Every once in a while in the middle of a super stressful time such as holiday season, I need a refreshing.  A cleansing of my spirits, my (photographer) soul, my memory cards.  So I shoot for friends.  I tell them ask them nicely when we are doing sessions and then I drag them out in the cold and shoot for them and for me.  It is something I love to do.  It is something they love that I do, too.  (Or at least I am pretty sure – no one has strenuously objected so far!  😉 )  And I love when it is good friends that I can shoot with.  Especially when I have been there since the beginning – through the maternity, and the newborn, and the six month phase.  It’s special to me to watch them grow as a family, and even more special to get to document it with my camera.

This past weekend meeting me in the Downcity area on a brisk Saturday morning was one of these good friends.  Miss L. has grown from a beautiful baby bump into an adorable toddler.  She did absolutely awesome running all over the financial district and the cold didn’t seem to bother her one little bit.  Could have been the awesome Boden warm jumper or the gorgeous sweater and hat that her grandma knit for her.  Or just the excitement of being outside and being allowed to run through empty alleys and stand (with her parents) in the middle of deserted streets.  (Note to clients:  downtown areas are perfect on Saturday and Sunday mornings – there is no one around!)   It was clearly good for her, and good for my soul as well.  😀  

Today, on Thanksgiving I am so thankful for so many different things.  My husband, my kids, my family, my job, my friends, my clients.  So what could be more appropriate than to share a sneak peek from a session with one of those friends?  I first met Allison last year after we moved here and we formed one of those weird and wonderful instant friendships.  Where you just meet a person and immediately you click.  I ended up shooting her maternity and newborn sessions last winter:

And even though we haven’t gotten together as often as we have wanted, this fall of course, I was going to pester them into doing family photos as well.  Little miss Paige has grown into quite the beautiful 10 month old and mom and dad?  Well, just as gorgeous as ever.  Although she was cutting several teeth during our session and not her normal super smiley self, I still thought the session was perfect.  Sometimes, you just capture who they are, as they are in that moment.  🙂  Teething and all.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with the friends and family that mean the most to you 🙂