Two things that Jason loves are movies and putting things in rows. Not that there was ever any doubt about his parentage, but if there were... I mean, come on.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, and Vivitar DF-383 flash (in Gary Fong Lightsphere). Manual exposure mode, manual flash mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/500 sec, ISO 400, flash power 1/16. Post-processing in Aperture 3: auto WB picked from the white part of the Ice Age DVD cover; levels to increase exposure, brighten midtones, and increase contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: I keep needing to bring up exposures in post, so nailing it in-camera is certainly an area I can work on. I like the composition here pretty well, though the little lamp in the top left corner does detract a bit.

Jason does this thing sometimes, when he's really happy with us, when we're holding him, where he puts a hand on either side of our face and smiles. He just looks at us, looks into our eyes, all over our faces, beaming, and it's like he's drinking in the sight of the face in front of him, like he sees something there that's wonderful and amazing. It's one of the best things about being his parent.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, and Vivitar DF-383 flash (in Gary Fong Lightsphere). Manual exposure mode, manual flash mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/500, ISO 400, flash power 1/16. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped out a bunch on top and to the left; curves to increase exposure; levels to brighten midtones.

Thoughts for improvement: The focus is quite soft, but I can't decide whether or not I like it that way. The window in the background is a little bright as well.

I think the most gratifying part of the holidays this year was seeing how much Jason loves his extended family. We spent Christmas with Juliette's family and New Year's with mine, and with both groups it was obvious how much he enjoyed being around them. He was particularly attached to Juliette's younger brother and one of my aunts, but he spent time with just about everybody and talked about all of them through the entire 11-hour drive home.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, and Vivitar DF-383 flash (in Gary Fong Lightsphere). Manual exposure mode, manual flash mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/500, ISO 400, flash power 1/16. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened horizon; auto WB picked from Woody's vest; levels to brighten highlights and midtones; curves to darken shadows.

Thoughts for improvement: I wish I had been moved back just a bit so I could have gotten Jason's entire right leg and not cut off my aunt's knee.

I meant to post this one a week ago, but our post-Christmas travels took us away from the Internet for the duration and I didn't get the chance. I suppose it may be a bit tacky to be posting holiday snaps several days into the new year--a bit like all the people in my neighborhood who still have their Christmas lights not only up but lit. I figure, though, that the beginning of a new year is a time of anticipation and excitement, and a kid on Christmas morning has that in spades, right? That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, and Nikon SB-400 flash. Aperture-priority exposure mode (matrix metering), TTL flash mode (+0 EV). Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/60 sec (+0 EV), ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: flash WB preset; crop to 5x7; curves to bring up exposure and add contrast; cloned out some spots on her face; applied skin smoothing to her face.

Thoughts for improvement: The flash here is simply bounced off the ceiling, so the shadows under their cheeks and eyebrows could be filled better. It would also be nice if I hadn't cut off her shoulder. I think it's a good capture of the moment, though, and I like the soft reflection of the Christmas tree in the background.

Jason loves babies. He loves to look at them and point them out to us whenever he sees them. And, as you can see, he loves playing with baby dolls. He doesn't have any of his own, but when he's at day care or when we go over to friends' houses, the baby dolls are among the first things he'll go for. He likes to hold them and put their bottles in.

The funny thing is, my mom always talks about how when I was a kid, I loved babies. I don't know if that extended to baby dolls, but she loves to talk about how I always wanted to hold every baby that I saw and how I liked to talk to them. She also loves to talk about how much Jason is just like me, so I reckon she'll get a kick out of this post.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, and Vivitar DF-383 flash (with Gary Fong Lightsphere). Manual exposure mode and TTL flash mode (+1 EV). Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/30 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cloned out a scab on his cheek; curves to increase exposure and add a bit of contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: I missed the focus a little, so the lettering on the hat is sharp while his eyes are just a touch soft.  I might have also liked to see this with an 85mm f/1.4, to get a softer background. He could also probably use a little more light on him.

On Sunday we were supposed to meet up with some friends and their daughter and go to Legoland. It rained, though, so instead we went over to their house to decorate some Christmas cookies. (Pro tip: if there's any chance whatsoever that your plans to go to Legoland might change, don't tell your toddler about it ahead of time. This turned out to be key in making our Sunday afternoon work.

Jason has known this girl since they were both just a few weeks old (Juliette and her mom met in a breastfeeding support group), and it's been neat to watch them grow up together. One of the most interesting parts of this weekend was watching them interact, because it marked the first time that they really talked and played with each other without any intermediaries. Up until now, most of their communication had had to relay through us parents, but this time they actually had some little toddler conversations. It's going to be neat to see how their friendship progresses now that they're actually able to connect with each other directly.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, and Vivitar DF-383 flash (with Gary Fong Lightsphere). Manual exposure mode and TTL flash mode (+0 EV). Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/30 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: curves to bring up exposure; burned over the highlight on the railing; vignetting applied; edge sharpening applied.

Thoughts for improvement: The highlight on the railing is distracting, though I was able to reduce it some by burning. Other than that, though, I like the lighting a lot--the Gary Fong Lightsphere really does work well. Compositionally, this would be much better with a sparser background. There's stuff right behind both of their heads that looks weird, and the stuff like the fence and TV really don't add anything. If I were doing this in a studio, I'd like to see what it looked like with just the kids, the chairs, and the table.

I love watching Jason watch things. This is him at Shamu's Christmas show last Saturday. He didn't take his eyes off the pool the entire time.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in aperture priority exposure mode (matrix metering). Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/40 (-1 EV), ISO 1600. Post-processing in Aperture 3: curves adjustment to increase contrast and bring up the exposure a bit.

Thoughts for improvement: I missed the focus a bit, resulting in the bridge of his nose being sharp and his eye being a little soft. My camera's AF system doesn't always do so well at night, especially since I have the AF-assist light turned off, so this is just something I have to deal with sometimes in order to catch the moments. Compositionally, though, I'm pretty happy, though perhaps it might have been good to include more of his left hand.

Juliette got Jason a new set of Christmas pajamas that came with a little striped stocking cap. He, of course, loved it. It was beyond cute to watch him running all over the toddler's play area at SeaWorld with that hat on, the tassel bouncing all over as he jumped.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 55-200mm VR DX lens, in aperture priority exposure mode (matrix metering). Focal length 200 mm, aperture f/5.6, shutter 1/160 (+0EV), ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped to 5x7; curves to increase exposure and add contrast; retouched a spot on his face.

Thoughts for improvement: The other kids in the background are a little distracting, but otherwise I like it.

Here's another out-take from our Christmas card shoot. I like to do these up-over-the-head shots with families (which is to say, I've done it on both of the family shoots I've done). It may be kind of a cliche angle--I don't really know--but it's fun, and most of the kids I know like to be played with this way, so it makes for easy smiles.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in aperture priority exposure mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/400 (+2 EV, center-weighted average metering), ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: crop to 4x5; pushed recovery; curves for black point and contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: The major thing that could be improved here is the focus. I was shooting fast and didn't move the focus point to the upper part of the frame, so Jason's face ended up a little soft. That can be OK sometimes, but I tend to prefer sharp pictures, especially for this style and angle.

This year, we decided to skip the studio session for our annual family portraits--which is to say, our annual Jason portraits--and instead opted to have me take the pictures. This was a bit of a money-saver, of course, but it also gave me another opportunity to practice my technique and how to run a shoot. Plus, this way we could get the more natural style that you get from a location shoot. It turned out to be fun, and a good exercise for me as a photographer. I still have a ways to go, but I'm getting there.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX lens, in aperture-priority exposure mode. Aperture f/2.8, shutter 1/1250 (+1EV, matrix metering), ISO 400. No post-processing.

Thoughts for improvement: For being straight out of the camera, I'm pretty happy with how the lighting and color came out. Compositionally, I'd get rid of the people in the background and position Juliette and Jason so they weren't lined up one behind the other.