Action Jack

Jack, my oldest nephew, primed me in the art of shooting a toddler on the move. I used to babysit him, and later his sister, all summer when I was in college. Jack is overflowing with ideas and every day was filled with bug hunts, fort building and bike riding. Here's one of my favorite shots from those summers:

And now look at him! I caught my breath when I took this shot. The eyes are the same, but he's grown up so much. Not much else has changed though...I still spent most of the shoot chasing him. (And he can move a lot faster now.)





After this shoot we all ended up back at my father's house for his birthday dinner. Jack sat next to me as I went through the photos, and it was really cool to hear his thoughts. He really is a smart, thoughtful kid. Maybe in a couple more years I'll have an intern :)

Beautiful Belle

Little miss Isabella Rose is certainly a personality. Since she was a little baby she's had so much charm--and she knows how to use it. The last time I photographed her she wasn't far from her toddler years. It's amazing to photographer her now as a 7 year old and see her grow into that sense of wisdom beyond her years that she has always had.

Belle had also just lost her two front teeth. So you can be sure we got also plenty of cheesy grins!

Oh Henry!

Talk about your overdue photo shoots...

Henry is the youngest of my step-sister's children. He was born after I graduated from college, when I had to go find a real job instead of spending my summers babysitting. So I never really got the chance to spend a good chunk of time with him to get to know him and do a real photo shoot.

He has also seemed to glide through the terrible two like a charm, but hit the terrible threes fast and hard. Henry is very selective with who he will and will not talk to, and if he decides you're not on the list that day, you're flat out of luck. The week before this shoot I asked him if I could take his photo and he gave me a flat no. I told him I was still going to try since I've never gotten the chance to take his photo before. His response: "Well, I'm not going to make it easy."

I was prepared for a battle, but luckily my step-sister worked a bit of reverse-logic on him and he decided before I arrived that morning that he wanted me to take his photo. I got on the good list and I'm so glad I did. His little raspy voice and his serious face just melt my heart. What a beautiful kid he is!

A sneak peek for my (very patient) step-sister

Sorry I've been an absentee blogger lately...a combination of the end of the semester (I teach a design lab at TU) + the kick off of wedding season + a nasty cold meant that the last two weeks were pretty much a blur. But now I'm back on track with lots of new posts!

First up: The rest of this week is dedicated to my niece and nephews who I had the great luck to spend an entire weekend photographing. They'll each get their own post later this week, but today I'm sharing a few of my favorite group shots. I had so much fun chasing them around!
(P.S. To see an image larger, double-click on it.)

Don't mess with this gang!

This photo demands a good caption...