Archive for November, 2011
i could just squeeze these girls and never let them go. this is my 4th session with this amazing family, and every one is like visiting friends. i have said it often…probably too much, but Ayla is truly one of my favorite little girls to photograph. her spontaneity keeps me on my toes…she’s smart and surprising and expressive and just genuine. this time, this time she was all that, but grown up too. it amazes me how much my little clients can grow over a few short months. Emilie was on her toes and walking (running) this time, and i am sure she will be keeping up with Ayla in no time. sigh…i guess we all have the same problem as parents, huh?
daily mantra: and above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. those who don’t believe in magic, will never find it. {ronald.daul}
i met up with the Johnson family, all the way from Alabama, a few weeks ago in beautiful Bar Harbor. it is so wonderful to see families enjoying Maine like i do, and for most of us growing up here, Bar Harbor holds a lot of fun memories of our own. although a bit on the windy side, the weather could not have been more favorable and Ellie and Bowan were such a delight the entire session!
daily mantra: remember, happiness is a way of travel….not a destination. roy.goodman
we have this thing every morning. it’s 10 minutes before we leave for school. no matter how ready we are to leave, we are never ready. no matter how calm the morning has been….it suddenly…isn’t anymore. if every lunch is packed, and every shoe is carefully laid out, and every sock (mismatched of course) is on, and every last paper signed, and every tooth polished and hair brushed….in those last moments, we disintegrate into a gurgling puddle of helplessness. i think to myself every day, tomorrow, tomorrow we will try again and it will be more calm….we will whisk out the door with our unzipped coats floating gently behind us in our self created breeze, and the house with go on humming its own quiet tune of peacefulness after the doorknob is released and we are down the driveway.
this never happens.
the shoelaces won’t lace, the picture is not finished (and for the love of all that is child created art, it must be complete before a day of pre-kindergarten or you loose all inspiration), the juicebox isn’t cold (or doesn’t have a straw), the face isn’t washed, that math homework (what math homework? i didn’t know you had math homework…) isn’t done, the permission slip to go to this place or that place or no place really, isn’t signed, the lunch money isn’t evenly distributed, the cat needs more kisses, the car is a rocket-ship (“no Mikayla, it isn’t a rocket ship, its a spaceship”….”Katie, that is the same thing”….”Ummmm, no. actually, i don’t know. i just don’t like that word for it then.”) and until this is settled, and we all decide to get along, the car/rocket-ship/space-ship is not going anywhere….
and then it passes, as if that 10 minute, faucet-leaked time, poured out.
and we are at the front of the school, and we are getting out of the car (or whatever it is), and we are saying good-bye for the day. we hug, we tell each other how much love we have for one another (THIS MUCH….Katie says, arms stretched out, from the sidewalk across the road, her puffy winter jacket hiding most of her body, except for her chubby little knees), and some special order for dinner comes from Mikayla (something-something and with meatballs or pizza), and we are blowing kisses and i am watching you both walk away from me, hand-in-hand (mitten-in-mitten) into the school.
and when i get home, the house is humming its tune of peacefulness, and the cat is still looking for more kisses, and it looks like a bomb went off in the living room, and i am wishing it was 10 minutes ago and we were all still back here to do it again.
i am going to try and resist sharing every, single photo from this session…it was definitely one of my favorites all season. i get asked a lot by other photographers how i book my clients. 99.9999% is referrals from past clients, but when it comes to Jeanna and Jason, i just got lucky. i feel like they are the jeans in my closet that fit perfectly….and their wedding is sure to be one of my most beautiful for next year. i am already counting down….
daily mantra: love isn’t the person you can see yourself with, its the person you can’t see yourself without.
