Fall Photo Shoot

So, last year I got fed up with paying out the nose for crappy school quality photos and did them myself. They came out so well, that I decided from now on I'll just do them on my own. I am perfectly qualified as a mom, a photography lover and I used to work in a portrait studio. So I did Mr. Man's photos on Saturday afternoon, at his insistence when I wasn't keen on the light, but he rarely is in the mood for anything.. did Ms. Thang's Sunday mid-day, and then made him put on his shirt from the day before and did them both together. I love this photo of them together. Don't get me wrong, he's a pain and I took about 20 before I got a few that I was happy with, and this one was the best. I love that his eyes are open (he squints a lot) and they both have natural smiles on their faces.


I cannot get over how photogenic my daughter is. She always takes good pictures. Her smile comes easy, her look is natural, she doesn't slouch and she is pleasant about the whole process. I LOVE how her photo came out this year, and I cannot get over how old and grown up she looks. That sweater is a hand me down from an adult co-worker (she's moved up into Jrs, adult small sized clothes and is quickly gaining in height on her brother. We straightened her hair, which is naturally wavy like mine and mostly behaves in an unruly manner. It made her father crazy that I let her be bare feet with her jeans, because one of my favorite photos shows her bare feet, but I won't share it here because he's mortified. He isn't a barefoot person. In fact, his feet are are as soft as a babies but because something is always on them. Not natural I tell you. Not natural. Anyhow, this is her last year in our school, so I showed everyone how gorgeous she is today and they all can't get over it either. Ok, I lied. Feet below.

And then.. there is this one. He took me to his favorite place which is in the woods across the street from our house. The same river I run next to runs through there and he loves to go and do whatever it is boys do with rivers and woods. I went along with it because really, it's "his" spot, and they were his photos and I figured it'd go a lot better if he was somewhere he loved to have them done. The light wasn't so great and he squints and doesn't smile as naturally as his sister, so it was harder. Besides that, he wanted "HIS" school photo to have the river in the background. That was a little harder. The experience of being with him in his place was worth the million photos I shot that didn't come out that great, mostly due to the crummy lighting, and we got a few good ones. He really wanted a full body shot I took of him crouched next to the river as "his" picture, but in the end I liked this one better. I did make him a copy of the other one however, and it is hanging in a frame upstairs in my hall also.
Win-win for everyone. The shots below were some extras.