There aren’t many things we can be certain of in this world, but this I know this much is true:  The only plan a two year old boy will follow is his own.  So we learn to roll with the punches and go with the flow, because in the battle of wills, my money is always on the kid.

When my friends contacted me to schedule a session, I was beyond thrilled.  They moved from Boston to New Mexico 5 years ago and I had not seen them in ages.  They were vacationing in Maine and I was super excited to take photos at the ocean.  It would be the idyllic family setting.  I mean, what child does not adore the beach?  And if they don’t like sand, surely they would love running around in the grass.  It never struck me that there is neither much sand nor grass in New Mexico, and little Adam wanted nothing to do with either!  He was out of sorts and clingy and certainly wanted nothing to do with the big black lens in front of his face (or the crazy lady behind it!).  So I stepped back and let him do his thing. 

It’s interesting how these kinds of sessions have a way of working themselves out.  I may not have gotten 100 photos of Adam smiling at the camera in delight, but I was able to capture him in the loving and honest embrace of his parents. To me, these kinds of images are worth a million smiles.  And Adam’s little brother, Nathan, was such a trooper.  No nap and exhausted.  He finally collapsed into his mother’s arms.  The images of Sara holding her sleeping baby…oh boy…they put one serious lump in my throat.

Often the best laid plan is to not have a plan at all.