For dinner we decided to put together a little picnic and head down to the beach. Steven and Sayer boogie boarded and jumped the waves. Finnian isn't so sure of the waves so he hung back with me. He wouldn't even let go of my hand for the first half hour but slowly started to ease in and warm up to it all.  I showed him that we were on dry sand and that meant that the waves weren't coming close. We were far away from the waves really but he will still freaked. Before we left though he was running around and even went into the water with Steven.

It was a great evening. The kids buried Steven in the sand, Sayer buried Finn in the sand and they built a beach city out of driftwood.

The kids indulged me and let me take crazy pictures of them.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

and then it got even better...

and then, as it always goes with these kinds of moments, it quickly deteriorated into wrestling. What is it with boys and wrestling?!

happy family

I have written about simplicity before. I talk about it in my photography classes and with all of my clients as we prepare for sessions. In all of the sessions that I do, the one that (in my humble opinion) requires the most simplicity is the newborn session. My favorite newborn images are simple, quiet and connected. I love having parent's involved in the shots too. Even only an arm, hand or chest can contribute so much in terms of scale as well as a feeling of connectedness. I also think that when you keep your background and wardrobe clean and uncluttered it allows the baby to really shine. This lovely little guy is named Aleksander.

This is the storyboard that Aleksander's parents ordered for their home. I love the simplicity of it. In the final print, each image is 5x5 and we are finishing it off with a wide, white, single mat and a simple black frame.

If you are photographing your own children at home, think about ways to simplify your background. You might take a simple black blanket or sheet and lay it on a bed as your background. A white rug makes a nice simple place to photograph. If you can drag the white rug over to a window you will be even better off. In terms of clothing, avoid any logos, words or characters and look for the most basic solid or simply lose the clothes altogether for a little newborn. Newborns tend to swim in their clothes anyway because they are still so small. Baggy clothes make a tiny newborn look skinny rather than just small. I like solid blankets with a little bit of texture. You can even drape your bouncy seat in something and move it over to a nearby window and see how that works for you.

The main thing to remember is that they are only this little once. You won't care very much about the cute outfit years later but you will want to remember the little rolls, the balled up fists, the swirls of hair and the curled up toes. You'll fight to remember exactly how their entire head fit into your cupped hands and how they looked before all their hair grew in. Grab those little moments while you can because it is gone so quickly. The next thing you know they'll be starting kindergarten. I know this because my first son just finished kindergarten and I can't figure out how that happened when it seems like he was only born yesterday.

Isn't this little tutu the cutest thing?! I had just purchased it so we had to try it out.

This little hat is a recent purchase of mine. I bought this amazing gem from Debbie at Posh Props. I put it on her and her Mom and I were instantly (and in unison) saying "Awwww!!". Mom got this series in a frame...how could you resist?

Happy wednesday everyone!