I have been working sorting through all my pictures from the last couple months. Sheesh, I have no shortage of those, that’s for sure! But I’m grateful to hold on to some of these memories. These ones are from one night when I took these two girls on a sunset date. (They agreed to come with me to check it out for lighting since I was coming out of photography retirement real quick to take engagement pictures for my niece-in-law-once-removed….or something like that:)
I really, really like these golden girls a lot.
I know you’ve posted your camera/lenses before but I’m wondering if you are still using the same?
What camera do you use and do you tote your camera around or mostly use you phone?
Just curious,
Thanks!
I just have my iPhone most of the time, unless I”m on a trip or I want to capture something specific. These pictures were taken with my Canon 6D with my 50mm prime lens.
Love you photography. I especially love those desert sunsets!
beautiful light! beautiful photos!
Hi Shawni, I’ve been following your blog for years And have just adored watching your children grow and reading about the way you raise them with such intention. You are giving them an extraordinary foundation to become themselves! As a White person myself, I’d love to hear about the ways you’re having the hard conversations with your kids about the devastating news from Minneapolis and the murder of George Floyd, and all the systemic racism that gets manifested in the killing of innocent Black and Brown humans (and in countless other ways) again, and again, and again. These are our fellow brothers and sisters and siblings, and I am trying to do the difficult personal work of confronting my own white privilege in all of this because this is ALL of our problems. It affects ALL of us. It feels shameful and painful to address the ways I benefit from racist systems even though i don’t consciously choose racist behavior…but I know it is necessary for us all to do this work in order to dismantle white supremacy. The responsibility lies on every last one of us white people to have the difficult conversations with ourselves and our children…painful as it is. I know you are always so intentional with your own personal growth and reflection. How is this going for you with yourself and your kids?
(I really recommend reading White Fragility by Robin Deangelo and How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X. Kendi if you are on a similar quest as me to unlearn harmful patterns and learn how to strive for allyship.)
Also, a professor and psychologist doing amazing work shared ways to talk to children about racial injustice, in case it’s helpful:
Dear Kat, Thank you for the thoughtful question. I think we are all grappling with this and trying to sort it all out in our brains and in our hearts. I agree with Pat, below, that we can (and should) discuss this issue with family and friends, but I do feel the need to address it on this blog. I cannot just go on recording normal life and ignore what is going on in the world, because life just isn’t “normal” any more. I have been deeply pondering and soul-searching this past week. I agree that the responsibility lies on all of us to have those difficult conversations and to really delve deep. There are so many questions, so much to try to understand. I have a lot of work to do. I have appreciated the wide eyes and sorrowful hearts of my children as things have unfolded, trying to make sense of the world. They have been my teachers over the last few days in many ways more than I have been theirs. Bottom line is that I am trying to be intentional but I’m not quite ready to write about it all yet.
Please don’t let your wonderful blog become political by answering loaded questions like the above one. I think we all get enough of things like this on the news and can discuss our viewpoints with friends and family or join political forums if we want to debate how to handle our reactions.
But KAT won’t be able to read her blog unless she is sure Shawni has the same concerns and world view as herself.. No one is happy the man died. The officers were fired. Hard to social distance an arrest. Are they exempt from respect? Even the cases of the last 5 years had AA police chiefs, AA mayors and police officers accused of wrongdoing being from every race from forces that racially balanced thanks to the quotes since the 80’s. Police work is dangerous. They are not Batman who is fictional and can swoop in an knock people out without permanent harm coming to them. The police didn’t decide to make the sale of loose cigarettes a priority and other trivial matters that often start these interactions. Now so many people have lost access to pharmacies, stores and their jobs. Lovely diversion from all the Gates news. Do the rioters know that suspects are processed and held for a time in the precinct they set fire to? The violent people are paid protestors from other areas. The locals are the ones just carrying signs and not burning down their own community. How far out does the disadvantaged low income person whose child has diabetes have to travel to get their kids insulin? All this police hate encourages people not to follow directions and that can get you hurt.
Thank you Pat, there are so many things I think are best not to bring into this space, but this is one I feel compelled to talk about when I am ready. Everyone will have their own takes on what is happening in the world, and I think there is a lot of “noise” right now in all forms of social media. We need to be careful and prayerful about what we let into our hearts, but I do feel like it’s so important to remember that we each have light to share, and we all have work to do to make the world a better place.
I’m so sorry, the last thing I wanted to spark was debate and emotion. I was just curious to see how Shawni was grappling on a personal, emotional level since I always so much from her intentional reflections that she shares, particularly how we can grow from painful places. That is all. I did not intend to agitate or trigger anyone, and I am sorry. Shawni, you are welcome to remove my comment if you feel it is inappropriate. Thanks for sharing your light with all of us.
See above, Kat, thanks for your question.
xoxo
Very sweet photos of your girls. You take great pictures. Love that time of the day as well, beautiful light. Keep shining. 💚