Better Late Than Never (I Guess)

I took these pics of my sweet new niece and my gorgeous sister-in-law at Christmas time.  I was so mad when I got them on my computer later because they weren't quite what I'd had in mind and the ones of little "H" had some focus problems.  Recently I read a comment by a photographer that sums it up completely.  She talked about how when she was a kid she'd set out to paint or draw a picture with a vision of something comprable to Monet and then be so frustrated that her picture looked nothing like what she had in mind and her own hands couldn't make it happen.  She explained that this is often how she feels about photography.  That's exactly how I'd explain the way it makes me feel sometimes too.  After these pics I was so mad... so mad and frustrated that I gave up on photography for a little while.  Keeping the house clean was definitely easier for a few weeks but eventually I was drawn back to my camera, newly committed to figuring it all out.  I love photography and the figuring it out is really what drives me.  Every time I learn something new I also learn that there's another part of the equation that I have to figure out.  It makes me crazy but it keeps me sane at the same time and I love it!  I'm rambling but nobody reads this blog anyway so it's as good a place as any to vent!

 These aren't perfect but I'm making myself edit them.  I'm procrastinating on the ones of just baby "H" because there the ones that make me the craziest but here's a few I've finished up.

One more thing, the clarity and "creaminess" of these look 10 times better in Photoshop but I think somehow the blog "eats" some of that in the posting process.  Another one of those things I need to figure out!

Same pose just different crop.  I'm not sure which one I like best and sometimes seeing them posted together helps.