Mindy Gallagher and her youngest daughter, Fiona, take “adventure walks” during which Fiona leads her mother to lakes and ponds, friends’ houses, the woods and beyond. The fall leaves were dancing in a gentle breeze one evening when the two stumbled upon a park. They began racing to the top of the slide when Gallagher saw a beautiful moment waiting to be captured.
“At the top, [Fiona] looked back at me, and I noticed the composition of my sweet girl framed in the circular slide,” she says. “The evening sun had cast a color that made the slide look like copper, and I loved how the shadows above her created texture and visual appeal. Her smile was real from playing and racing with mom.”
Gallagher says the five p.m. sun is her favorite for capturing pictures as it adds warmth to photos. In this shot, Shadow Play, the lighting perfectly shadows Fiona’s face while still letting some light in the frame. The picture was taken with an iPhone since Gallagher doesn’t think to bring her “good” Nikon D40X everywhere.
In fact, Gallagher takes at least 500 photos a month on her iPhone, which she finds embarrassing, but she says it’s worth it to capture everyday occurrences. She especially loves when her daughters are the subjects of her photos.
“They grow up too fast, so by taking photos of them doing normal everyday things, I trick myself into believing I am stopping time and holding on to the moment,” she explains.
Shadow Play placed third in the People & Families category of the 2017 Focus on Maple Grove photo contest.
