Pregnancy week 36

"Bump in shadow" by Jason



"Crescent moon", Self portrait

Self portrait of bump

"Heart hands", by Jason

"The Red Planet", self portrait

"Come quickly", I shouted through to Jason.

A most serene light was filtering through the open doors of the bedroom and onto the limestone-coloured wall, a rectangle patch of light forming above the bath. I knew before long, the effect would be gone and I knew somehow I had to preserve the moment. It was so beautiful.

"You've got to go", bellowed Jason in return. True, I was supposed to be heading out the door to the hospital for Reu's cardio appointment and I was in the driving seat after being awake since 2am with a head full of things to do before the birth. Yet I explained that I just had to capture this light and that he hadn't taken any pregnant photos of me.

"Can we do it later?" he continued.

A somewhat ironic response as we've only had 8 months to take some shots. Readers, notice the lack of shots of me and Reu. And, with the intensity of contractions building up inside me and the uniqueness of the lighting, I knew this was a one off opportunity to capture what I could see.

I'd taken a few shots myself but needed an extra pair of hands. However, Jason has two least favourite places on this Earth (he says depending on what's the least painful at the time):

(1) behind the lens

(2) in front of the lens

and yet I gave him my Leica, already set (as instructed) to capture the effect and maximise the use of light and he snapped away so haphazardly, that I felt deflated and dreaded the results.

I got in the car with the Leica, always wanting it near me when we go out and this is what I discovered. The first shot, the most amazing, and unedited, is one of the shots Jason achieved. Miraculous!

PS I don't think there are many male readers of this blog, so I think I'm ok. Anyway, it's a funny thing about pregnancy. Your body becomes public property so what the hell.

To view the Pregnancy Week 36 slideshow on Flickr, click here.