Taking Time to Think

bike shop 01, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Ahh... the alliteration of it all!

I have been looking back at photos a bunch lately (see the post about Red below) and I can't believe I never posted this one to my blog. When I took this picture, I had a feeling I really liked it, but over time I've come to realize it could be one of my all time favorites. Andrew is an interesting little character, and one of the things about him I love is the way he gets truly fascinated by things, especially mechanisms.

Watching him that day in the bike shop, he was so unlike many children. I think lots of kids who were along for the ride on their big sister's bike shopping trip would pull the, "I want one too!" card. Not Andrew. He got himself into the shop, and very quickly became interested in the mechanisms of the bikes, the brake levers, the chains and shifters, the way the pedals turned the chain to turn the wheel.

For the 15 minutes we were in the shop he went from one bike to the next, exploring their differences, playing and prodding, very content. Sure, once we all went outside for Emily's test ride, he did want to hop on and test out the bike himself... but while he was playing with those bikes, he was a character truly absorbed. It was a fun thing to watch, and a neat thing to capture.

I also love, in this shot, the way that his bright red shirt plays in a field that is dominated by shades of gray and black.