I will never be one of those photographers who can get a child to sit perfectly in front of a cotton candy colored backdrop, pleading with them to say cheese and bribing them with promises of treats. Some people can do this type of child photography so incredibly well. With cheesecloths and angel wings and birds’ nests. I have tried it, and have learned I am just not very good at it, it’s not my style and that is okay.

I think it’s the teacher in me. The part of me that knows as children, they need to be allowed to run uninhibited. To be allowed to use their hands, and wander, and explore, and get dirty. Because it’s only when these things happen that they will truly marvel at the world around them. That’s when the magic happens. The moment tiny hands first find a dandelion. The second small, stumbling feet first find solid ground and lead them back safely into their Mama’s arms.

The part of me that knows we need to let them be little.

So instead of coaxing Hayden and Hadleigh during their birthday session, I decided to just let them be, and capture them as they currently are. The way their parents want to remember them at this age.

Remember the way they cling, because they won’t always.  Remember the way she climbs on anything her tiny hands can reach.  Remember that little nugget of a ponytail.  Remember how the simplest things fascinated her.  Remember the way they show love when their little.  Remember the way she would crawl after her sister wherever she would go. 

“You know that place between sleep and awake? That place where you still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting.” -Peter Pan