Little People

Last week, I was approached by a friend about taking some photos of his kids. He works with my significant other for the local fire department, and recently all crew members were issued new bunker gear. I guess a few of the fellows have had their children photographed in various ways with their fresh, shiny (literally! the lettering and stripes are all reflective... a flash nightmare!!) turnout attire, and Mr. T was hoping to follow suit. Since I am NOT a portrait photographer... I was nervous - but super excited - to give it a try!

Now, it's a challenge to get a picture right at the best of times. But add to the mix a little person... who is unsure of what the heck this strange, big person (with a large black blocky thing stuck in front of her face!) is doing in his space... climbing up and down a step ladder... calling his name over and over... making silly sounds... having his mommy and daddy run all over the place... etc., etc... And it makes for an interesting hour of picture taking! Poor guy!

In the end however, it turned out quite alright. We staged everything in the garage, and at mid-day with the overhead door wide open, the lighting was natural and relatively soft. Prince P and his sister Princess M are soooooo darn cute, and I found unexpected enjoyment in working to capture some of their priceless expressions. I don't mean that to sound... harsh...? It's just that I felt fairly anxious about letting the T family down, if I could not deliver what they had in mind. In actual fact, it didn't take long at all for that to wear off, because the parents are both such happy and easygoing folks, and their toddlers are adorable. Plus I figured if I snapped the shutter enough times, I was bound to catch something of value!!

Speaking of which, I took nearly 350 pics of the up-and-coming firefighters. **WHEW** The result is about three dozen images that I feel are print worthy, and I'm crossing my fingers that the T's will like them also... If it goes well, who knows... maybe I'll try it again some time!

Cheers!