Last Sunday (yes, mother’s day) I crawled out of bed early-ish. I’d say around 7:00 am, and the house was quiet. This being mother’s day, I sort of hoped someone would be up before me, but, no such luck. We had spent the previous day in Rhode Island at our friends house, whom we had not seen in forever. They have four kids and so do we, so when I announced at 5:30 that we would be leaving there was a loud, long protest from 7 of the 8 children. I was over ruled and we ended up staying until 9:00. Needless to say, the kids had worn themselves out and needed to sleep in. Anyway, I got ready in the quiet house to go to work….yes work. I had to be down at Charter Oak Landing for a Mother’s Day Brunch Cruise at 9:30. The shoot started with 3 lovely couples renewing their wedding vows after 25, 50 & 53 years of marriage. Then on to the Lady Katharine. What a perfectly gorgeous day. The weather could not have been better. I was on board to capture the ambience and fun of the cruise for advertising. It was another chance to people watch, lots of Mom’s being treated better than usual by their children. I was a bit jealous, my family was probably home still asleep! I didn’t want to be home asleep, I would have loved to have my family along for the cruise waiting on me. I often find myself at shoots wishing I could share my experiences with my family and this was one of those times. Aside from being Mother’s Day and a beautiful day, the food was outstanding, everything you might want for breakfast including an omlet station. On top of that they were serving a wonderful lunch fare too, salmon, chicken marsala, salads and vegetables. (Okay now I am getting hungry!)
Anyway, the cruise was from 11:00 to 2:00 so I had plenty of time to watch and enjoy all the people on board. About a half an hour before the end of the cruise the bartender asked me if I wanted to see an eagle’s nest he had spotted a few days earlier. It was huge! But very far away. I grabbed my portrait lens and got as many shots as I could hoping one would be clear. Now I really wished my family could be there with me. After we passed the nest I grabbed my camera and found a little dark corner to reveiw my images of the nest. I zoomed in as close as possible and there she was, the Mom eagle! Guess what she was doing? Working on Mother’s Day!!! Feeding her baby eagles! 
I love my job and the best part is that even if my family can’t be with me I can always show them the photographs.
Toni Federici Photography - Bellies & Babies Blog 