A little more than fourteen years ago, my daughter Katie Rose was born very prematurely. Today, Katie’s Video Games are Actually Good for Your Brain has been selected to be showcased at the California STEAM Symposium in Anaheim, CA on October 1-2, 2022. Congratulations Katie!
Sleeping Angels © Harold Davis
Alas, Katie has had a sinus infection, and antibiotics have been prescribed. She has graduated from solution to pills, but she does not like swallowing them, and makes a production out of it twice a day! Katie is the youngest in our family, and I am always amazed at how fast the years go, and how slow it sometimes seems (simultaneously!). I picture time as a river, with rapids and slow-moving water in stretches that occupy the same topography.
Katie Rose contemplating the swallow © Harold Davis
Nicky Now © Harold Davis
Nicholas [“Nicky”] was three when I started this blog, and the subject of one of its first stories (photo below of Nicky Then)—the fourth story to be precise.
You can see from the photo of Nicky Now (above) that he has grown a great deal in the intervening years—but the essential character is still the same! I am very proud of Nicholas, he is truly a great guy.
My blog has also grown. In the thirteen intervening years I have posted literally thousands of stories, and thousands of photos.
Nicky Then © Harold Davis
I gathered the family for a portrait in our backyard, with the camera on a tripod, and using the self-timer to get me in the group. I’m often asked when I am traveling about my family, and since I have some exciting travel later this year I wanted to have something recent to show people. Besides, the years go by so quickly, and it is good to make some images of the kids as time passes.
Davis Family Portrait © Harold Davis
Back row (from left to right): Phyllis, Julian, and Mathew.
Front row: Katie Rose, Nicky, and Harold.
Now if only I could direct them away from Minecraft and Wizard 101 into something that pays…from left to right in our computer lab for the kids, top row: Julian, Katie Rose. Bottom row: Nicky, Mathew.
Davis Family Startup © Harold Davis
Katie Rose loves to draw and paint, and make things like the mask shown in the photo. If you ask her, she’ll tell you she wants to be an artist when she grows up.
Katie and Mask © Harold Davis
Phyllis keeps the Davis Easter bunnies hopping, and a good time is had by all!
Davis Easter Bunnies
My Karate kids and Karate spouse, Phyllis, Julian, Nicky, Mathew, and Katie Rose are shown at the Rohai Dojo in Berkeley, California where my family learns Cuong Nhu, a Vietnamese form of Karate that blends “hard” and “soft” for a complete, well-rounded martial art.
On a beautiful spring Sunday with glorious clouds and shifting light I took my four kids for a hike in Tilden Park. We parked a car near Lake Anza (Phyllis helped with the logistics), then drove to the trail head at Little Farm. We walked around Jewel Lake, ascended the Upper Packrat Trail, switched to the Memory Trail, crossed Canyon Drive, turned left on Selby Trail, and proceeded on Selby Trail back to the parked car. You can see a park trail map by clicking here (opens in a new window).
Katie on the hiking trail © Harold Davis
The route was probably about three or four miles, with plenty of up and down, and tired us all out. But the kids did wonderfully, with only a little whining from Katie towards the end, and only a little stick-and-sword play from the boys.
The image was photographed using my iPhone camera, and processed on my iPhone.
What fun to pick Katie Rose up at her pre-school, and wander down the coastal range by footpaths, steps and stairs. To watch her pleasure at an ice cream treat, and to sit on a bench in downtown Kensington, California near the big ice cream cone as she enjoys every last lick and crumb!
Katie and Cone © Harold Davis
She starts Kindergarten in a matter of weeks, and it is always appropriate to remember her beginnings, and to be happy with gratitude for her compelling life force.
Meanwhile, Mathew isn’t exactly happy with his braces, but he understand the necessity, bears them with surprising fortitude, and enjoys showing off their color coordination.
Mathew © Harold Davis
From time to time I get asked for a follow up on the story of Katie Rose from people—both strangers and those I know—who remember how she was born. Katie Rose is doing just fine, which counts as a major miracle in my book, considering that she was born at one pound with complete cardiac and lung failure. She’s shown here via a recent iPhone capture in the playground.
Katie Rose in the playground via iPhone © Harold Davis
For me, whenever things seem hard in the world or I am unhappy, I remember that miracles do indeed happen in real life—and Katie Rose is here to prove it!
Related: The Story of Katie Rose book; Katie Rose category on my blog.
Every once in a while a photographic gadget comes along that is simply so silly, and such a kluge, that I have to try it! After all, photography is about having fun, and not just about making “serious” images. In that spirit, I ordered a set of auxillary lens for the camera in my iPhone from the always-fun Photojojo.
Mathew with iPhone Fisheye © Harold Davis
The set of lens arrived via UPS in an envelope with a plastic dinosaur. I’m not sure what message the dinosaur was intended to send, but it was kind of fun—part of the point of the affair. The set comes with a telephoto lens, a wide-angle lens that unscrews to reveal also an extreme macro lens, and a fisheye lens. Note that the zoom facility within the iPhone itself is purely digital, and doesn’t provide any optical differentiation; hence, the desirability of a set of auxiliary lenses that do work optically.
Katie Rose with iPhone Fisheye © Harold Davis
The way this accessory lens set attaches to the iPhone is that you stick a magnetic disk that has glue on one side onto your iPhone around the camera optics. If the idea of gluing something to your iPhone gives you the creeps, then this isn’t for you!
Phyllis with iPhone Fisheye © Harold Davis
Each lens is magnetized and snaps onto the magnetic side of the disk. This works reasonably well. So far, I’ve had most fun with the fisheye lens, shown in these images. The kids wanted their iPhone fisheye picture taken while they mugged for the camera, and I used a tripod to make a self-portrait.
Who knew that the audio cable of an iPhone can also double as a cable release? Maybe you do, but I didn’t. To make this trick work, with the camera app active and the ear buds plugged in, press the “up” volume button on the ear buds wire (indicated by the + symbol).
Well, if this all sounds pretty jerry-rigged, it is truly not the sturdiest setup in town. But it is fun while it lasts, and look at it this way: they laughed when Leica first introduced the 35mm camera, and also called it a “toy.” In photography, toys have a way of sometimes outlasting “serious” gear.
Self Portrait with iPhone Fisheye © Harold Davis
Wonder whether I’ll be using these photos as blackmail when my kids are older? Me too. Here are some other fisheye shots of Katie Rose and the family from a few years back, shot with a conventional camera and the Nikon 10.5mm digital fisheye.
Here’s Katie Rose in her Tiger Team outfit, ready to take on the world!
