From Tween to Teen

This will most likely be a recurrent theme on these blog posts: children growing up. In front of my eyes. Under my nose. 

It happens so fast it seems. One moment you are watching your neighbor's cuter-than-a-button daughter zooming around in our cul-de-sac in her bright pink Barbie jeep.

The next moment she's selling you lemonade and cookies with that bright angelic smile of hers.

Then the next moment... she's a teenager.

So our sweet neighbor turned thirteen last weekend. One year left before she roams the halls of high school, and a whole other chapter in the book of her life phases will begin.

Her mama asked if I could take some portraits of her for her birthday.

What I love about taking pictures of girls turning thirteen is you can actually see both the child and the emerging woman in the same moment. It's not an easy thing to live through, mind you, but capturing that transition photographically is pretty special.

Siblings: Focusing on the Unique

After studying biological sciences for years in college, the power of genetics never ceases to amaze me.

Do you ever look at a family with more than one child and realize that those children can look shockingly similar, or shockingly dissimilar? My kiddos fit into the latter description. It's like our genes were in a battle each time they combined. It isn't unusual for strangers to ask if all three of my children are actually siblings. If one looks closely, you can see the traces of similarity. But they also have some stark differences: eyes color, eye shape, skin tone, hair color, and even body type. Not to mention personalities. A true genetic mosaic... all three!

When photographing children in a family, I think it's really interesting to focus on the unique, yet highlight the characteristics that tie them together as brother and sister.

So, as I was photographing my friend's kiddos I first wanted to capture each individual (oldest to youngest):

Then take one aspect of their features that we can draw attention to and compare. I loved their eyes. They were similar, yet different...

And we had so much fun with these that we decided we had to update the "eye shots" this year.

Your siblings... your kids... little clones or genetic mosaics?