This was such a fun cake smash, Ms. E was so expressive, and gave smashing her all . 

 

Who’s ready for a cake smash?

Mr B. was ready for his one year Disney inspired cake smash. In my preview on Facebook, I put this image out as the teaser asking what kind of smasher he would be?

You really never know what to expect when a 1-year-old sits down, alone with a cake for the very first time in his life.

Little B looked to Mom for approval many times……

And proceeded to smash delicately.

 

We wrapped up Baby B’s smash with a little tub action.

Little Miss turned 4 this month, and as is the tradition, we took her 4th year portrait.

Ms. Danica is all girl. Pink, and purple, dolls and princesses, lipstick and hair, she loves it all. So naturally, I tried to capture her slant on life appropriately. If you know her, let me know which image screams Danica, and if you don’t, which image do you like best.

This is 4.

And a quick flashback to This is 2. 

As cliché as it sounds, as a photographer you spend your days chasing after the perfect image. Soliciting a smile, sometimes even demanding one of your own child. Sometimes they give one, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you plead, bargain or cajole.

And sometimes you see a moment, come in quietly, start snapping, and capture something unique, real, and lovely.

It’s an edit unlike most that I do, but I love it. And these two, well, I love them dearly. Smiling or not, they are perfect.

So the question is…. edit #1, or edit #2?

This is us. This perfectly represents my relationship with my daughter. When she was a baby, she would refuse to go to others. I would have to baby wear her in between breast feeding her, letting her sleep on me, and in between holding her. We have been attached for a long time now. When she was a baby, it was sometimes stifling. Too much, overwhelming, never getting a break or time alone. It still can be. BUT, I have come to realize it’s also a kind of love I’ll never have again. A pure, honest beautiful love that is special and unique. Never will I be this loved again. So these days, as she approaches 4, and school and activities and friends loom like a crowbar that will pry her a bit away from me physically, I can only hope that this closeness will always be there in some way. I hope that I haven’t wished away too many days in the pursuit of a bit of freedom. I hope that I can keep working on myself and be as good of a person as she thinks I am when she looks at me this way. With pure, beautiful love. And so, this is us.

I started the Princess Series with my daughter, Danica when she was 3 years old. We had a lot of fun finding the outfits, styling the hair, and she enjoyed playing each princess. We completed this 15 part series the first day we had snow so we could finish up with Queen Elsa . I have enjoyed this process and the creativity that came with styling 15 different shoots.  The feedback I got on this series was amazing. Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment, to share your thoughts, support and encouragement. It is appreciated more than you can imagine.

So here I present, the completed 15 part Princess Series.

 I image I will make a book of it, for us to look back on for many years to come. Originally my plan was to print the images and make a collage. Back then I didn’t realize I was doing 15 installments of this series. (LOL)

Thanks so much for following along. Please feel free to share these images.

The Princess Series

Model- Danica

Photographer&Toddler Stylist- Tracy Cook

Snow White

Belle 

Tiana

Ariel

Merida

Cinderella

Tinkerbelle

Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables)

Jasmine 

Rapunzel 

Sleeping Beauty

Pocahontas

Princess Leia

Queen Elsa

Laundry Day for the little Princess

And with the mere wave of a hand, Elsa froze the kingdom, and the cold blanket of white covered the land. .

“I don’t need rescuing !”