When I think about how I feel towards this family, I have a loss for words.
Hopefully, you can get the idea from seeing my sneak peek images from their annual photoshoot that occurred this morning in San Francisco.
Monopoly
They were in the middle of the usual Monopoly-game-on-a-pier (why not!) when the wind stole a few Monopoly bucks. Ian (6.5) insisted on retrieving them all, even the ones that were in the puddles. This was his reaction. He is so cute!
Ice Cream Truck Puzzle
Over a cup of Peet’s coffee, Elaine and Ian played this really cool game where you have to get the ice cream truck out of a traffic jam. I want one! Er… for my kids, of course!
[FYI to photographers: Just when I thought I may return my new 14mm lens (ultra wide angle) bec it is waaaaay too heavy that I actually tweaked my shoulder from yesterday’s shoot, it came in handy today and got me out of a jam (pun intended, har har). The table where Elaine and Ian sat was maybe 4″ from a glass wall, and shooting them from the side or through the highly reflective glass by the Bay weren’t giving me the images I wanted. So I squeezed my camera in that narrow space with the lens pointed at a slight upward angle and shot from there. This was only achievable with an ultra wide angle lens! My subjects were only about a foot away from my lens in this shot! Pretty incredible that I could capture both of them at that range and also not have significant stretching around the sides.]
Be a Man and Pull a Trunki!
You have to be a very secure man to pull a Trunki in public! Go Anthony, go!
Anthony had many fans stop him during our shoot to tell him how much they loved watching him pull that kiddie suitcase around! Ahahahahaha… it was pretty funny!
Ice Cream Ian Sandwich
So after an hour of shooting completely candid shots, I knew I wasn’t getting enough shots of their faces . Since I’m not the kind of photographer who feels satisfied with only a handful of great shots, I wanted more! (Gimme gimme.)
So we all went on a walk to put more money in my meter! Then we continued our shoot. This time, I wanted “semi-set-up shots”.
In this shot, Ian was smiling naturally bec he found it funny that his parents were squishing him like the peanut butter ice cream sandwich they just ate! (You’ll know when he, or any child, is smiling on command!)
Counting Nose Hair
Can you play this game without smiling?!! I didn’t think so! It’s downright hilarious and just thinking about it makes me chuckle.
When you’re on a shoot and you want natural smiles, any game that makes you smile is a good game! Sometimes, the more ridiculous, the better.
Anthony and Elaine
Darn it… I couldn’t think of a title for this photo that went with my game theme. But I absolutely love this shot and wanted to share it anyway!
It looks like a book cover or a movie poster.
I love this family — talking with them, laughing with them and photographing them! I already can’t wait to see them again!
[Click here to see their 2009 beach shoot and their 2008 park shoot!]