Second Birthday Portrait

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Happy 2nd birthday to Genevieve...better known as Gigi!

C'mon, we all know how difficult it is to photograph toddlers.

Gigi's mom Lisa brought her to me for a

Christmas portrait back in December.

Doesn't she look adorable?  You would never

know she was stark naked!

Yep, I dressed her in this adorable Christmas tutu and she pulled

it right DOWN...  (BLUR!)

Then, to Lisa's horror, Gigi ditched her diaper, too and

bounced around my basement studio in the buff.

With toddlers, you can rarely pose them. 

I prefer them natural anyway.

So I gave her this red velvet box and she

was precious in pearls...hee hee!

Lisa threw this blanket around her trying to

hide Ms. Nakey girl.

You can never predict toddlers, so it's

best to just go with their flow and capture...

Natural expressions....yep, two-year-old NATURAL!

So, I kinda knew what to expect for her two-year-old shoot.

I always set up a posed situation first and usually

get a VERY limited window of "posing".

Soon, Gigi was off the pretty chair...

Next, the hair flower was off...

And, this was the last we saw of the tutu.

She ripped it off and Lisa was aghast when

Gigi ran around in her bloomers.

I did manage to charm her into wearing butterfly wings

and hang onto her birthday balloons.

I love when they are oblivious to the camera

and I can work on capturing their true spirit.

She quickly started acting up...so we drove back to

my house and Lisa talked her into a wardrobe change

while I set up the little white wicker chair in my backyard.

I LOVED how the NOON sun was playing with us!

Forget the chair...she was off and running.

I just sat on the back porch and photographed

unobtrusively from afar.

Lisa was disappointed, thinking we didn't

capture ANYTHING.

But I knew I had some wonderful, natural portraits

that show Gigi at the age of two.

The toddlers are always difficult, but the

rewards are worth it!