For the past three years the girls have taken horseback riding classes for a few weeks each fall and/or spring. They LOVE trail riding and grooming the horses so they save up their money during the year (from birthdays and 4-H fair premiums) to pay for the lessons.

This fall their class are on Friday afternoons while I'm at the office. Fino serves as their taxi service and this past week I asked him to take a few photos of the girls on the horses for their scrapbook.

It's something I've done every year because like most parents, I enjoy looking back to see how the kids have grown.

Spring 2005

Fall 2005

But as I downloaded the photos this morning, I realized I didn't specify the kind of shots I wanted. I just assumed he would take a full body photo of the horse with the kid on it and that the kid might be looking in the direction of the camera for the photo.

As a woman who has been married for more than 14 years, I should have known better than to assume anything. I should have given him more instructions (although he tends to tune me out after the first sentence so that may not have worked anyhow).

While going through the photos I wondered why he didn't go to the places in the ring area where parents can see the riders without the obstructed view.

But then at the end of the 20 or so pictures he took (some of which were out of focus, bless his heart G. & L. use the same camera), I found a nice photo of the girls grooming a horse.

So this morning I asked him to take a few more photos next week after explaining more clearly what I wanted. He didn't see anything wrong with his photos but he agreed to try again.

Sometimes this blog thing gives me some nice leverage.