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Having been engulfed with a big project, I'm sort of surprised to see the week has evaporated and that it's been so long since my previous post. I'm back to reality because Anthony turned 8 yesterday....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 60 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 450 — full exif
Present from Fumie's Folks
LEGO™

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 — full exif
Present from Us
LEGO™

Adding it to the present (LEGO™) from his Aunt Namiko and Uncle Shogo (who got married three weeks ago), the result was a triple-crown of LEGO™ birthday joy...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 500 — full exif
Best. Birthday. Ever.

Before eating I took a snapshot of the group...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 31 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1800 — full exif
H A P P Y

Namiko and Shogo brought the “HAPPY” used at their wedding reception to add to the festive décor.

Oddly, Anthony wasn't particularly hungry and so soon excused himself to actually start playing with the presents....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1100 — full exif
Lots of Pieces
this is his real “H A P P Y”

Eventually it was time for cake, which Fumie had decorated with a running Star Wars® clone trooper...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200 — full exif
Cake
fit for a boy

He'd been complaining that he was full (and so shouldn't bother with the cake, but instead keep playing with his presents), but we insisted, and as we were preparing it, he commented mostly to himself “wow, just looking at it makes me feel hungry”. Duh!

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 66 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400 — full exif
The Quintessential Cake-n-Candlelight Shot

I usually try to get a shot like this, though there's less emphasis as he gets older, and for the last couple of years I've not put much thought or preparation into it, preferring to enjoy the moment rather than photograph it. Here are the comparable shots from when he turned 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2500 — full exif
“Happy Birthday To You...   ♪♫ ^♪♬ . . . ”

Then it was back to the LEGO, in a scene we've seen quite often in our house:

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 45 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1800 — full exif

He kept saying that it was the best birthday ever, without even knowing that my folks had sent a present that we were holding back to give him something to open the next day....