Prepare for a complete overshare because 1. he’s mine and 2. I couldn’t pick just a few to share. This was so much fun to do! Sure, I had to bribe him mini golf and Starbucks but hey, you do what you need to do. I was looking for a different option than just fields and sun. That’s just not his vibe no matter how hard I try to convince him. And since these portraits are a representation of him, we get creative.
There are plenty of colorful mural walls as you decend into Washington DC and the surrounding burbs but we didn’t want to travel that far for a variety of reasons. Lucky for us, the Town of Leesburg had an option right in one of their parking garages.
The mural was commissioned by the town a bunch of years back to jazz up the area around the bike parking in the town hall garage. Artist Kevin Dunn and a group of art students from the area work to put up this awesome colorful mural.
While the lighting is a smidge challenging (no strobe to it was what daylight was leaking in an the overhead tungsten bulbs you find in a garage), we made it work (and Photoshop is amazeballs). We had to get a bit creative on where we put him but it was such a fun challenge to work through.
After we were done in the garage (and I nearly got squished twice by cars) we walked across the street to this awesome little alley that I’d found when doing Lia’s 5 year photos (the ones she calls the kitty photos). The light was coming through really neatly on these stairs so I told him to sit down and just act too cool for me. Not hard:)
He has the amazing mop of thick hair (I LOVE IT!) so I told him to run his fingers through his hair and this is what I got (image two was after I made fart noises at him..haha). He’s just getting soooo freakin big. Full blown pre-teen and I’m so not ready for this.
I don’t do black and white that often because I really love full color but there were a few in this set that kind of called to me to make them monochromatic. I love the right side picture. There are metal frames on the wall (I’m assuming to chain a bike to?) that were kind of neat to shoot through.
I’ve also noticed in the last few months his face has been changing. Maturing and growing. The baby features are really starting to go away (even from last year to this year’s portraits there’s such a huge difference). He’s now just a few inches away from being as tall as me (like seriously, maybe 3 inches) and his feet are one size away from mine. He commandeers my boots and bike all the time now.
Not only are his looks maturing but so is his attitude and personality. He’s still my stormy boy but he makes sure he tells me he loves me a few times say and I get all the hugs which I LOVE! He got into honors classes for school next year (which is a feat given how challenging learning from home has been this year). I’m sad he missed his entire last year of elementary school in the building but he’s taking it in stride and looking forward to being in person next year in MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!
These were actually the first few we shot. My settings were jacked up from being inside and forgetting to adjust for outside but I loved them anyways. He loves to jump off of things that those few are trippy because it looks like he’s standing on the edge of the building when he’s really just on the wall on the parking deck.
These milestone portrait sessions are so fun! I know I often focus on littles but milestones don’t stop once they pass toddler stage. Reach out today and let’s plan your child’s milestone session today! We can pick a location and vibe that represents them perfectly in that season of their lives!