My beautiful daughter turned seven yesterday and I had the pleasure of taking her out for two sessions to get her seven year portraits done. The first set of photos were taken in my favorite field within walking (or scooter!) distance of my house on the spur of the moment. We were driving home from jiu jitsu practice in Corvallis that evening when she looked out the window and declared it to be the perfect night for photos in our field because the “light is so pretty”. Yes, my children can readily identify pretty light. The second set of photos were taken three days later after her last jiu jitsu class downtown Corvallis after a quick dinner. It was just the two of us playing around with the occasional onlooker. She pulled her front tooth the day before the second session, and I have to say that there’s nothing more seven then a big gappy toothed smile! Grace is far from shy so when she put on a song and dance performance of “Everything is great, Everything is grand” from the latest Muppet movie in a semi-busy parking lot I wasn’t that surprised.
Photographing my old children is probably my hardest challenge. I cannot say “smile” and expect anything other than an exaggerated head cock and huge cheesy fake grin. Despite the challenges, the photographs I take of my kids are always my favorites. I’m warning you now that I have a bad case of “mommy goggles” and will be sharing more photos then necessary simply because I think my daughter is fabulous!