I always love photographing this family. The kids are cute. The parents are good friends of mine who live far away, so it’s nice to see them. And they are all so fun. Kristin had suggested balloons for the session, which I was so excited about because I’ve been wanting to do a session of some sort with giant balloons for a long time. So this was my chance.

I was so excited because what do kids love more than balloons? Not much. I just knew this session was going to be a smashing success because I’d have six three-foot balloons, and the kids would be so excited and happy.

I was partially correct. What I didn’t account for, however, is the fact that kids hate few things more than losing a balloon. Especially a special, big balloon. So when we had a a very close call with the loss of a balloon (picture this: young boy lets go of balloon, wind carries it across the sidewalk and into the busy street, starts screaming, so mother runs into the busy street, moments before the light turns green, to fetch the balloon. She barely catches it, returns back to screaming boy and tries, desperately, to console him), the dream of the perfect session was a bit shattered.  It’s hard to recover after a traumatic incident such as that.

Before I go on, however, I must give a big, hearty pat on the back to Kristin and Aaron. And I guess their eldest child as well.  They traveled a very long  way for this session and had to deal with a lot of meltdowns, uncooperative children, and at one point, three children crying at once. Seriously, guys, you did an amazing job given the circumstances.

And after it was all said and done, I really had a good time still. No, it was not the perfect session. And that’s ok. To expect perfection is, well…silly. I don’t capture perfection. I don’t claim to. I don’t even want to. I enjoy spending time with clients, no matter how wonderfully or poorly the session goes. And the sessions that are less-than-ideal always give me some good laughs to look back on.

So, thanks J family. Thank you for traveling on an hour-long ferry ride with upset children.  Thank you for sticking it out, even though it would have been a million times easier to just go home. Thank you for rescuing that balloon, Kristin. And thank you for trusting me to take pictures of your family.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I would love to do another session involving balloons…if everyone is above the age of seven. (wink)