Outside of their house, everyone thinks the Hughes girls are quiet. But I know better. I’ve been inside their house. Secretly, these two little dolls are firecrackers; they just save all the sparks for when no one but their parents and baby brother are watching. Lucky for us, they warmed right up to the cameras during our Central Park photo shoot in Ormond Beach a couple weeks ago, and Danny and I had so much fun with these kids and their easygoing parents! The afternoon involved a game of tag, building bouquets of wildflowers (and I seriously believe sister # 1 has a possible career in floral design ahead of her), and stalking a water bird (which the kids were convinced wanted to become their new pet).

Christine and John, thank you for sharing your delightful children with us, and thanks for braving the gloomy afternoon for what turned out to be a great family photo shoot. We can’t imagine a nicer family, so we hope our first shoot with you won’t be our last!

But bear with me now, because we got so many fun shots that this is going to be a long blog post. . . .Meet two sisters, who have two dolls named after sisters. The dolls are Mary and Laura — from Little House on the Prairie.
We were just getting settled in for another family portrait . . . and this happened:
Those gray flecks that you see in the air if you squint your eyes a little bit? Yup, that’s rain. Although the day was overcast, there was only a 10% chance of rain — and I think we got 100% of it. But no problem! We took cover under a nearby tree (no lightning!) to wait out the shower and get a few more pictures in the process.
When the rain stopped as quickly as it had begun, we moved out into the field for some fun and games. When we photograph families, Danny and I like to try to get a few quick group portraits right away, before we lose the children’s attention. But our favorite pictures always happen when we’re doing things that make kids want to smile, rather than simply smiling because they’ve been trained that’s how they should behave for a camera. We got plenty with these kids!

When the girls wanted to quit racing to gather flowers, the guys got some hangout time on their own. There is something incredibly infectious about a little boy’s smile — and every time I look at these pictures, I hear his laugh bubbling up from his belly!
The girls stayed busy with flowers for some time, so I decided it would be a good idea to get pictures of their “bouquets.” Danny took the picture above just as I snapped the one below on the left. I want to sigh over that one. She’s holding her flowers just like a bride. And don’t you agree that she’s got potential as a floral designer?! I’ve never seen such beautifully arranged weeds.
I love these next three pictures. So much.
Photographing families is absolutely wonderful, especially when you’re getting to witness moments like these. I’ve worked with kids — a lot — since I was one myself; I’ve spent half my life taking care of, playing with, and teaching kids from just a few days old on up, and every time I watch families interact happily, parents who love their children and children who think their parents are just the most fun playmates in the whole world, it makes me look forward to one day having my own family. (Just imagine all the pictures there will be then!)
After a lot of (exhausting!) playing in the field, we headed back over to the pond . . . where we met a bird . . . which derailed our photo session with its cuteness. The kids loved that bird. And quite honestly, the bird really did seem to love them right back. As we walked the length of the dock, it followed us. We walked away (which caused a few tears), headed back, and the bird perked up again as if it had been waiting. That did it: The kids began discussing how to transport it home.
It was all greatly amusing to those of us over the age of five. But I would guess Christine and John spend a lot of time smiling and laughing. I would if I had their kids!
A note: Once the lollipops came out, Little Brother wasn’t content to enjoy his own. He tried to share it with his bird . . . and threw it into the pond. He then helped his sister share her lollipop with the bird, too. And what’s he doing in the photo below left, you ask? Oh, that’s just a little thing his family likes to call his “funniest face ever” — as in, “Make your funniest face ever!”  Which he does, and which it is.

This was just one of those days that really reinforced that photography is definitely what I want to be doing with my life. Here’s to many, many more days just like that.

~ Laura