Two Sets of Three

I consider it a pretty big honor when a talented fellow photographer asks me to take pictures of her kids...And her nieces and nephew. While on vacation to California, she and her sister-in-law came to Burbank and we spent a fun-filled evening at three different locations. The kids (and their moms) were up for anything and made the work so much fun. Thank you!

The Haras' (Family Session)

Most honest photographers will tell you that shooting a two year old can be a challenge. Add in "smart, active, male two year old" to the equation and you can quickly have your hands full. Lucky for me, his parents were cool customers who could go with the flow. In fact, about 20 minutes into the session, the little guy decided that he just wanted to run in the wilderness so we ended up shooting the rest of the photos in my front yard. (Cropped out of the pictures are my own 2 boys who were angling for the shoot to turn into a playdate).

A couple of other random thoughts on the session:

1) Contrary to the old saying, NEVER, NEVER try taking candy from a baby. The whole line about it being easy is a big fat lie.

2) These parents should be awarded the red badge of courage for sitting on a very grubby park picnic table.

But seriously, when I was editing the photos, I kept finding myself smiling back like a complete goober at the family in the pictures. I think it was because they were so genuine and their love for each other was so clearly on display. They are all truly nice people. I had a great time, I think they did too. :-)

The Serrano / Boggs Family Session

It was a gorgeous early evening in the hills with an extremely cute one-year-old, her Mom, Dad & both Grandmothers. There was even a couch to make the weeds a bit more cozy...

Yet somehow, things started off rocky. The mom is a whip-smart (and frankly, smart-ass) writer who had me laughing so hard that at one point early in the shoot, I nearly lost my balance and fell down the hill with my camera. That was sort of embarrassing. Once I'd regained my composure, we encountered a different challenge -- teething -- which lead to a fever, runny nose and general unhappiness. We ended up cutting the session short and running back to my house to give her a dose of infant's Tylenol. Luckily, we'd gotten enough shots and didn't have to reschedule.

Little Miss H has an amazing family. They will drive an hour up the 405 in jammed traffic for custom photography but when they see that their child is just not feeling up to posing for pictures, will call the session short and have a laugh. Thanks guys, you were awesome.