Jade's Cuties

When I arrived at Jade's house, I introduced myself to her daughter, Sierra, and asked her to show me her room. I often do this to help kids feel more comfortable about me being in their home; by showing interest in all their cool stuff and engaging them in conversation. It helps me too, to get to know them a little bit. She proudly showed me all her pink and purple things. Including a clock which let her know when it was ready to wake-up, ready to get out of "time out" and so on. (A lot of us could use one of those "time out" clocks, I think.) With little wings on and a skirt of tulle, I knew she would be up for some fairy-like jumping on the bed. So, with Mom's permission, jumping ensued...as did the rest of our session with her, her parents, and little brother, Brayden.

Aayan is 2 and...

there's a brother on the way! I am always happy to hear from Rumana. I have been photographing her and her family since Aayan was 6 months old.  I photographed him again at one year old.  This time, with another on the way, she asked for a few maternity shots as well as a session for Aayan's second birthday.

When I arrived, her husband Safraz took little Aayan upstairs for wardrobe prep while we shot a few photos in some lovely window light in her home. Before long, we heard the beep beep beeping of a car locking and unlocking. There was a pause. A moment of silence while Rumana thought and listened. Then he called upstairs, "Safraz!  He has your keys!"

I have my favorite pictures of them, too.

Finley

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet sweet Finley!  Like many clients recently, he too is brand spakin' new. I am close with his family. I used to babysit for his dad (good god, I'm old), and a year and a half ago, I photographed his wedding.

Fin was very relaxed (read: asleep) for the first part of our session, but then he stirred and was bright eyed for the remainder of it.

Noah is Three!

This is what happens over time. They get bigger. It's just fact. Today's photo shoot with Noah took place in my home which is currently in renovation mode. With the clean painted walls and good window light, I thought it would be a nice change. I think it was pretty successful and Noah did a great job despite all the interesting distractions ("What's that?" he'd ask, pointing at paint brushes and paint cans and...saws.)

Hugh, Tom, Tia and Matthew!

Hugh got in touch with me for some photos of his family...and their very large Mountain dogs. Hugh knows of me through my brother who is an employee of Hugh's, but also, Hugh won a photo session of mine at the Blossoms At The Beebe a few years ago. He kindly gave it to his sister. A few photos (man, did I ever edit tightly!?) can be seen HERE I arrived at their home and was immediately greeted my their massive and very sweet puppies. The children, Matthew, 4, and Tia, 7, were great kids, and energetic and wonderful photo subjects!  I learned quickly that the best way to get a genuine smile out of Matthew was by threatening him, "Whatever you do, Matthew, donnnnnnn't laugh!"

This was followed by his peels of laughter.

Since they live in my town, I asked Tia where she went to school. "Walton" she said.  That's where I went! I told her.  And she replied "Did you have Miss (So-and-So)?"

This was followed my my peels of laughter.

Jacob

Jacob, 4, greeted me at the door.  I like to chat it up with the little ones to help them feel more comfortable about the fact that a complete stranger is in their home with a bag full of heavy gear which they will momentarily be sticking in their face. I also like to roam the house a bit to get ideas on places to shoot. I did this by asking Jacob if he would be so kind as to give me a tour.  He obliged happily, wandering through his home, pointing this way and that, presenting the various spaces and the items within it "This is the livingroon. That's a vase. There's my lunch. Here's the laundry room! And this is the kitchen again." What can I say, I'm really excited about the outcome of this session. We took a solid hour to get the collection (which I had trouble editing down to a manageable amount last night). Jacob, Sadie, 9 weeks, Rachal and Andy were photogenic and had great light in and around their home. The made my job easy!

Abby

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Abby and her mom, Alyssa. We had attempted to connect for our session the week before but we were rained out. So, last weekend, although a bit overcast, was a go! I met the two at Weir River Farm for the session and had a very nice time wandering the grounds, playing a bit of Simon Says and checkin' out the cows. Abby's outfit was too cute, and Alyssa informed me that Abby had chosen it herself, which of course made me like the two of them even more.

John Daniel

It was back to Endicott Park for a session with cutie-pie JD!  His mom and I went to high school together and shared many band-related experiences. Now, she's a mom and I was psyched to take some good shots of her little one (actually, I photographed JD the day he was born. Kristen had hoped I would cover his birth, but a c-section brought that to a halt!).  

Gracie!

The other evening, I had the pleasure of hanging out with little Miss Gracie and her mom, Amy. Amy had never had a pro take photos of her little girl and she decided it was high time. I met with them at their home and pretty much did as I always do, let the kid make the decisions!  I followed Gracie around and did my thing in the dusk light.  Amy also came up with the fun idea of photographing tubby time, which I thought was great! Capturing day-to-day moments like that is something I really love to do because I think those moments are fleeting - time flies so fast! -  and it's rare when a parent might have their evening routine captured on "film". I was happy to do it for them.