We have three new entries for the National Charity Model Contest (and two too young little sibs) getting their sneak peak from this morning’s portrait party at the Aufdemburg residence.  I had a lot of fun sneaking out between raindrops with the older kids from some great backyard shots (love that barn!) while also using the studio set up in the living room.  As a result, we got some great variety, and a lot of fun moments both inside and out. First up is Nicholas, who was thrilled that I was coming to take his picture, and those of his friends. As soon as I set up the studio, we went outside to see what we could get before the showers started again.  It was cold! But Nicholas was a real trouper, and he looked great against that red wall.  I even managed to get some good attitude out of him – and since he was having so much fun that was harder than it looked! I think my favorite stuff from him though was when we got back inside and I put him against the black background, and he just did this lean and tilt thing… definitly model material! Next up was the birthday girl – too young to be in the contest, but still determined to be the center of attention anyway! Emily isn’t quite standing on her own yet, but get her attached to her favorite chair and start cheering and you’ll find the biggest smiles ever!  The bigger the audience the better too, or she’ll decided to start exploring the room for something more interesting to do.  I’m not sure how she managed to crawl about in that giant pettiskirt, but where there’s a will there’s a way!

But since we had siblings, we had to try for a few together too…   We started out trying to get them next to one another, but Emily either wanted to crawl off, or nuzzle her big brother.  And those were cute nuzzles! Towards the end when Emily was running low on smiles, we went serious, for a little mini-homange to ‘American Gothic’.

Emily went down for her morning nap, and Hunter was up. Not quite sure of me at first (I think it was me telling him he didn’t have to smile even though I was pointing a camera at him), he quickly decided that I was fun to play with and started cracking up. With his big eyes there was no laugh big enough to eclipse them, and I quickly discovered that he had an inner model just waiting to come out as he tilted this way and that, giving me a killer smile.  I was informed that he already has two girlfriends from his preschool class, so sorry girls, he’s taken!

Next up were Jessica and Matthew, whose time started just as there was a nice break in the drizzle and the sun even came out for a moment.  We made the most of it, and had fun in the yard looking at the fish in the fountain and turning the orange that fell off the tree into a ball. At four, Jessica is very much the little mother for 16 month old Matthew, taking good care of him as he romped about the yard.  She took direction great too, which allowed me to try several fun things with her, both inside in the studio room and out in the grass.

Matthew just missed the contest age by 2 months, or he’d have been a force to recokon with in the competition.  We had fun anyway, kicking the orange about (he’s really good at it, especially for his age!) and then playing with the soft ball inside.  He’s also got a pretty good arm, even managing to get one right in my face inside.  In my defense I was trying to catch with my left hand while shooting… but it was still impressive aim.

We ended the session with a sibling shot, definitly one of my very favorites of the two of them… So thank you everyone for the great set of sessions today!  Despite the rain we triumphed and got some amazing pictures, not just for your contest entry, but to have forever to remember this moment, this age, this joy of being little. Proofs will be up later this week, so in the meantime, enjoy the sneak peak!