Tag Archives: Joel

father’s day

We’ve had to organize a boob intervention. Our youngest boy, Joel, won’t give up the breast and it’s been hell for pretty much the whole family. He doesn’t sleep through the night, which means Jac doesn’t sleep, which means I wake up to the Cranky House of Horrors. Every day a new sequel. Today showing – Cranky House of Horrors 9: The Revenge of the Fat Milk Sucking Baby.

Hence the boob intervention.

We’ve read the books, talked to the right people, mingled with the breast-knowing crowd. Apparently you just feed him from a bottle instead.

- No more boobie for you young squire, here’s a cold plastic bottle with water and fake milk powder instead. Mmmm, eat it. Do it. Do it. DOOOOOO  IT!

Do you think he did? I know I wouldn’t. So yesterday we decided it was time for some real firmness. No more sequels to this franchise of craptastic horror movies, not even straight to dvd. Let’s finish this sucker! Literally.

Starting yesterday morning we refused to feed him anything else than the bottle. Joel decided that sure, fine, you try and play that game, I’ll just hold out. So he did. All day and all night. He didn’t eat anything. By dinner time he was angry, hungry  and tired -  a lethal combo. I was stuck with trying to settle him since he apparently can smell the breast milk if Jacqui does it. That milk sounds worse than any crack in the world to me.

Operation Pat the Bub commenced at 1900 hours last night.

The plan of attack was simple. Baby wakes up. Try to feed him from the bottle. If that doesn’t work, put him to sleep by patting his bottom. So I did that. Every 30 minutes or so he’d wake up more pissed than before. But we stuck to the plan. We had to. At 3 am (that’s 0300 hours to you, staff sergeant), he finally took the bottle. Jac and Noah was in another room so this victory was celebrated by a tired dad in the dark. An hour later Joel woke up again, wanting the breast. He was fed, but still wanted a boob fix. I hear you, son, but nuh-uh, no more. So sergeant Patty Pat has been working all night, man, he’s been busy.

But we made it.

Jac came in and picked him up earlier. Fed him some Farex and baby yoghurt. He ate it all. She said she’d never seen anything like it. It was like watching Kirstie Alley at an all you can eat Pig-a-thon.

He’s asleep now. For the first time in 24 hours I can hear him happily snoozing away in the cot next to me.

Five minutes ago, my other boy, Noah walked in. He had drawn something for me. He said it was me and I wasn’t going to argue. He leaned in and hugged me hard.

- Happy Father’s Day, Pappa!

Indeed it is, son, indeed it is, I though to myself.

In fact, every day is.

three2(don’t worry, this is an old photo)

by Jonas

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the way i see things

Sometimes clients ask me about my favorite shoot. Can you show us your favorite slideshow, they say unsuspectingly. I always tell people I like photojournalism. I always have. My dad was a journalist and I remember growing up, hiding under desks in the newsroom, reporters running around smoking and drinking coffee from brown plastic cups. On my mother’s side we had the artists. My mother paints and so did her mother before her. At my grandmother’s house you’d find oils and canvases all around the place.

So naturally I never wrote.

I never drew.

It took me years to address my need to tell stories and express myself creatively. Ten years as a copywriter in advertising helped me, but even though I won a lot of fancy  awards, I soon realized that wasn’t the stories I wanted to tell.

The stories I had to tell.

I’ve always loved photography but I didn’t get into to it until 2002. I learned the basics of the darkroom, shooting black and white film. Soon thereafter I moved into digital and I haven’t looked back since. A couple of years later I started writing for myself, through blogs and columns in various magazines. I started to realize I could tell the stories I had in me, but I also understood I knew how to capture the stories around me, the small things that happen every day. After years of making things up for ads, it was liberating capturing real life.

And that is partly why I love shooting weddings so much. It’s got its rules and in some ways it’s a very orchestrated event, you know what’s going to happen, you know when people are going to do what. And yet you know nothing. Every wedding is completely different, every couple adds something new to the mix. I love being there to capture their day and I hate being in the way. You won’t find me running around telling people what to do, hauling flashes and umbrellas from room to room, setting up shots I’m good at. I try and walk in with a sense of naivety. I try and capture the events as they happen.

I know the story is there, all the beauty and drama, all the characters and the details. I’ve started to trust the day. It will be beautiful, people will be relaxed with me around, I don’t have to tell them what to do, where to look. I watch the story unveil and try to capture every bit of it. Today I work as a photographer capturing these things the way I see them.

I’ve realized I’m good at telling stories – long and short – mine and others – and there’s nothing I love more. I don’t need to do much, the stories are already there, magnificent in their glory, all I need to do is capture them and put them together, be it in an album or a slideshow. You won’t see me creating moments, telling the groomsmen to “fight” with the groom or hear me tell dad to hug his daughter before walking her down the aisle. He probably will anyway and if he does, I will capture that moment, because that is the moment that matters.

But back to the question.

Eight months ago I brought my camera to work as usual and I shot what was going on around me the way I always do. Then something suddenly happened. Jacqui called. To me this was one of the best and most extraordinary days of my life and I decided to capture it.

To me nothing will ever be more beautiful.


(click slideshow to play)

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by Jonas

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Easter in Sanctuary Cove

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by Jonas

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joel

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by Jonas

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Joel

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by Jonas

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