The little girl in this family told me that she’s so cute she often gets free things. Like she once got a free donut at a coffee shop. ( The well known place will remain unnamed.) Well I can certainly see where she’s coming from on this one and the cuteness factor certainly kicked in for this session. Next time I go for my latte I’m taking her with me.

Her brothers were fun to be with too. The eldest spent some time catching bugs and the youngest loved tucking his shirt under his armpits. It really made me laugh. Talking about cute he had a very adorable smile!

It was lovely to see these sisters again for some Summer portraits.  We did the shoot against the backdrop of their garden. They have some wonderful flowers and bushes in bloom, such a beautiful setting. I always find it hard to put the camera away. When one of their dogs came out after the session..well…I just had to get the camera out again!

I find summers are more emotional milestones in my children’s lives than birthdays and Christmases. Maybe it’s all that time I spend with them and the approaching year change at school that makes me more focused on how much they are growing up.

I have known the children in these three portraits for many years. They are the children of one of my very best friends. I see them more in the summer because they hang out with my kids at the local lake and our pool. When I was asked to do a portrait session with them one of my aims was to capture them alone in their own  little moment. ( In one instance that involved a conversation about a tarantula on Uranus but it’s too complicated to explain.) What really struck me was how much they are growing up. My friend and I hope our kids share summer lake days right up to leaving for college and I hope here are lots more childhood milestones and memories  in the summers that pass us by.