Where does time go? This is what was running through my head when these kids emerged from their car. I first photographed their parents when the first was about to arrive. I have been fortunate to document the changes they have experienced every year and now their oldest just entered kindergarten and their youngest is running to keep up with her brothers. Incredible. The parents are old pros when it comes to my photography sittings. Things never go quite according to plan but they trust me enough to know that something great may come of our time together. I think this sitting had them a little exhausted w/ 3 kids now on the run but I loved every minute of it. And I hope they will feel like their frazzled nerves were worth it when they see these pictures.

So I am not big on props but I always love when favorite items make their way into my sittings. I always tell clients that a shoot with me is just capturing a moment in time so never to worry too much about what clothes to put everyone in, just pick favorite outfits that will remind them of their little ones at a particular age. And favorite items do the same thing. They often add to images instead of detracting like "staged" props.
These two boys were a little unsure about the person w/ the big black cameras. But when the trucks came out we quickly found a big hill of dirt and they quickly forgot how strange I looked. It was SOOOO great! When these boys smile you can't help but to smile back.

A few days leading up to this next sitting emails went back and forth about rescheduling because I had advised the mom months ago that if they were going to do family pictures just once this year that the best time would be when their baby girl was able to sit up on her own. So we schedule a sitting for months away as the date neared she had yet to reach the sitting up milestone. Finding another date that works for everyone is always a little difficult and the husband (like many rational men do) just said let's keep the original date and it is okay that she may not be sitting up. Well we are all so glad we went w/ his input because their daughter surprised us all and sat up unassisted for the first time and as we all laughed and clapped in amazement I was able to capture it on film. I had so much fun with this family. Their son already has swagger that I fell in love with. The first 3 images were from very early on in the shoot and he was just adorable with his sister and then he was so thrilled about her sitting up and that he may have been just the right helper in the great achievement. Again, my lack of time leaves me w/ the inability to tightly edit my most favorite shots from the sitting. So get ready for another image dump but hopefully you will see why it was impossible to quickly narrow. Looking through these makes me realize how lucky I am to do what I do...I had such a great time meeting this couple and their beautiful kids!

I have been photographing a lot of new families lately and since one of my favorite things is meeting and learning about new people it has been lots of fun. This next family was so great. Easy going, fun loving and full of energy. They also hail from Oregon so they MUST be good peeps.

I think you will easily see from these images that the time I spent with this family was full of laughs, fun, running and jumping. Craziness for sure but I tried to assure the parents that I was LOVING every minute. I would take crazy spontaneity any day over the mundane, serene sitting. It really was so much fun. I think the kids could have spent the entire sitting just in their rooms jumping on beds. The smiles, kisses and laughter...ugh it was so good!!
There are so many images that I love from this shoot I wish I could share them all. And the last few are not technically the best because of the lighting but I just had to share them to illustrate that jumping continued throughout and the parents were so great to just roll with it. I know the kids had fun and just look how beautiful they are!! Here is just a large sampling...