Faith and Mark

I've been friends with Faith and Mark for a few years now. Just a little over a year ago, their son Tobin came into this world. Since Day 1, he's been one of the cutest kids around. He's so well mannered and is always smiling, I'd hang out with him any day. Because he's just so darn cute, I had been bugging Faith and Mark to set up a photo shoot so I could get some photos of Tobin... I mean the family. We finally got something set up just in time for Tobin's first birthday.

When they came into the studio, Tobin was as happy as he usually is. I couldn't wait and just started taking photos. What was really interesting is that he was so interested in the flashes. Most kids don't pay any attention, but Tobin picked up on the fact that something was going on above his head. Then he figured out that every time I put my camera up to my eye, the flashes would go off, so he started looking up as soon as I raised my camera. What a smart kid!

One of my favorite shots of the day, the one you see at the top of this post, came when Tobin didn't want to sit still and kept crawling towards me. I was sitting on the ground, so I was at his level, but he definitely got out of the sweet light and picked up a few extra shadows. I really like it because of all the extra definition his face gets.

I finally decided I'd better take a few photos of Faith and Mark, just so they didn't feel too left out. They were great in front of the camera, but were happy to turn the spotlight back over to Tobin.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Tobin got a little grouchy! I've seen him at events with hundreds of people and he doesn't mind all the noise and attention. For some reason, though, today he just got tired. You know what? That's OK. Kids get tired. They cry. That's part of being a kid. I just kept taking photos and got some of those big tears running down his cheek. We got a few more smiles out of him, but the end had arrived.

Now that we've done one shoot, I don't think it will be very hard to convince Faith and Mark to set up another one. This time I'd like to take them outside and get Tobin in a natural setting. I think that would just be super-cute! I'll get Tobin with some flowers, and Tobin in the grass, and maybe he'll see a butterfly... Oh, and I guess since Faith and Mark have to bring Tobin to the shoot, maybe I'll take a few photos of them while they're there!

To see more photos from this shoot, click here.