Getting a Photo vs Getting "THE" photo

Pier One in San Francisco, originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

I often find that I don't pull out my camera unless the light is just right, or I have the time to engineer a shot with my strobes. I decided to break that bad habit. I'm shooting with a Canon 5D and lenses that open to f/2.8. Why not push the envelope and shoot more low light/high ISO photos?

The above photo is a picture of our baby girl taken at Pier One on the waterfront of San Francisco. I am making an effort to get lots of photos of Ella that capture the styles and signs of our times. My favorite pictures from my childhood show old cars and wacky clothes styles. In this shot I tried to capture lots of people in the background so Ella can see herself and what other people looked like in 2008.

Technically this photo isn't the greatest; Ella's face is blurred and there is some noise in the background, but who cares. Thirty years from now I am sure this photo will be 100 times more valuable to Ella than a perfectly lit portrait taken against a white backdrop.