It's all in the eyes...

That's what they say about portraits.  I think I believe them.  Perhaps one of my favorite shots to take (of kids especially) is the nearly full-frame face shot.  It breaks some of the rules of traditional portraiture in that it makes for an oversized version of the child when printed larger than an 8x10. I love it none-the-less.  There is something special about the way eyes sparkle that draws me right in.  I have evidence of this habit because it causes me to show up in the picture too!  Can you spot the photog in this shot?

Capture it all!

One of the things that I dearly LOVE about photographing kids is that there really are NO RULES.  Unlike us adults who have the "sit here and smile" rule engrained in us from years of traditional school pictures kids typically have no problem showing us just what they can do in front of the camera.  From frowns to grins, from pouts to giggles, from serious to just plain goofy... I think it all deserves a little camera time.  Besides, some of the stuff we do as kids we won't be able to pull off later in life.  Thanks to Gabe for pointing out that picture taking can be wildly energetic if you just give it a chance. ;)

The Cat and the Camera Bag...

Not too long ago I introduced you to my cat Milli who loves to rest atop the back of my chair while I edit photos.  She must be a kindred spirit as she fell in love with my new camera bag as quickly as I did.  I'm not certain her purposes for the  Tenba Messenger are as designed by the manufacturer but she definitely uses it as often as she can!  PS - Only if the camera has been removed and the bag turned over.  Gotta love her.

Let's go to B'Donalds....

... for some chicken NUN-gets.  Then we can stop by TOYS-for-US!  It seems like only yesterday that I met this little one.  Looking back, it's actually been over ten.  Yikes.  I've been taking pictures of her since day one as she has always been animated, inquisitive, and just plain fun to be around.  With a great range of expression she taught me very early to love the not-so-smiley photograph.  There is something so character revealing when you refrain from the "say cheese" and just shoot.  When I look at these images I am reminded that time passes quickly. Thanks to my beautiful little Rachie for patiently letting me capture "just one more" frame.

Pumpkins with a Little Punkin'

You'll see the minute you look at this little guy just what I mean!  He is a Q.T. with unbelievable range of expression in a not-quite-one year old body.

At school they told us that when you are photographing a child that you should plan for one minute of focus-time for every year that the child is old.  Based on those statistics I was looking at seconds!  Instead I got two solid hours of playtime amongst the pumpkins with this little one (and his parent's of course). 

One of the hardest things in the world for my Type-A personality is not being able to plan exactly how a photo session will flow.  At the same time, the thing that I end up cherishing the most is that I can let the action take place and capture it frame-by-frame.  I find that the smiles that shine the brightest on a little ones face are always prompted by the simplest of things... a song sung by a mom or dad, a chance to play in the leaves, or perhaps just the freedom to "army-crawl" across the lawn without constraint!  It was a pleasure to capture just a few of these moments.

PS - Thanks to the Zaruba's for making the afternoon SO MUCH FUN!  And a special birthday wish for the little guy who, as of Thursday, is the ripe old age of ONE!