Daddy's Girls

Abigail and Madison came in with their dad and grandmother as part of our Father's Day Sample Promotion. We decide to do some sweet shots of the girls with their dad Greg in the front room and then brainstormed on something fun we could finish with. I don't know if it was the heat upstairs in that room, but we were just stumped for a moment on how to capture that playful side of Dad and the girls. We knew we wanted them all looking at one another, but after that things got a little fuzzy. We got them into position, and like magic it happened. "It" is when Greg started tickling the girls, and everyone got the giggles. It was such a sweet moment to be apart of. After that we decided to do something of just Abigail and Madison. I caught them whispering to each other about not having enough room, or Madison leaning too hard on Abigail, but then again I didn't have to try very hard. Everyone in the room could hear their "whispering conversation." We did bust them for not being very good at whispering, but I know they still had fun anyway. Thanks girls you did amazing!

The Swimming Lesson

No this isn't a post offering a new service where we teach kids to swim but rather a lesson on what not to do during a session. Several weeks ago I had called Cindy and begged to let me do a family photograph with my new high resolution camera. Last year we had done some photographs at this same location but my favorite image was one that was just a quick grab shot at the end of their session with a low res digital camera. So I wanted to recreate that image with the new camera because of the incredible sense of depth it has. Cindy said she would be glad to do it but considering that there are three teenagers involved she needed to see if they would agree. Yoo hoo they did! I really appreciate their sacrifice, as we all know teenagers don't want to get up any earlier than they absolutely have to. It was a beautiful morning and we arrived at the spot at the perfect time for the lighting. I was wondering if the creek would be high because of the rain we had during the night(at about 2:00 A.M. I wasn't sure we would be a go). Needless to say the creek was up and the rocks were slippery. I warned everybody about being careful then started walking to where I needed to place the camera and tripod. Well you guessed it I went swimming well not quite but I did slip and sat down in the water. Of course I chose a spot were it wasn't shallow I was soaked! Peggy being the concerned woman she is wanted to make sure the camera was OK. I did save it because I made sure to hold it up. Everybody got a good laugh and we then had fun capturing some cool images. So the lesson for today is practice what you preach!

And The Winner Is...

I was very excited to start Addison and Sophie's session. Their dad Danny had called a while back about getting his wife Eleanor a gift certificate to have their children come in and get their portraits made for her birthday. So Danny and I secretly played phone tag, and set up how the gift certificate should look, the message inside, etc. (Husbands, fiances, and boyfriends, I hope you're paying attention...this is a birthday/holiday gift giving gold mine!)

I'll admit this session was HOT! It wasn't really the temperature, but the humidity was a killer. Sophie and Addison were such great sports, and with a couple of cool off breaks they were ready go again. Toward the end of our session The Wiggles came out. The Wiggles in case you're wondering is what happens when kids are made to stand still for an extended period of time. Yes, in the beginning it's easy to be still, but as a big kid trapped in an adult body I can understand the need to wiggle from time to time. So to keep us on track I started the competition of the century between this brother and sister duo. When they split up for their individual shots I informed both that I was keeping score and who ever did the best won a prize. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not above bribery, especially if it works.
It was a tight race. Poses quickly came naturally, smiles were flawless, and suddenly our friend The Wiggles was gone. We have gorgeous stuff of these two, and they were a joy to work with.

Oh and in case you were wondering...It was tie. Everyone got a prize.

"You Buy Your Equipment at Bi-Lo!"

When Betty called a couple weeks back and told us about her idea for a outdoor portrait session of her brother Russell to celebrate his 80th birthday, I knew it was going to be an especially fun session. I had no idea though how much laughing I was going to do. Our location was just a block away from where Betty and Russell had grown up. Also, Betty told me and teased her older brother about the girlfriend of his who had lived right across the street from where we were. Aww, but Russell was quick to inform me she was "just a friend." While setting up we had a couple of technical difficulties with one of our lights, which is why we are always lugging around a backup! Backup flash to the rescue! We thought it might be the connection causing us trouble, but Russell quickly pointed out, "of course it doesn't work you buy you equipment from Bi-Lo." I was a little confused until I looked in the back of Brad's car and saw the Bi-Lo bags that were mixed in with our lighting and camera gear. We got to work, and you would have thought Russell had been professionally modeling on the side for years. In reality he was just eager to finish, but he did stick it out and gave us almost an hour. Russell even quickly learned that when Brad uses the phrase "we're done", he doesn't always mean it literally. In that amount of time we were able to do Betty's favorite shot of him standing just like he "always does" arm propped up on the building just looking cool, suave, and Russell said "just like Clark Gable." It was a joy working on this session, I had a blast!

Big Sis...Little Sis Session

Rylee and Addie came to the studio this morning for their session with grandparents, parents, and a Wilson in tow. "A Wilson" is one of the cutest little French bulldogs I've ever seen, and just so happens to throw Rylee and Addie into a fit of happiness whenever he comes around. What I loved about this session, and any session with two siblings for that matter, is not only the bond they have no matter what the age, but how the older sibling cares for and helps with their little brother or sister.

Rylee and Addie were a perfect example of this today. Addie is a 1 year old TODAY! (HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORGEOUS GIRL!) She's still in that "I'm figuring out this whole walking and standing thing" phase. Rylee, who is a great big sister and 3, was right there holding little sister's hand helping her stay steady. The best part though was if Addie got a little wobbly and sat down, well Rylee sat right down with her. Rylee was so attentive to her little sister, and was always ready to help by giving a hand to hold her up, a hug to keep her still, and example to follow when it came time to be a little silly and lay tummies down on the floor. You can already tell these two little girls are going to be the kind of sisters that play together, stay up too late together, share secrets, and probably when they're older share clothes.

I had a blast spending time with these two lovely little ladies who were full of giggles and shy little smiles.