This is the first in a series of posts to share what compels me to make a photograph and how I have constructed my favorite images.  Some are intentional but candid, and some are planned from beginning to end.

This image was inspired by my daughter’s tenth birthday last spring.  In my mind, it was a major milestone.  She had been with us for a full decade.  Her age would forevermore be written with double digits.  It was one of those occasions that made me feel like time was slipping away.

The balloons are symbolic not only of her birthday, but also of the passage of moments and how hard it can be to hang onto them.  One also realizes that once these moments are gone, we cannot get them back.

Her dress is simple and timeless.  The downtown location was selected for its textures and lines, and the time of day was chosen for the long shadows that would be cast.  I used the lines and shadows to lead the eye through the frame to the girl with her gaze on the haphazardly floating balloon.  I clicked when the balloon was clearly isolated in the sky between the buildings and the edge of the frame, leaving me with the feeling that if I had waited another instant it would no longer be visible.  I chose to convert it to black and white to emphasize the common feeling we all have when we see something we love escaping our grasp–and knowing that we just have to let it go.

I still can’t believe this baby has been with us for ten years (quickly going on 11, actually.)  How time flies!

This is my story.  What’s yours?  I’d love to help you tell it–in pictures, of course.