Today’s photoshoot was of the W. Family, who are the winners of the Little Stompers contest! CONGRATULATIONS, W. FAMILY!!! Little Stompers is a wonderful, family-owned children’s boutique in downtown Los Altos.
The photoshoot was held at the W. family’s home. And the star of the show was Mitchell, who is 11 months old!
My Favorite Backdrop
The yard was cute and quaint with a waist-high stone wall, but after hundreds of frames with that wall, I was hungering for something new. Then I saw this red brick wall! Okay, it was more like a brick chimney that ran down the side of the house, so it wasn’t very wide. But I made it work!
The texture and color contrast looked cool behind Mitchie’s outfit.
The Gummy Grin
Little babies without all their teeth…. so delightful! I loved it when Mitch smiled big and wide, so I could see his little baby teeth and gums!
Close Up
I love zooming in to get tight shots of children’s faces. Their features are so precious and also temporary, so I try to capture the moment in time. In a few months, he will look more like a big boy and we’ll count on our memories and photographs to remind us.
Favorite Casual Family Shot
My favorite group shots are always ones where everyone is natural and being themselves. They are usually interaction shots and rarely ever posed ones.
Anna had just put Mitch on Daddy’s shoulders, which Mitch LOVED. (Dad’s head became an instant drum set!) So the smiles and happy gazes were all naturally flowing!
The Holiday Portrait Shot
Even if you say you don’t want one, everyone secretly wants at least one good formal shot of the entire family, right? C’mon, admit it! It’s true.
This shot was taken at the end of the shoot, so Mitchie was getting tired and didn’t want to sit or stand still. So it took a lot of “entertaining” on my part to get him to look up at me. And those of you with kids know that you can’t make a baby look up and smile at you. They aren’t even old enough to bribe — oops, I mean, negotiate and ask nicely — yet!
Standing Fun
I wanted to capture Little Mitch in his current stage, which is standing with support. So I loved the idea of putting him on their front deck because I knew his eyes would barely reach over the rail.
And how cute is this photo?!! Look at his little eyes, little fingers, and fuzzy hair sticking out from behind the rail!
And let me be the first to say: Happy birthday, Mitchell!