This little one has many names — fizzy, Ava Grace, monkey, dude, Dahlia (her real name, but only when she says). Here she makes her debut as the Little Mermaid.

This photo was taken a few years ago, but as you can see in a more recent photo posted in March, I attempted to recreate its look.

While at the PhotoPlus Expo yesterday, along with my friends Pamela and Debbie, we talked about how our photographs seem to age or change over time. Pictures that we may have taken months or years ago can sometimes look entirely different than how we remembered them. I have overlooked many a picture, only to discover them in a completely new light. I guess ultimately that is attributed to the changes and growth of the photographer and the distance you are from the actual event of taking the picture. I never gave this photo a second glance a year and a half ago, but now it really appeals to me.

I’m taking another portrait class starting tonight, but to get me in the mood…. This photo was taken in the lobby of the International Center of Photography during a lighting workshop I took earlier this year. I used a technique called dragging the shutter, which means flash was used but I kept the shutter on my camera open a bit longer so that the background would be illuminated as well (you can also tell by the blurriness of the nice man sitting behind the desk). Lesson for the day.