Kindness Matters

A group of friends asked me to help surprise their dear friend for her birthday with photographs of her four beautiful children. I jumped at the opportunity to be part of this special gift. The enthusiasm and thoughtfulness behind this present was unprecedented. This group of women organized a day for me to come over while she was at work. We worked around school schedules and the best light opportunities. Family, friends and babysitters were all on hand to help things go smoothly before mom came home. Sweets were within arm's length for secrecy bribes. Big kids helped the little kids. Talk about a lot of love. She received an album of photos this weekend and I SO wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see her reaction to these images.

Baby was ready first....and so happy! I wanted to use the textured rug and soft blanket. Insert cute baby and there ya go!

More with the textured rug, switching up the original angle.

 No words for this one!!

 Had to include another.

 A traditional set of portraits.

  

 I wanted to show him in his natural environment as well. What does a 9 month old do all day? Crawl all over the floor, of course.

 

Anyone with more than one child knows how difficult it is to get a shot of all your kids. As soon as all of them were home from school and dressed, we did these FIRST!

Onto the eldest son. I wanted the photos to reflect his maturity in the family.

Had to get traditional shots of those dazzling eyes.

Back to artsy with a little floating effect.

Just hangin' out.

He did really well with the more dramatic shots so I continued with those.

Vertical blind images are awesome for tweens.

Pulling back adds a little more mystery.

Using the blinds as a lead in to the subject's eyes. My fave of the day, I think.

Onto beautiful child #3 (notice a pattern in this family?!?!)

 Positioned her just right so that the setting sun can create that sparkly catch light in her eyes.

Her poise can also handle the dramatic shots.

A little more traditional. Less smile but still a lot of glow coming through her.

 Love the use of blank space. Another fave.

Last but certainly not least I had great fun photographing this little daisy.

 She was quite the ham, you couldn't help smiling.

Like her older siblings she has a nice soft side as well.

 One last fun group shot. This is what it's all about.

As human beings, I believe we are obligated to each other to create good. I am grateful to be a small part of the kindness surrounding these kids and their mom. Happy Birthday.