Christmas Mini-sessions - Brody.

My second session of the morning was Mr. Brody.  Brody is 2-years-old. For a photographer that is all you need to know! LOL! 2-year-olds (especially boys) may be the most difficult of all subjects. They may also be the most precious. I don't usually start out with a candy cane, but sometimes you just do what you gotta do.

What I have learned about 2-year-olds is that it is much better to just let them do what they want to do. Sometimes you'll be lucky enough to get something like this.

This is a favorite.

And so is this. Brody was pretty much done with us at this point, but it is one of my favorites. Just look at those eyes!

 We had to get a few with mom. So sweet!

For a boy who was busy checking out everything on the farm, I think we managed to get some pretty good ones. ;-) 

Madison and Owen.

Madison and Owen's mom contacted me about fall photo of her two kiddos. She had seen some that I had taken in the woods behind our house and liked them. They came over one afternoon during Madison's (Maddy's) fall break from school, and we headed into the woods for a little walk.

Maddy is a football cheerleader and shared a little secret with me.  She has two boyfriends! I can see why!

It had rained the morning before their session that afternoon, and we almost rescheduled. I am glad that we didn't because it turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon! After taking some in the woods, we drove on down into our hayfield. We did some slipping and sliding, and I was thankful for my 4WD.  It was worth a little mud to get these shots.

Owen is such a cutie with that cotton top of his.

As I was loading up for our session, I grabbed this pumpkin that one of my kids had gotten on a field trip.  Just a thought as I was packing up, and I'm glad I brought it. Owen really like it. He liked my yellow chair, too!

Something about this next one just makes me smile. :-)

 Hope you like the preview, Erin.  There are many more to come!

To protect and to serve.

This past week I had a session with a friend from way back.  Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. I may be dating Shelley and myself a bit. OK, I will admit to being a little older than Shelley.  She and I went to school together pretty much the entire time.

Shelley is a dispatcher for the police department in a nearby city, and that is where she met her husband, Rodney. Rodney is a police officer in another city in the same county. They have a beautiful 2-year-old daughter, Maggie.

I knew this was going to be a good session when I gave Shelley and Rodney both a barstool and told them to go sit in the middle of the street, and they didn't look at me like I was crazy.  They may have thought I was crazy, but they went right along with me.

Shelley was in the class behind me, and what I remember most about her is that she always had the most beautiful head of hair. Fastforward a few years and somethings haven't changed.

After we dodged cars for a while, we headed to a more quiet spot. I had never used this spot for a family, but I think I may again.

Miss Maggie was being very serious, so we decided to have a little fun. This managed to get a smile out of her. :-)

And that smile even lasted for a while! She's a bit of a Daddy's Girl as you can tell!

This is one of my favorites. I have many.

 And a sweet family shot. Another favorite.

Sometimes 2-year-olds think it is more fun to run circles around their mom and dad than to stand still to have their photo taken.  So I let 2-year-olds do what 2-year-olds do. It still makes for a pretty cute photo.

 It took Maggie a little while to warm up to me, but before we were finished we were pals. You can see here how adorable she is but what you can't see is the big hug she gave me when she ran to me right after I snapped this one. :-)

Shelley, it was great seeing you again and getting to catch up! You and Rodney have a wonderful little blessing! I have been missing those sweet Maggie hugs!