Christmas Carols and Cookies
This was my fourth trip to visit this wonderful family. It was the mom's idea to do a Christmas-y session. We were laughing about how her neighbours probably think she is a bit crazy for having two(yes, two) Christmas trees already up and decorated. But, hey...she's all done now and she can just focus on having an amazing holiday season with the people she loves :) We listened to Christmas carols, played in the snow, cuddled with Papa while he read us 'The Night Before Christmas' and toasted with a bit of Champagne. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon...here is a wee sneaky peaky.
This last picture is of mom and her grandma. It has become one of my most(if not my most) liked photo on Facebook. Sometimes it is hard to convince our grandparents to get in the picture, but always so SO worth it...
After I posted that picture, the mom sent me a lovely email. I especially loved this piece of what she said:
I know that each of these 'memories' you take are creating a journal of my little girl's past. Does that make sense? I think I know the kind of young woman she is going to grow into - and I love that she will have a visual narrative to help make sense of where she came from.
How lucky am I to be a part of this family's narrative? Pretty gosh darn lucky.
~ Dana
Photo Bombers Unite
As always, I'm a fan of an expert photo bomber...from this weekend.
~ Dana
Growing With Me
Recently, a couple of other photographers have pointed out that my subjects are getting...well...older. Not entirely, but often enough to point it out. That, a lot of the kids I have the privilege of getting in front of my lens are not toddlers anymore. Inevitably, when the other photographers mention this, they add how scared they are to have older subjects. Truthfully, they used to scare me, too...but not anymore.
Partially, it's because a lot of my clients--over half of them--are repeat clients. These kids have grown with me. They know me and I know them. There is a comfort level that comes from using the same photographer over and over again. But, it's also because my own kids are older now(and so are their friends), so I have gone from talking Backyardigans to Pokemon to Minecraft...and my comfort level around older kids has grown.
I love older kids. They have interesting stuff to tell you. And, they take direction...you can have them run and jump with a balloon over and over again to try and get a better and better shot. In fact, most of them LOVE it--that feeling like they are a part of creating something. And, you know what I've learned this fall? I love it, too.
This beautiful girl and I just met...so, we didn't have that comfort of knowing each other. But, I listened to her tell me stuff...and she has had an amazing life so far. Truly amazing. And, then...she ran and jumped and ran and jumped and swung her hair around and giggled and goofed around. See...11 year olds like to play just as much as toddlers :)
~ Dana