March has been busy! I again participated in Janie & Jack’s in-store portrait promotion, doing not one but TWO stores for the spring promotion – Orland Square and Northbrook.

Four days shooting anything can be tiring, but four days of photographing little ones was exhausting. A ton of fun, but exhausting. For eight hours a day I danced, sang, mooed and fake farted in an attempt to keep these kids attention.  I needed them to sit relatively still and smile, but right where the light was optimal on my white backdrop. And that sweet space of light on a studio set up is all of about 2 feet. Some kids did this no problem, but many had a hard time, not wanting anything to do with sitting still.

The fun comes in figuring out what works for different kids. After two and half years of capturing little ones of all ages, I have developed a pretty good repertoire of attention gaining and interest retaining tricks. Some kids didn’t require any, some took up my whole arsenal of stunts and then some. I had several parents who thought their session was a complete diaster because their child was not in the cooperating mood, but I assured them that I always manage to get a few shots. At the viewing and sales appointments, I had a couple of parents who were absolutely blown away but what we managed to get after such a challenging shoot. I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from amazing parents with beautiful images of their children that they will treasure for a lifetime – love it!

I met so many beautiful kids and wonderful parents over my four days – I truly enjoyed (most ) every exhausting moment. Here are some of my favorite images ~ be ready for some extreme cuteness…