So where was that photo taken after all? Yes, it was in Canada. If our 4-acres with a few cattle and poultry constitute a small farm, it was taken on a farm. And that it might have been shot in our barn was a good guess. The hay bales certainly give that impression and the lighting does look rather like what one might find in a hay loft. However, when we did our family photo, the outdoor temperature was only slightly above freezing and the barn wouldn’t have been much better – definitely not warm enough for the babies.

We had discussed several different backgrounds for the photo when the suggestion of hay bales came up. Of course the problem with that was the outdoor temperature. But then “someone” made a wild suggestion…

Yes, we really did haul thirty or so hay bales into our living room! And “someone” didn’t get in trouble for creating so much mess. (But I did have to help clean up. 🙂 )

The concept actually came to me during the summer when I wanted to take a picture of our barn for a project. Stacking up a huge pile of hay bales in front of it would have taken a long time and work and furthermore there were already wrapped bales in the way. But the beauty of still photography is that what you think is in the picture does not necessarily have to be what is really there. It all has to do with the angle. When using such tricks, though one has to be careful not to call the resulting photo what it isn’t really.

(I didn’t ask the cat and calf to pose – they just did it on their own.)

On the whole, I think this has been the most interesting of our family photos!

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1