I’m so thrilled that I got the chance to reunite with Sarah, Tim, and Theo – and to meet the latest addition to their family, Linden! I photographed Theo back in 2019, so now we needed to get some updated photos with his little sister. Sarah told me it would taken Theo a minute to warm up, but that was not the case, and within about 30 seconds he was showing me his breakdancing moves and telling me everything there is to know about soccer. Linden enjoys cooking food in her pretend kitchen and taking a ride on her puppy bike. They both love pretending to be monsters and attacking their parents, but who doesn’t? Sarah and Tim are great parents and people, so they abide all monster attacks and even feed the monsters dinner after a bike ride. We enjoyed a wonderful little sunny afternoon taking pictures in their home and in their gorgeous backyard. Bat stickers were placed on all bicycles so now I feel like there’s a little piece of me riding down the sidewalks of Durham… and what a wonderful crew to go riding with. :)
One of the perils of photographing a small child that you see often and are friends with is that they tend to want to sit next to you during the shoot and you keep having to move away from them in order to take pictures of them, which hurts their feelings. They also know your husband Geoff and demand to know where he is, and are upset that you didn’t bring him. We’ve been friends with Abby and Rachel for a very long time, and were so excited when they moved back to NC with their kiddo Ansel. Ansel is our buddy. We’ve shared dinners and bedtime story routines and long discussions about Geoff’s shoes. He is extremely intelligent and also hilarious, and I don’t think I’ve ever really seen him truly upset except for maybe 5 seconds when he couldn’t get the “Prog” button his keyboard to work. He is funny and very adored and he seems to like us.
When I showed up without his buddy Geoff for this shoot, he was initially confused. Why would I be there… without Geoff? Where are Geoff’s shoes? He then made a swift recovery by deciding to sit directly next to me during most of the session where I couldn’t photograph him and giggling profusely. Slowly he was bribed away from me with various things: sticks, a blanket that looks like a tortilla which I use whenever over their house as much as possible, howling with his dog Ozlo, more sticks, a scooter, some pinecones, and finally cookies. We had a wonderful time. I love this family with all of my heart and am lucky to know them and extremely lucky and thankful that they have a blanket that looks like a tortilla that they allow me to use when I’m at their house.
Martha and Justin are dear friends of ours whose wedding we photographed way back in 2011 (!!) and whom we’ve played many games of Killer Bunnies with ever since. Martha’s from Chicago and Justin’s from Minnesota, but they met in Chicago. Martha left to attend Duke, and Justin joined shortly thereafter… and they both became Durhamites through and through. Here they adopted a cat and later had a real human child named Emilia, who is the friendliest and most adorable kid on earth. She is a fantastic hugger and excited ALL THE TIME! and also loves pizza. She is also incredibly patient, especially for a 2.5 year old. I’ve seen her look lovingly at pizza that wasn’t hers (while clapping) yet remaining seated (!) and just politely sitting there until her pizza arrived. I’ve seen grown adults who can’t do that and have zero chill when it comes to waiting for pizza (namely my husband).
Now they are sadly (to us!) moving to Minnesota, and taking their knowledge of amazing food with them (Martha helped us discover the joy that is pupusas, and, of course, El Cuscatleco). We will miss them greatly. They wanted a family session that documented a little bit of their time spent in Durham at the playground in Central Park and The Parlour, where Emilia makes the best ice cream eating face. It’s like the face you would make to imitate a tiger, only instead you’re just eating ice cream. I love her. And them. When we visit you in Minnesota you have to promise you’ll take us to see Prince stuff. xoxo.
