June 14, 2010

This Third Time Was Charming

I am well-acquainted with Shayla and her family, and I feel like you all should be now too. I photographed her and her parents for the third time a few weeks ago. Since I don't have too many repeat customers (yet) I get worried that my ideas won't be fresh, and that my subjects will find themselves saying, "Didn't we do this last time?" Well that did not in any way happen with this photogenic family.

I am in love with this shoot and am about to share more photos in one post than I think I ever have before. The light was just so perfect. Honestly, we don't get a lot of great light in the Midwest. But I learned that this time of year around 6 p.m. it could not get any better.

We started at The Bean and used the reflections to our advantage.
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So you all remember Shayla right? She's the same little girl from this shoot. She's now one-year-old. That's hard for be to believe because the first time I photographed her, she was still in her mom's tummy.

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The Bean and its reflection was great for photos, but poor little Shayla bumped her head on it. It took her a little while to recover, so we took it easy once we made it over to the lawn at Pritzker pavilion. Her mom tried to comfort her a bit.
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But really, she just needed to have a moment.
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I had to post those for all you who think all I get are smiling, happy kids. Shayla was, but she had her moment too. And don't worry, her mom made sure I snapped pics of this Shayla too. I like to think I capture kids as they are, and sometimes they cry.

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This is the face she currently makes all the time.

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How cute are her little "Shayla" undies!?!

We left the grass and rounded a corner to find some beautiful, purple flowers and some of the most golden beautiful life I've ever seen. I can safely say that some of the following photos are among the most best I've ever taken.
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As hard as it was to walk away from the light, we did. And then we made our way over to the reflecting pools in Millennium Park. This was an awesome idea as Shalya was fading but absolutely loved the water.
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I snapped that last pic of Shayla and her dad and then she was spent. I couldn't have asked for antyhing more though. I loved, loved, loved this shoot.

Shayla, Carly and Bun, I can't wait to do it again. Lucky number four! But I hope you all are feeling a little better next time.

5 comments:

SavvyFitChica said...

these brought tears to my eyes. I love the pics of her smiling and crying - like you said, just being herself. She's so precious.

I think it's a testament to your awesomeness that they keep coming back.

Alexis said...

amazing! the ones in the water at the end were my favorite- cuz they are exactly what you do best, just capturing people DOING stuff, like playing in water (a favorite activity around here). wish you could come photograph my little mermaid children....we need to work on that!

Dorrie said...

incredible. =)

Anonymous said...

I would like to officially ask you to photograph my unborn children. You are so good. I mean, you did have an amazing subject but still...SO good. And to think you'll be even better by the time little Pyroclastics comes along!
Jenny

Kathleen said...

These are stunning. Just stunning. You completely captured Shayla and all her Shayla-ness... laughing, exploring, loving. Every mom out there knows that crying is part of daily life so why not capture that too. Jack cant wait to see you again come October! :)