The magic of a tiny arachnid

Played event photographer today for the first time in 15 years. A friend asked me to come to the courthouse to serve as photographer while the family gathered to adopt their youngest child (today is National Adoption Day). Brought my daughter with me to photograph also, using the 'little camera' (the Rebel XT). I was using my 50D with speedlite flash in manual mode. Looking through the photos, they're... okay. Not fabulous, not bad. I'll have to fix a few (shot RAW), but overall, the fact that I was able to recognize problems with exposure and fix them immediately is huge for me.

Anyway, by the time the photo below was taken, it was past nap time for the little ones, who'd also had to get up early. They were cranky and fussy, and didn't want to sit for photos with family members. My friend started singing the ABC Song to no avail, so I suggested The Itsy Bitsy Spider--it worked wonders for my kids when they were little. There we were in the hallway outside the courtroom, probably a dozen total adults singing the spider song, drawing curious stares from people down the hall. And the little ones were mesmerized. It was magic.

Aperture: f/4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 640
Focal Length: 33.0 mm
Lens: EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Flash: On-camera speedlight bounced off (high) ceiling
White Balance: Auto