Oh to be a kid again...

Ava Grace came in for her children's portrait session. She was a polite and absolutely adorable little girl to work with. She looked like a little doll in her dress and with her hair brushed back. I had no idea at the time though that she would soon teach me a little life lesson.
Ava came back today with her mom and grandmother for their portrait order. I decided it might make things a little easier on mom if she didn't have a little blonde hair distraction in the portrait order room. So Ava and I headed upstairs to play with some toys, and try not to get into too much trouble.
I had almost completely forgotten how much fun bubbles can be just to play with. Blowing bubbles for no other reason than to pop them is a blast! I would have almost forgot if it hadn't been for Ava. I was just about to tell her thank you, but we were to busy looking out the window. She had just remembered that the studio was her castle. She was a princess, and I was the queen. I haven't been told I was a princess, much less a queen, in ages. We had a kingdom, and she even showed me her steed, which happened to be her mom's white SUV. Then we headed into the dressing room to play make-up.
Now being the brave fashionista she is, Ava went with purple and pink for her blush, eye shadow, and lip color palette, please don't worry too much about the outcome of this. It was "pretend" make-up we were using. When I asked about her choice in colors she informed me those were her favorite and made her the happiest. It's pretty much the best decision making, pick what you like and what makes you happy.
The point of my mid morning pretend extravaganza isn't that playing with Ava was a nice break from work, but it was refreshing to be reminded that life doesn't always have to be so serious. Decisions don't always have to be hard to make, and if all else fails put on a little pink lip gloss not because it makes you look good, but because it's your favorite.

Are They Twins?

"Are they twins?" It's the first question I've heard from every person I've shown these girl's portrait to. At first glance there is a split second of uncertainty. They both have beautiful long brown hair, matching porcelain skin, and gorgeous eyes. I guess I have an advantage because I was there for their actual session and saw how very different they look in person. While it's absolutely undeniable that these two are sisters, it's also unbelievable how different their personalities are.
I knew we were doing black and whites, and I hadn't met the girls before. They told me they were fans of Kings of Leon and I knew it was going to be a great session, but equally enjoyable because we were going to be listening to my favorite band. We got warmed up with some shots standing side by side, but what the fun part is when we tell siblings "it's time to get close" or my personal favorite, "act like you like or maybe even love each other."
This reminds me somewhat of how my sister and my sessions were when we were kids, only the portraits weren't near as good and some how my mom had a superb knack for finding not only matching outfits for us (we're 6 years apart) but the most heinous atrociously tacky matching outfits. I don't care how many times she says it I will never believe Day Glow was really that "in".
Okay, Okay, enough traumatic memories.
Back to the session. We were completely done, and I'm finding more and more when Brad says "done", he uses that word very loosely. We wanted to make them uncomfortably close for just a few more minutes so we could try some of our old school Hollywood glamour lighting. I'm so glad we did, and I'm glad they tolerated all the tucking and clipping of clothes and pauses for a hair touch up because these are AMAZING. Had to share with all of you!

Brett and Blair's Breezy Afternoon Session

Brett and Blair came in for their afternoon session, and I could tell right away they didn't have your typical sibling relationship. They really are BFFs and you can tell! I realize all siblings love each other, but especially with young children close in age I see more and more they have a very special bond that is so adorable to watch. It's almost like they have a secret language that no one else can speak. They enjoying playing together and being around eachother. I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew getting them to interact, play, and be sweet to one another for the session wouldn't be a stretch!
It was a gorgeous day outside and although the breeze kept blowing little Blair's bow almost completely out of her hair, it was the perfect kind of day for an outdoor session! We eventually just gave up on the bow, and let it go. They both were great sports, and didn't mind at all that I constantly had to keep readjusting them due to the wind blowing their hair like crazy!
We finished their session with this shot of them together, and I had to share these two with all of you!

A Saturday for Siskin

We recently did a promotion with Siskin Children's Institute for their recent Style Works fundraiser. I wanted to share with all of you our session and images from working with Eli, Eva and Ross' session. Eva and Ross were quick to point out to me that this was not their first visit to see Mr. Brad, and they knew the drill. So without any hesitation, they jumped out of their play clothes and into their portrait clothes. They also were also great helpers with getting Eli in position for his individual shots. Eli was such a little trooper toward the end of our session when we kept stealing the linen shirt off of his back to iron out the wrinkles, but it makes it all worth it when the shots end up being this cute. We had a fun little Saturday session, and we ended up with a truck load of great stuff!