Presley and Parker

This shoot was very real and unstructured. Just two brother with jeans and their favorite football jerseys on, wearing the traces of kool-aid mustaches and impish grins.

This is Parker.

Don't be fooled by the smiles, he's tough stuff!

Isn't this a neat tree house? Parker was very into having his picture made and suggested one with the tree house which I thought was an excellent idea!

This sweet embrace turned into a headlock .0245 of a second after this picture was snapped.

Presley worked the camera for me too. ;)

...and in a more normal state. Aren't those freckles amazing?

Ella

This little butterbean is Ella. Isn't she adorable?

I love how skeptical she looks here!

Aren't her eyes amazing? Such a light blue and then with the dark black outlining her irises. I find it very striking.





Can you see the heart shape her legs form?

Peyton

I shot the cutest little boy this other day! This is Peyton, isn't he a doll?

I got some good ones of his whole family too but I'm going to save those for the Christmas card and not reveal them here!

Love this one with his moma!

Okay, for all you moms and dads out there who shoot wiggly, prone-to-fake-smiles, preschoolers or toddlers I have a little tip for you that works for me oh, 98% of the time. Have the child growl/roar at you and then make a big show of being scared.

I tend to jump, and exclaim things like "You're SO scary!!! I must have jumped 3 feet!!!" The key is the response, the bigger the better. The child will then smile/laugh and you can get some natural smile shots from them. Trust me on this, you will get tired of this before the preschooler does! Of course this will get you a fair share of growling pictures, like this one below... which just might be my favorite picture ever!

Man, if I was his mom, that would be big on my wall :)

Anyways, that trick is what got us these natural smiles in the pictures below.





...and this one of him solemn, because he's just so adorable!

Brothers

They're still getting to know each other right now, but one day they'll be best friends.

Taro, 2 and Hugo, 2 weeks.

Brynna

This sweet peanut is Brynna who had one of the coldest shoots yet! Seriously College Station weather is so neurotic! Some mornings you literally freeze and other days you have kids sweating through their Christmas sweaters! All things considered Miss Brynna was a trooper!

The thinker

Love the fountain of hair right on top of her head!

You can still see a hint of baby in her cheeks.

Sisters

Oh man! This whole month has been extreme! I'm on my way to having completed 60 shoots this month or two a day (three shoots today) which averages about 6 hours of shooting a day and 12 hours of editing...which is where the insanity comes in! There's only so much coffee can do! Given that schedule, some of you I desperately owe e-mails/CDs. I promise they are forthcoming!

Meanwhile here's some lovely ladies I shot a while back.

Miss Ellie was 10 months old when we did these. When I did her newborn shoot we incorporated this curtain into the shots so I wanted to have it in some of these as well.


One sister (Molly)


Two sisters (Molly and Addie)


Three sisters! (Molly, Addie and Ellie!)



Ellie is a super posing baby! Isn't this the cutest?

Also this, (which was for her Daddy)

I love backlighting! It always produces my favorite images!




The whole clan!

Editing

One of the reasons it takes me so long to edit... Besides enhancing sharpness, color and contrast I also sometimes have to remove these suckers. (Near his chin)

I assure you as soon as I noticed it on him I brushed it off, but mosquitos are BAD this time of year! I have removed countless from family group shots that I didn't notice in person! :O

So, if you have a shoot coming up, maybe cover yourself in repellent beforehand?