The Places You'll Go!- Miss E

I decided to hold my first ever mini-session(1/2 session) marathon this past Saturday. I wanted parents to have a chance to work with me, get a feel for my style and to also get some great shots of their children. I would really call this a half marathon since it was a little over 3 hours of shooting, but I needed to test the waters first to make sure I could handle it. Let me just say that it was probably one of the best experiences of my life.

I was a daycare teacher for over 6 years(infants/toddlers mainly) and my love for children has always been present. I approach photographing children more as a mother/friend than a photographer. I like to choose locations that allow the kids to be themselves, parks and playgrounds and such. I let them be free and play while I grab some candids and then make it fun for them when it's time to relax for some "formals". I make sure to get down to their level and talk to them, because it's very important they feel comfortable with me. Almost always you will catch me running with them, climbing with them and even risk getting covered with bugs by crawling on the grass with them(I Do Not like bugs!) just so they know that I'm not just some strange lady with a camera in their face.  And often times, I have a couple of things up my sleeve to really make it a fun experience.

For the marathon, I chose to hold it at Spencer-Pierce Farm(http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/spencer-peirce-little-farm/spencer-peirce-little-farm). It has open fields and farm animals, so I knew it would be a perfect choice. The theme was loosely based on Dr. Seuss. I brought along a basket of goodies to act as "props", including a big red bouncy ball; bubbles;stuffed animals and Dr. Seuss books. All of them were hits with the kids. The day went by so quick and it was so much fun that I didn't want it to end!

My first session of the day was with Miss E. She was a little shy at first, so that's when I brought out my "friends", the stuffed animals. I have yet to meet a little girl who does not like stuffed animals!

We played peek-a-boo behind trees!

Can you tell me how old you are?

We then moved onto seeing the animals and Miss E even got to feed them some grass!

Now it's time for bubbles!

We needed a little hair fix with help from mom.

We went back to being silly.

Then it was time to settle down, our session was almost over(boo!)

I did not want to see this little girl leave. She and her parents were so much fun to have around. I hope I get to work with them again in the future. Now on a scale of one to ten...how happy to you think Miss E is?

20? Yeah, that's what I guessed too. Thank you to Miss E and her parents for participating in this day with me. What a great way to start off this adventure!