My daughter at 4 years old, playing with a sparkler on Victoria Day

Not the most classic piece of photography in terms of technicals, but this was using my old Rebel while trying to figure out long-exposure night shots (this would have been the first time we had fireworks since I purchased it in 2004) .

Today in Canada it is Victoria Day. That’s one of two days a year where we set off fireworks, at least in SOME parts of the country (the other is Canada Day). So, in celebration of what many of us will hopefully be doing (or did last night), here’s what we did 4 years ago on this holiday.

My son gleefully splashes in the waters of West Lake in June of 2008.

My son, over the course of a single winter, went from fear of the water to absolutely loving it. He surprised us this day when he dove in, showed no fear of getting his face wet and just loved splashing about in the sunshine. The year before, you could not get him to go into the water without dragging him. After this day, we could not get him to come OUT.

My daughter, being a bit goofy, late in the evening on her 7th birthday.

For some reason, I like frustrating myself by taking spontaneous portrait shots in low light. Something about the light appeals to me. I have no idea if anyone has ever coined the phrase before, but I like to call my pictures in these situations “Failing Light Photography”. It’s sort of my ‘thing’. It frequently turns into simply “Failed Photography” when the subject moves or I jiggle the camera.

My daughter at 5, kicking a soccer ball at practice

You can just barely see a glimpse of the ball under her left arm… This foray into soccer turned out to be ill-fated. She didn’t complete the year, sadly – although very good at kicking the ball, she didn’t like the fact that her teammates didn’t keep giving it to her – and the other team? FUH-GED-ABOUDIT.

My son enjoying the beach

We couldn’t get him to go into the water, so he sat on the beach and watched his sister and mom splash around. He’s over it now – we can’t keep him OUT of the water these days.

My son driving the kids' Power Wheels Jeep for the first time, he's about 2 1/2 years old

After puttering around under the control of his big sister for almost 2 years, my son finally figured out how it all works and took off in control of the Power Wheels. I took a few of the obligatory static fast-exposure stills, I decided I wanted some movement shots and made some handheld panning attempts… I think this came out all right. And it certainly conveys what was going on in his mind!

My boy gleefully hammers together his birdhouse at a Lowes Kids Clinic day.

We’ve been taking our kids to some free” Kids Clinics” put on by Lowe’s on Saturdays. My boy loved building himself a birdhouse.

My daughter stalks deer with her camera.

A couple of days ago I posted a picture of some deer in a field – this is my daughter getting her own images on the same day.

Both of my kids are into photography – time will tell whether they do more with it than just have it as a hobby. My daughter gets practice stalking animals so someday she’ll be able to track down movie stars and pop stars without their underpants on.

My son (3yo) strolls along the beach at Sandbanks on Earth Day, April 22, 2008.

We have a family tradition of doing an outside “treasure hunt”, not quite Easter, not quite anything else. Last year we did it on April 22, which is Earth Day.

At the park - my son, swinging... in-camera work using a flash at the end of a long exposure to produce a sharp picture over the motion blur

On St. Patrick’s Day I was experimenting with slow shutters and flash, and this one came out pretty well, like the previously posted one of my daughter  -  I’m going to try this some other ways in future.

A slow-shutter shot of my son on the swings at the park

This is some fun stuff I was playing with yesterday, using long exposures and short people. You might not be able to get kids to sit still for a picture, but it is rarely a problem to get them moving.

My girl needs a little assistance pushing down the drinking fountain button at the Beaches in Toronto. At least, she did back then...

A late one today, from the archives. Got home too late to process some pics I took today, and I am not sure any of them are worth being here, so here’s one from a couple years back… “The Beaches” in Toronto can be a bit touristy, but it was a source of both fun and pictures when we visited a couple of years back. My daughter had a great time, but it was hot, and she kept getting thirsty…

My little girl, a few years back...

Shortly after I first got my camera, we went to the Twyn Rivers area of Rouge Park, east of Toronto, just to take a few pictures. I wish I could go back in time and do it again with the camera and lenses I have now…