Behind the Scenes of a Blog Post

When the shop first opened back in 2013, I started writing the blog mainly as a way to keep people updated on shop news and new products, and also because when the shop first opened, there were some pretty quiet days, and it seemed like better than doing nothing in terms of keeping the business moving. I remember sitting there during those rainy days, sipping a cup of coffee and listening to music and just tapping away on the computer. Over time, maybe as a result of quiet days, and too much time on my hands coming from being a teacher when every minute is booked and crazy, I started writing more and more about the family and growing a business and writing and also about Caleb. In many ways, these things are all tied together and have grown together and shaped each other. Normally I try to take pictures when he's napping, since I need some natural light and can't do it after he's gone to bed at night, but every once in a while he pops in, and he just beelines for the action. You may remember the scene from some of these photos from the blog post on the new Platinum inks, and here are the behind the scenes. Caleb often watches to see what you're doing, and if he sees you swabbing inks, he likes to grab the next bottle and a q-tip, or if he sees you lining up the bottles in a row, he likes to help push them all into line with you. It gets a bit nuts when he starts predicting what's next, getting paper for you or moving the bottles around for you. He's mostly learned the concept of staying out of the photo or blocking the light, but he loves being as close as possible. Sometimes I feel a bit bad because I have to ask Caleb to leave, and he inches away, and I have to say a bit farther, and a bit farther, and a bit farther. And then when I turn my back to get something, he's right back front and centre. Sometimes he does this thing where he literally waits until I'm just about to take a photo, and then he sticks his hand or foot in really quickly. I don't think he thinks of it like he's "ruining" a photo, but more like he needs to be involved in some way. It makes me laugh now, but it's a game of chicken during the photo shoot, where I'm trying to time it so he doesn't know when I'm about to take a photo, and he's trying to time it so I don't know what he's about to do, until I run out of patience and make him wait six feet away from me. He's a pretty quiet kid, but he's always watching - sometimes I don't notice him watching and then one day he's participating, helping in everything, following all of the steps you take to set up a photo, placing the things just so. It's crazy how quickly they learn. As Caleb has grown - he's now two and a half - he has become both increasingly more helpful, and increasingly more unwieldy. I love the idea of him being a part of it all, but of course he's mostly just in the way. But really, having him around underfoot all the time - it's the best part of this whole adventure.