Kessie in Cross Processing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kessie in Black & White

 

 

 

Kessie in Color

 

When I was editing these photos, I couldn't help but notice what beautiful "rose petal" lips Kessie has. So tender and sweet!

Kessie's One Year Photo Shoot

Remember this precious baby?

She's already one!

I was so excited when her mom asked me to take her pictures again for her first birthday. I've decided that I think toddler photography is my favorite. It is challenging though. You can't ask a one year old to smile. Or look at the camera. Or sit.

But can I tell you one sweet story from our shoot?

We'd had hardly any smiles from Kessie. We'd tried favorite books, cheerio's, stuffed animals, peek a boo, etc and still weren't getting the smiles we wanted. Then her mom said, "I know what might work." She left to her daughter's room and returned with a portrait of the Savior. Kessie lit up, smiled and repeated "Je Je" over and over.

It was a sweet, tender moment. One that I will never forget. Every night her parents point to the picture and tell her it is Jesus. She had recently learned to say it along with them. What great example of parents who raise their children in the Light of Christ.

Anyways I'll load three segments from our photos shoot: Color, Black and White, and Cross Processed photos. I think they all offer a different feel, and I'm really happy with how everything turned out. Only trouble is I was only able to edit down to 74 photos. Then with all the extra cross editing, it comes to just over 200 photos. It's so hard for me to be the decision maker and say, this photo looks better than this one and then cut a still good photo. But more is generally better. It just took longer to edit. Sorry Kessie's family! Hopefully they're worth the wait. Thanks for sharing your sweet angel with me for a couple of hours.

Quick Trip & Tip

We had a quick trip in February to visit Brandon's family in UT. I only took a couple of pictures. My sister-in-law said she was having a hard time getting her little Mariel to smile for pictures. So I offered to help.

 

I don't think I'm an expert, by any means. But I've found that if I can get a toddler to talk about the things they like, they tend to become more animated. Sometimes it's just waiting for them to warm up to you. For Mariel, she loved talking about princesses. When I took pictures of my nephew, I had to be silly. And I wore a Hulk mask so the Hulk could take the pictures. With Mason at the time, he LOVED Peek a boo. So I'd snap right once he took his hands away from his face.

 

Pay attention to how words end when the child says them. For example, words that end in 'Y' draw the mouth outwards. Like Candy, Silly, Mommy. Now say it in a funny voice and have them try to do it too. My nephew would say "Aaarrrrr" like a pirate, yet you'd have no idea from looking at the picture. (words may differ from with how each child talks, so watch their mouths as they talk).

 

Ryan's my analytical one. So I have to ask him how things work. That or tell him that "Charlie's hungry". If you ever saw the movie "Liar Liar", it's equivalent to "The Claw."

 

 

Really ANYTHING but asking them to "Smile." When I've done that, I get a forced expression that looks more like it's feeling pain than it is happiness.

 

Other times I think it's a GOOD thing when kids don't smile in photos. Childhood doesn't consist of a frozen smile on their face. There are frowns, furrowed bros, tongues sticking out, thoughts, sick days, and tears.

 

 

While I know those shouldn't dominate photo books, I still think they're important to record. Especially with how you can see that Lifestyle Photography is trending more and more (Something I'm very interested in developing more... like this picture of Aunt Susan with Mason)

 

So it might take more of an effort, but it will be worth it. Capture the moment. Capture their childhood. THEN capture the smile.