I received a message from Mallory about 10 minutes before our meeting time, letting me know that they had run into some traffic and would be late. I told her not to worry, and that I would be there when they arrived. I did worry, however, for the children. I fully admit that I was preparing myself for cranky children who had sat through an extra-long car ride and would now be forced to sit through family photos. I was thinking to myself, “I’m going to have to pull out the jumping jacks” (a humiliating “trick” I save for desperate times…if you’ve seen me do it, you know it’s bad). But instead what I found, when their car pulled up and three adorable children stumbled on out of it, that there was not an ounce of crankiness in them! They were cheerful, they were smiley (no jumping jacks for me!), they paid attention to me and listened to me. And did I mention they were adorable?!

Prior to their session, I had chatted with Mallory through email about the type of images she was hoping to get and I knew from her answers that we were a good fit. She told me she wanted candid and casual shots of the kids laughing and playing, and that she trusted my style. This ALWAYS ends up making for the best of sessions, and this time was no exception. Everyone was happy as we explored the Conservancy, moving quickly as I usually try to do with small children, but also capturing those in-between moments – flashes of their real smiles and personalities, the extra tight squeezes at the end of a hug, the do-whatever-you-want-right-now poses. Those are my favorites and this session is full of them, which makes me oooh-so-happy!!