{Personal} My #1 is TWELVE!

Kim here with a little personal post.

This is my oldest son, Cameron.

He turned 12, TWELVE, a couple of weeks ago.

I try to take my kids out for a couple of pictures around their birthday.

As a photographer, my days are filled taking pictures of others and by the time I think about taking pictures of my own children the last thing I want to do is pick up my camera. So, I try to make it a point on their birthdays to take some.

I don't know WHY I do this to myself.

Lots of tears fell on my keyboard as I worked through these.

If you want to see what part of my heart looks like here you go....

A few tips/tricks/advice/useless knowledge:

What to wear? 

Part of his birthday gift is choosing an outfit to buy. {Shirt/Jeans/Shoes} 

Me & Target & Old Navy's red sticker/clearance area are pretty tight.

Location? 

I'll ask him a few days ahead of time where he wants to go. Honestly each year I'm THRILLED he even lets me take some pictures of him at all so I try to keep it simple. This location is behind Mike's Country store on Philema Rd in Lee County. I love all of all the boxes with hints of color and i LOVE the pallets!

How long does it take?

First things first, he's a boy and the fact that he even agreed is a MIRACLE! So we keep it short & sweet. These maybe took 15 min's.

Posing: 

For the most part what you see in these is what he's done. Call him a photographer's kid I guess but I try not to pose him too much. I'll give him a little direction like "lean against this" or "squat down there." I want him to be natural and I love to catch his smile.

How do you catch the natural ones? 

Keep shooting. If you pull the camera away and carry on a conversation like "Come on say cheese" or "What's wrong, why aren't' you smiling" chances are you will not get a smile or you'll miss it if/when he does. I'll be honest. If he's in a funk I keep shooting & make a farting noise or shake my booty and 100% of the time it results in a smile or laugh. 

Crazy ones: I always, always, always let him make some faces/crazy ones in between the "real" ones. It keeps him going and loosens him up! And it helps me remember the faces that he was into at his age. 

I love you Cameron Joseph. You'll always be my baby boy...

- Momma