Melissa + Ryan ( + Ava)
I review ages of the children I photograph while on their session together. And my jaw was continually on the floor that Amelia is now 5, Jaxon is now 10 (on the day of our shoot!) and Ava, their beloved mini-schnauzer (who’s not so mini) is now 12. And being a not-so-mini 12 yr old schnauzer, Melissa wanted lots of photos of their family’s best friend. When I first photographed Ava, she was a bouncy, rambunctious 4-ish year old puppy and not only did I run after her, but I was running after Jaxon who had just learned how to run. Now, both Jaxon & Ava have calmed their approach to my camera and Ava is blind. Blessedly, she was totally sedentary for our photos and we worked our posing around her-she totally was the belle of this ball and rocked it. The ones that she is in (and the header photo for this post) are probably my favorite of her (and her human siblings) ever!
Amelia, our youngest human on the shoot, was entirely ready to show off her pearly whites and either held my hand, gave me high-5s or hugs throughout the shoot. It was such a blessing! I can totally imagine Amelia’s & Jaxon’s senior sessions in the years to come!
We added Ava to the mix and these are, by far, my favorites. :) She may be blind, but for a split second her eyes saw my camera and locked on me! The only challenge was when we went to take some walking photos, she was a little gun-shy about walking in new territory, so Melissa and Ryan carried her.
We gave our schnauzer model a job well done back rub and gave her a break while we did just a few of everyone without her in the picture. Hopefully, she’s in the family’s proverbial picture for many years to come though!
Melissa & Ryan, have I seriously been photographing your sweet babes for the last 8-ish years?! How is that possible!? It is such a blessing to me to watch Jaxon grow up to a pre-teen (gasp!) and see Amelia totally at ease in her skin with folks (me) she doesn’t see every day. In short: ya done good!!! You are a joy in my life and I’m so thankful to be along for the ride with your family!
Much love and many love pats to Ava,
Carrie