Ring Around the Rosie and Pretend Tomato Picking

There are really no, “what should we do now?” moments in a family documentary session with a two year old.  Kids always lead the way. They haven’t learned yet to be shy of the camera, and more importantly, they have a natural drive to play and nothing gets in the way of that. Being with Hillary, Angela and their little man was no different. He kept his mamas busy, from playing instruments to bringing them books to read to leading them outside into the garden. This led to one of my favorite activities to capture, as it’s unique to this moment in time in their lives: our shoot was in the fall and there were no tomatoes on the plants, so Hillary would bring cherry tomatoes from the store outside and they would pretend to pick them from the bushes. A photograph of his face when he eats a green tomato he actually picked from the plants is one of my favorites.

They naturally moved around they’re sun drenched house and yard while playing games, giving kisses to the occasional boo-boos, and eating snacks. Life with a toddler presents so many moments of humor and connection, and is truly the path of least resistance at the same time. I know some parents fear whether their kids will “last” the length of a shoot, but that is truly the beauty of documentary photography. We don’t ask anything of them but to be themselves, as I believe that’s what you’ll want to remember, anyway.