“Mo’ moon?” 19-month-old Lucinda is in a serious moon phase. She loves looking at the moon, drawing and coloring the moon, and reading picture books about the moon. She’s at her little table with her coloring gear, and her moms Paula and Andrea dutifully draw several moon shapes, as well as a duck, rabbit, and frog, by request. As they colored and laughed together, I was able to grab moments and different angles to capture exactly this moment in time–tiny dimpled fingers clutching crayons, little toddler feet dangling from a miniature chair, sweet smiles all around.
I’m here at this family’s house to photograph them at play, at home and comfortable in their own environment. Photographers call this ‘documentary’ family photography, and it’s a little different than most of the photography sessions that you see. It’s purposely much less posed and with a lot less looking at the camera, so that a lot more genuine interaction and activity can be the spotlight. Generally there is some structure and/or activity planned, so that the family has something to actually do together.
In our session, we moved around their house–after coloring, they read some books in the living room. Then we spent some time in Lulu’s bedroom for more reading and cuddling. She got out her favorite friends to cuddle with too. These two photos below are my favorite of the session–happy kiddo spending quality time with her mamas, smiling and snuggling. Seriously, is there anything better?
Finally, we got to play in their backyard! Of course, being a toddler, Lulu was mainly interested in the rocks and other “fun” objects on the ground. I loved getting a chance to photograph that, because it’s such a fun phase, but soon enough it will be a memory. Lulu and her parents will always have these beautiful photos to remember exactly what she did and loved at this age!
Finally I brought out the bubbles, which inspired some interest. 🙂
Thank you so much, Paula and Andrea, for sharing such a fun day with your adorable daughter!
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If you are interested in a documentary session with your family, I would love to hear from you!