It was a joy to shoot the Darnell family. They brought tons of energy with them to our session at Rob Fleming Park. As soon as they got there, I immediately introduced myself to the boys and let them know what I planned on doing, and most importantly I got their permission to let me point my camera at them.

The session went how I’d expected it to go. We had ups and downs with the boys, but I was prepared with my secret weapons. Those weapons were Lego Batman gaffe tapped to my lens hood, my superhero green lantern cape, and orange tic-tacs!

Batman worked longer than I expected him to, and when he started to lose his luster, I broke out the tic tacs. I had instant buy-in from their oldest son, but the youngest was still playing a bit of hardball, but I powered through and worked around what he was giving me. Patience, persistence, and space truly pay off with kiddos. Every kid is different and it just takes some time to figure them out and work your way into their inner circle,

The shoot wrapped and Brett, Emily and I said our thank yous and goodbyes. They knew I took care of them but they didn’t expect or anticipate what I was able to do until they saw what I delivered later on.

Statements like this are the reason I do this. It’s great when I exceed expectations. To see the pure joy and love on people’s faces when they see pictures of themselves and their loved ones captured in ways that are intimate to them is… it’s just amazing.