Posts Tagged ‘children’

The Kidzu Charity Event was quite the experience. I had the opportunity to meet up with 3 families I had never met and take their pictures in about 15 minutes. It was a bit of a whirlwind. But I’m so glad I did it. The first family I shot was the Ossmann family; I was late and out of breath, but they were so nice and didn’t hold it against me! All three kids were so well behaved, and as you’ll see they’re quite the good looking family. As I do more and more shoots, I’m finding that families and kids and babies are definitely a favorite for me to photograph. Kids are just so open, so honest. And that gets genuine reactions and expressions. The Ossmann kiddos were no exception! Here are a few of my favorites, enjoy…

It’s amazing the transformations that happen within one year. At almost exactly the same time as last year, I shot these three kiddos, and wow, I can’t believe how much older they each look. And taller. Although I’m by no means “old,” I do feel the seconds tick by all the more when I realize that I cared for these kids before they were a trio. When it was just Jack, and I was just 16. Now, nearly 10 years later, I had my own little one with me tagging along on their session. Before I know it they’ll be babysitting my kids…such is life.

I do love this family; one of those families that makes you feel so welcome and are just so nice, so genuinely nice. I always look forward to my trips back to Glendalough Road all the more if I get to see them.

And here are a handful of some of my favorites. The family frame at the end I feel captures them so perfectly, and I love it. Enjoy…

They are just the sweetest.

Strike a pose.

I started getting a wee bit worried when I didn’t see any other fellow Christmas travelers pass us with trees strapped to their cars. Surely, if we were headed to the Jones Christmas Tree Plantation (oh no, not just a farm, a whole PLANTATION), there had to be others in search of the ultimate Christmas tree as well. There had to be…

Let’s back up an hour or so. And actually, even more than that. Some history is needed here. I grew up getting real Christmas trees. We usually went the whole nine yards. We would drive for what seemed like forever to a kid out to a tree farm where you cut down your own real tree with a real saw, a farm that had dirt roads and a big red barn where they sold handmade decorations and hot chocolate . Rain, clouds, sunshine or snow (actually it never snowed, we just wished it would), this is what we did every year. It became tradition. It became, almost, part of who we were as a family. The experience rang true to me, if that makes sense. It solidified the season for me, it was something to look forward to and it just didn’t seem genuine to get a fake tree. I began to associate fake Christmas trees with gaudy tinsel and microwave dinners. A real Christmas tree was the way to go…

The last two years we’ve had a fake tree. I guess it was just easier, more convenient. But a month or two ago, as I was sorting through bins and boxes to pack up for our move to Baltimore, I came across this sad, wilted piece of plastic we used to call our tree. I had to get rid of it.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving weekend. Posts of people getting and decorating their trees began popping up all over Facebook. I knew this year I wanted a real tree again. I wanted to give my kids the same experience I had. I wasn’t sure Matt would be all up for trekking out in the wilderness in the grass and dirt, so I thought we could take it slow this year, just got to a place that had already cut trees. It was still the real thing. So off we went, hubby poking fun at me the whole time about my obsession and excitement to finally be getting a real tree again.

Except, when we got there, it wasn’t all the wonderfulness I had expected. I wasn’t getting the same feeling. Evelyn was confused, and crying. From the fake blow up penguin to the cars whizzing by us on Belair Road, we just weren’t feeling it. In a moment of weakness, I suggested just ditching the whole idea and heading to Target for a fake one. I needed milk anyway. To my complete surprise, Matt was the one who whipped out his iPhone and asked Siri where we could find ourselves a legit Christmas tree farm. He said if we’re gonna do this, let’s do it all the way. Let’s get ourselves the whole experience, a real Christmastime adventure. That’s why I love him. He knew how much it meant to me.

So off we went. The kids were content, the roads were traffic free and Sufjan’s Songs for Christmas was playing, I was back into it. 25 minutes later, as we’re getting close, I look back and of course the kids are asleep. No biggie, a power nap never hurt anyone. This is when I start to notice the lack of people driving in the opposite direction with trees. But, it was a Monday afternoon, understandable for it to be slow I guess? Matthew, are you sure you know where we’re going? Mate, Siri is tracking you, relax. And he’s right, Siri did take us there. We pull up to the very quiet, very gated farm plantation with a freshly painted sign reading: “SOLD OUT FOR THE SEASON!” What? There must be some really ambitious people out there about getting their Christmas tree if they’re already sold out before December. At this point, I’m hungry, I’m tired of driving, I know the kids are going to wake up cranky, and again I want to just throw in the towel. And again, my better half pushes for the experience. Luckily for us, we had already passed another tree farm in our search for the plantation, so in a last ditch attempt we decide to check  it out. Don’t remember what it was called, they didn’t sell hot chocolate, but it was a real tree farm with a real red barn. We found it. Turns out my theory about Monday afternoon being a less than popular time to shop for Christmas trees was true, because we had the whole farm to ourselves.

A man who looked like Santa Clause (or Samantha Clause if you ask Evelyn) got off his John Deer tractor, handed us a saw, and we finally got our Christmastime adventure.

The scenery surrounding our first pit stop. Who has a pool open near December?

We made it!

Making a wish.

Samantha  Clause’s real tree farm.

Ev’s first pick.

Rolling my pants up and ready to get dirty.

Such a happy little guy!

We found Charlie Brown’s tree.

The one. Small, but real, and ours.

Adventures are out there.

What better way to end the adventure than by changing a poopy diaper on gravel?