I never really got to know this wonderful family even though they lived right down the street. I received a message from her about 10 days before they were to move. She wanted to know if they could get a quick family session before leaving since their baby, Kellan, was born at Fort Irwin.
4 months old
We figured out a date and time hoping that the weather would cooperate. When I say cooperate I am just hoping for winds under 20 mph and temps under 105. We work with what we have here in the desert.
One thing I love is when I ask a client what they want in their session, meaning location, and they say whatever you like. Since they wanted to remember where their baby was born I knew that Tiefort and the desert had to be somewhere in the images.
Easy enough and I knew exactly where I wanted to go. That evening Katie, my awesome assistant, and I headed out with the O’Briens following to a great spot on Fort Irwin. When I got there I decided that I didn’t want to park on the side of the road and went over some deep sand/dirt and prayed that I wouldn’t get stuck. We made it over the pile and I decided to not think about how I was going to get back on the road until later.
We unloaded what we needed and got right to business. I knew that we had limited time with the kids and their energy/patience so I wanted to get the family first.
I love the desert.
Liam was more interested in the rocks.
Izzy showing her mommy what she found.
I figured I should let the kids play so I turned my focus to the Kellan, he couldn’t run away from me.
Liam was not impressed with the camera.
Kellan’s big brother and big sister quickly joined him.
All three together.
I wanted to try and get shots of Liam on his own so I had him find his favorite “tree” to show me. It worked and I was able to get a couple of great shots for his parents.
Liam is trying to show me why he chose this particular tree.
He was holding on to his favorite branch.
When it came to getting shots of Izzy I had no trouble. All I had to do was ask for her princess smile and she would also pose for me. I handed her a wand and she was up to anything.
Showing me her magic wand.
She kept showing me her princess shoes.
I wanted to get shots of the Fred with the kids and since Liam had been off doing his own thing he was willing to come back for a few shots and since they were so cooperative I had Liz jump back in for a few. First, Izzy had to get her hair fixed from all the twirling.
Daddy’s girl.
It was time to let the kids take a break so I focused on Liz and Fred. They were so easy to photograph.
Sweet.
Beautiful moment.
We figured it was best to end the session on a high note and were going to start loading up when I looked over to see Liam with his daddy and I was able to get more shots. This was quickly followed with Fred carrying Izzy and I couldn’t pass it up.
Liam was telling me about air conditioners and it made him smile.
We were picking up equipment when I looked over and saw a very tired little girl in her mommy’s arms.
She was still waving her wand.
That’s a wrap!
Thank you so much for asking me to capture your last moments on Fort Irwin. I had a great time and hope to see you again.
