Every once in a while, you come across clients who do not mind to REALLY stand out, even if it’s just a baby photography session.
Veronica and Gene had already treated me to quite a sight by having their wedding wrapped around a royal-themed feast with lots of Halloween-in-August characters in attendance a couple of years ago. Back then they gave me a thrilling opportunity to craft a painting-like artwork which went straight to the top portion of my portfolio, seen here on the side.
We stayed in touch after the wedding and talked about cars as both Gene and I spent some time custom-tuning ours. (I promised some of you to do a photo shoot of my brand car to show the results but never gotten to it.) I even gave a private photography class to him—in a very touching and thoughtful gesture, Gene’s wife gifted it for Christmas.
A few months ago he emailed me with an exciting news of their son’s birth, attaching a silly photo and asking if I could help them get some “better” family photos. I, of course, jumped on this baby photography project, knowing their predisposition for anything creative, and not omitting what Veronica was doing on that photo… I asked if I could incorporate nursing into my session, to what I immediately received a trusting approval.
To my delight, they agreed to go with an all-day session removing any time constraints but those of the baby’s. For instance, I wanted to get the sunrise at 5:30 AM. The baby—not so much, as I was advised beforehand. We still started early in the morning and because their location is a bit of a drive from NYC, I got up at 3:30 AM to drive north through the fog (see Instagram behind-the-scenes at the end).
We were up to a great start with the sun rays still low and poetic, perfect for the outfit and props which I asked them to prepare. That sword you see was given to Gene as a wedding gift, can you imagine? I also heard his tunic is just a yoga robe, also a gift. They have a stable nearby hence a random rider… They have the pet ferrets along with the affection for them, hence the license plate from his car… They have a wooded area with a creek and abandoned huts, hence the window frame shot. We had a mini-castle at our disposal, hence the balcony shot. They even have a little man-made waterfall where I tried to get them wet, just the sprinkles.
As you see, I developed a great variety of feels and ideas, made possible due to the extended nature of this session. In all, we spent about eight hours with the nap breaks which I surely put to use. By all means, the session was beyond enjoyable: easy-going, comfortable, resourceful, cooperating, trusting, fun, and just warm to the max. These are the key components of any successful session, and especially so for a family and baby photography. I hope the outcome demonstrates it convincingly.
Here are a couple of behind-the-scene Instagrams from the day:
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