These are my daughters. My oldest is calm and careful but fearless in her own quiet way, and my youngest is the proverbial bull in a china shop but absolutely the sweetest thing. I didn’t “fix” those marks on her face from when she went over her handlebars riding a 16″ toddler bike like she was racing in a BMX event. I didn’t smooth my oldest’s wild hair. This is who they are and while I wanted to do something pretty, I also wanted to celebrate who they are.
It was actually just before golden hour – the last hour before the sun sets and generally considered the most beautiful time to shoot – when we started. We happened to have a free evening and it was gorgeous after several days of rain.
“Do you guys want to go take some pictures?”
“No.”
“I have new dresses for you.”
“OK.”
And that’s often how it goes for us. It’s not always perfect and they’re not always in a good mood and sometimes my oldest has serious concerns about venomous snakes. We were only out for 20mins or so, not a long time, and we got a beautiful variety of images that satisfied my creative impulse.