A Barefoot Afternoon

As many of you know, I'm a first grade teacher in my day job and I do photography on the side.   (Although "on the side" is quickly becoming much more than that as it fills up all of my time outside of work!)   The photography is a wonderful creative outlet and it's something that really keeps me going when I know I have a shoot or some editing to look forward to. It's very rare that my two roles overlap, although there are a few times when they do cross paths, and I love it!  I had that opportunity with this sweet little family last week.  Mahalia started first grade with me almost three years ago, and her family won a session with me at a school fundraiser.  I was thrilled to be able to capture them on camera and see them outside of the school setting for some photographic story-telling.

We met for our mini-session at Cushing Park, and it did not disappoint with options for backgrounds to frame this beautiful family!  Mahalia immediately took to being my photographer's assistant and started scoping out locations.  Later in the session she even took hold of my camera and shot a beautiful picture of her parents, below.

My favorite thing about this sweet family?  Well, there were so many things!  The love between the three of them, the way that Mahalia just brought them all together, their vibrant energy and fun-loving spirits... But my all-time favorite was that the minute we got there, both Mahalia and her mom took their shoes off and did most of the session barefoot.  THAT is just my kind of casual on-the-go session!  The mother later told me that she always wanted to run around barefoot as a kid, so this was quite fitting.  :o)

And, as I promised in the sneak peek of this photo on my Facebook page, here's the story behind this gorgeous shot:

Mahalia has had these two teddy bears her entire life.  The yellow one was bought for her before she was born, and the blue one she received when she was very young.  I actually remember her writing stories about these bears when she was in first grade, and I'm pretty sure they made their way into the teddy bear journal that she brought home when she was six.  She really wanted a shot with the bears, and it just came out so soft and precious.

Her mom's reaction to seeing this photo was the best:  "These photos are absolutely amazing.   Mahalia with her lil' teddy bears gives me happy tears.  Thank you so much."  I love being able to put smiles on their faces and evoke happy tears in the families that I work with!  That right there is the best review a photographer can get -- it means I captured the moment and told the story through the lens of my camera.

***************

Considering a location for your next session with me?  Take a second look at Cushing Park on Dudley Road in Framingham!  It's absolutely gorgeous year-round, and my photographer's eye can spot out the best locations to make your family's photos really POP! and come to life.