While books can be for all ages (some very serious, and some not so), I wanted to keep it real once again with props in this photography session.
By the look on her face, a little shock at this massive reading list I created. Certainly not the same smile as in my previous keeping it real session with tools. 
Plenty of expressions and deep thoughts going on here. I believe that's simply from keeping it real. No fakery with saying "smile" or "say cheese" and getting fake smiles. Trust me, there were real smiles. Some were hard to keep inside.
Of course it wasn't all fun and games, so a serious tone can sometimes come over the subject. In that case I usually find it's best to use a few secret weapons (keeping it real once again), or as a last result bring out the librarian to give an example of how it's done.
Tag: baby
Baby On The Move, Did You Get The Shot?
Photographing a newborn, or baby who has yet learned to crawl offers the advantage of posing them and knowing that they won't move when you click the shutter. Of course they will look at the camera and smile when you ask, just like when you ask them to sleep through the night because you are tired. They won't fuss while shopping at the grocery store, or while eating out at a restaurant.
Okay, by now you've caught on. Babies and toddlers seldom do what you want them to do. Parents can reflect back on the situation in different ways: 1) That went horrible, 2) That could have been worse, 3) That's just how it is with little ones. It's easy to focus on the what the majority of time was spent on (like waiting a long-time for food to be brought to your table at the restaurant while your toddler dumps out all the salt and pepper) instead of how the rest of the meal was incident free.
With a photography session this is even more evident. Photos are taken at fractions of a second. In the course of an hour session, if 120 photos were taken, that could represent less than actual second of time. So, that's the long way of saying that only moments are captured. 
My session with Will was really nothing to complain about. He was just a mover. There was a lot of placing him, then having him crawl away at top speed, then putting him back to the original position and repeating this over and over again. His mom, Kate, certainly kept busy and in the end stated "Did you get anything?". 
It's easy to think that if there's chaos and lack of control at all times, it's going to be tough to get good results. It's all about being ready, knowing what to expect, and patience that gets results. Or maybe it's jut acknowledging who's really the boss.
Who me?
It’s The Bear Of Starting Something
Welcome to the blog! This is not the first time I've dived into the world of writing a blog, but starting a new one is always a challenge. So, like many things in life, it's getting started that is the hardest thing. Quite a bear, indeed. 
Can't go wrong with a pun, and, of course, a giant bear.
I'm no expert in the world of photographing bears, but babies and toddlers are another matter. Piece of cake. In some ways they are very similar. Both can't be directed to pose (they will do as they please). Trickery, bribery and certain techniques are all essential in understanding what works with baby photography (and perhaps for bears too).
Of course my wife, Sara, and myself often refer to our boys as Park Bears, with their destructive nature and ability to get into almost anything, despite child protection in place (maybe a bear box is more of what we really need).
One strong memory from my youth is going camping with parents in Yellowstone and having a couple of bears come into our campsite. We quickly ran to our van and watched and as the mother bear and cub attacked our cooler. I had a small Thermos that one bear chewed on. I later enjoyed taking it to school and showing my nawed on Thermos and telling other kids it was from a bear.
Similarly, we have plenty of stories about our boys and the mischief they've gotten into. Bears and boys, very similar indeed.
I know that I've barely scraped the surface (yes, I had to finish with another pun).
Just grin and bear... Well, you know the rest.