Love these folks! I’ve been photographing them for years and it’s truly such a privilege to be close enough with a client that you feel right at ease and at home with them, and they don’t look at you sideways when you explain that you drove away from the house with your husband’s work laptop mistakenly in the car and now he has to come to their house to retrieve it while you’re doing the shoot. Aleigh and Joe are great. Their kid is great. I love them. Their kid decided he loved me even more and promptly asked if I could be his babysitter when I left. Rest assured this was because I gave him temporary tattoos and I let him jump on the bed – which he enthusiastically did until his parents decided he needed a safety/water break. We made muffins. We delivered letters to neighbors. We read books. Just a wholesome morning with this dino loving miniature dude and his rad parents.

This child! It’s my third wonderful time photographing Sara and Jackson but my first time photographing their son who is a well known child-model-turned-boy-band-member. Okay, so he’s not a well known child-model-turned-boy-band-member. But he’s definitely striving to be. White tux (check). Dramatic swoop of blonde hair across the forehead (check). Phoenix Sun basketball shoes (check). Mardi Gras beads that he put on himself (check). Zoolander facial expressions (check). Pointing directly into the camera without prompting (check). Someone give this boy a contract, he is clearly ready to sign autographs to his throngs of fans and I’ll be the first in line. All of his poses below are completely his own trademark runway creations. There was no posing involved from any adult – he just did his own thing and we all gasped and applauded. What a dude. When not actively modeling (which is not very often), he loves cars and hugging his stuffed animals and headbanging to the Presidents of the United States of America’s lead singer’s side project Caspar Babypants.

I adored photographing this family last year when they were just a couple with a fab 2-year-old who ate two popsicles at the same time while wearing awesome dinosaur shoes. Now they’re a family of four! Skye and Rui just welcomed their newborn daughter Bennett into the world a mere handful of days before Tye was set to turn 3. I was on hand with them this particular weekend to help document all the family who flew in to celebrate Tye’s birthday, as well as to snap a few shots of Bennett, and Skye’s sister Ashley’s pregnancy. It was a ton of fun meeting all their family members! They’re such a supportive group of people. Skye and Rui will be moving out-of-state shortly to be closer to them all, which breaks my heart, but I’m so glad that I got the chance to meet and work with them during this time in their lives. Tye is a smart, hilarious little kid (who sang birthday songs in multiple languages while I was there!) who wants everyone to know that he’s 3. He also loves car washes so much that he burst into tears after receiving a mini one as a gift. He had a joyous birthday surrounded by those who love him, and who could ask for more? Thank you to Skye and Rui for having me in your lives these past two years, and I wish you nothing but love and success in your new home!