her on composing shots she could really become a great photographer.
  What a great time. We got to spend some great time together and after they went to bed, I worked on the images from the evening.  It may cause for a late night, but man was it worth it.

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 II, ISO 100, f/4, 1/500 sec.