Photo Challenge: Childhood Memories

It’s time for another Brenda Photo Challenge! The current subject is “childhood memories.” After checking out my photos, please click on the above link to see contributions from the other participants. 

I would have adored having a huge collection of stuffed animals when I was a wee girl. But toys were a bit of a rare commodity during my childhood years. I recall having one stuffed animal and it was a furry cat. On a shopping trip to the downtown area with my mom, I had admired it at a Woolworths dime store. (Are you old enough to remember those?) My mom slyly purchased it when I wasn’t looking and later surprised me with it as a gift! 

As most of you have figured out by now, I am bonkers for bears. I have no idea how this fascination started, but I have been afflicted with it for many decades. Thankfully, my husband has the same fondness. And I confess that we have indulged in the purchase of many stuffed bears over the years, making up for lost opportunities in my childhood. Two of our bruins posed for this challenge’s photo shoot. 

I decided to use some very strong natural light for showcasing the subjects. Because of our home’s design and lot, we get a very short duration of direct morning light through any of our windows, and it only occurs in the summertime. Use of strong, direct sunlight can be tricky in photography because it can easily blow highlights in an image. In this case, it was a good lighting choice to dramatically showcase the mohair fur of the bears and the old leather chair used as a backdrop. Rich shadow outlines were a bonus.

This teddy bear is a limited edition Steiff, circa 1982, and a replica of one manufactured in 1904. (Don't forget to click the photos to see them bigger!)

(f/11, 1/200 second, ISO 800) 

And here is a black and white version. 

This artisan-created bear was made by Claire Vandenberg, circa 1985. 

(f/3.8, 1/800 second, ISO 640) 

He is quite content with the spotlight in black and white too.