inspiration

I have three sons. Chaz is twenty. Alexander is four and Teddy is one. I have created a true American family. I don't have a unique perspective on parenthood, but it's at least unusual.

This I know: your babies are going to amaze you. I think Chaz was five when he shot me with his first you're-not-as-smart-as-I-thought-you-were glance. I can tell that Alexander's been thinking it — Teddy still thinks I'm God, and God I love him for it.

Although I've taken a few hundred piano lessons in my life, I can't play the piano. I didn't practice — funny how that works. But that doesn't mean I didn't learn anything.

The superior method for learning a foreign language is actually simple, obvious, and ironically, the most enjoyable — fall in love with someone who speaks the language. Linguists have observed that it cuts years off the process.

It's why the simplest, most obvious, and ironically most enjoyable time to learn photography is at the birth of a baby. A wedding would probably be a close second if anyone photographed their own, but it's rare.

Anna Quindlen is a famous Pulitzer Prize–winning author. For several years, she wrote a column for The New York Times called Public and Private. One day she would write about world affairs and the next day she would write about what the other mothers in her baby group were talking about. Anyone who read Anna’s column knew Anna loved babies.

It was 3:30 a.m. I had a big job that day and had to be pulling out of the driveway by six. Our baby had been crying for too long and needed comforting. It was my turn. I really did not need this.

I remember a conversation I had with some of my fellow students when I was studying photojournalism. The question was simple and silly:

What's the greatest photograph ever taken?