It’s always interesting when life and work intersect. When Alex called to schedule a family photography session, I was thrilled, of course. And then, at the end of our discussion, when I asked where I’d be headed for the shoot and Alex told me his address, I laughed. Alex, his wife Talla, and their two year-old son Davis live next door to the first house I lived in with my husband. Theirs is also a house I’d been in many times before since our friends Hunt and Nicole had lived there for years.
To catch the best of the morning light, we scheduled the shoot for 7 AM. That’s about an hour before Alex, Talla, and Davis usually get up, so the timing was definitely a shift for them—and Davis did so well. When I arrived, Davis was just finishing his cereal. Perhaps because he was still waking up, Davis initially refused to wear his shirt, which was actually pretty cute. So was the fact that Alex and Talla just went with it. The result was catching a bunch of adorable images of Davis dressed only in his shorts and sandals. He’s the cutest little guy, right in the middle of that transition from baby to “big boy.” He runs and jumps, knows the sounds the animals makes, colors by himself, and knows when someone needs a good hug. He’ll be a great big brother.
One of the huge benefits living near Midwood Park is that many of the houses have gates at the back of the yard that open into great settings for a shoot. So that’s what we did, spending most of our time in the Midwood Community Garden. By the second half of the shoot, Alex and Talla convinced Davis to put his shirt on, and I got some lovely shots of him playing in the perfect morning light. Davis was wonderful the entire time—he’s a sweetheart—and Talla, who was in the second half of her third trimester, looked beautiful. It was such a sweet time to spend with all of them. On the one hand, we got to celebrate Davis and the two years Alex and Talla had spent with him as their only child. On the other, we had the chance to record that brief moment just before the new baby arrives on the scene. An added bonus was meeting Tad, their pup. He was so patient with Davis, and he came with us for the whole shoot. The shots of Talla and her fur-baby are some of my favorites.
I loved spending the morning with these sweet people. I had a great time with Davis, and I also appreciated having the chance to relive, just for an hour or two, that delicate moment just before the second baby arrives. It’s amazing and hectic and it changes everything, in the best possible way.
