Our friend Jack just turned 3.  He’s a couple of months older than my son, but they still seem to get along fine.  I always tell his mom that he looks like a cherubic statue come to life.  Maybe I should stage a photo shoot of his with cupid’s bow and arrow – he’d be perfect for that.

He chose a fuzzy leopard hat for his outfit.  His mom’s such a good mom, that she didn’t hinder his choices and just let him have what he wanted, although it wasn’t really the western cowboy look she’d envisioned.  She’s a great mom, ad his outfit choices will make for great stories and fun photo album reminiscing later.

Here’s a picture of the great cake she picked for his western-themed party.

One day, we were doing stroller strides in Van Nuys park, power walking, and I spied the cutest little door to someone’s backyard, and immediately thought, this is a great photo op.  I pointed it out to my photographer friend and we vowed to come back and shoot there soon.  So the next week,  we took our kids out in the height of the midday sun, found a nice patch of shade and photographed each other’s kids.  They came out nicely, but I learned at a subsequent shoot that this is a morning or daytime shooting location only.  By sunset, it’s super golden, but there are way too many shadows and direct harsh light. Here are my shots of her son.  – She dressed him very cutely in overalls with nothing underneath – one of those things that you wouldn’t do in real life, but looks fabulous in photos.

Here is Cole, almost 3 months old in a newly acquired, yellow-rag-ruggish blanket.  When I was a kid, I didn’t like yellow very much and thought it wouldn’t look good next to brown skin, but I’ve discovered quite the opposite in adult life. I was a child in the neon 80’s, so maybe I was right, back then! LOL.

My baby endured mommy using him as a test subject.  I only got a couple of shots without his pacifier.  While I still find those cute, I don’t think anyone else will!

This baby is extra special to me, because she is the youngest baby I’ve photographed to date.  She was 14 days old, which is slightly old to photograph a newborn, but she was great.  I also got to use my brand new prop that I adore – an old vintage pediatrician’s baby scale.

UPDATE: It’s been a year, and I’ve photographed her twice since.  Tune back in for a link to the later pictures.  Watch her grow! Please contact me for my special “Watch Me Grow” discount packages for the baby’s first year.