Nope, Rob didn’t win this title. Nope, I didn’t either. Nate did!

Nate has picked up on how much fun taking pictures can be. He makes sure there’s enough light. He focuses. He frames the subject just right. Then he makes adjustments if the shot isn’t exactly what he had in mind. 

For Christmas he got his own camera. He has enjoyed photographing and taking videos of himself and his sisters playing. We never even taught him how to use it. He just picked it up and was off and running.

Last Fall, his school held a Reflections contest. The theme was: Diversity Means… Rob asked Nate if he wanted to participate and sure enough, he did. There was a whole list of things he could do: write a story, draw a picture, etc. But of course, he chose photography. We didn’t give him any ideas as to what he should photograph and why. Rob explained what diversity meant and Nate decided he wanted to color some rocks and take a picture of them. Fantastic idea!

Nate went to work coloring. Then he gathered his rocks onto the deck and snapped some photos. Rob imported them into Lightroom, Nate chose his favorite and then pumped up the colors a little bit. We printed it and mounted it on stiff cardboard for the presentation.

Guess what?! He WON! Nate got 1st place in photography in the entire school. How COOL is that?! Here’s where the sad part comes in. Rob put Nate’s email address on the entry form, not thinking that that was the form of communication the PTA President would use to notify the parents the day before the award assembly. We had NO idea until the next week and had completely missed the entire thing. I wanted to cry. Actually, maybe I did. Nevertheless, Nate was stoked to have won and when we had gotten back to school a week later (we were in Denver) his teacher gave him his gold medal.

You should have seen that kid walk towards me with it around his neck. I’ll never forget how proud and happy and excited he was. He was even pumping his fist. He also got a certificate, some free activity/kids meals coupons, and went on to the next level of competition (which he didn’t win. But that’s totally ok).

I’m going to be framing his photograph and hanging it over his bookshelf by his bead. I’m so proud of this kid. He’s the best!