Whew!  So I’m finally getting caught up from my amazing and crazy fast photo-fab weekend! 

 At the end of June, I was planning a trip to my hometown and managed to book five photo sessions and one wedding within a three day window.  That was the most concise and packed weekend of shoots I have ever taken part of.  I loved it!  Today I’ll focus on the first birthday watermelon smash.

Firstly, I love a great and unique idea like switching a cake for a watermelon!  Thanks to this little guy's mommy for thinking this up!  Not only was it healthy but fun and there was no sugar crash afterwords! If you have an original concept for a photoshoot, I'd love to help you out!

My lesson for this shoot was to make a list and check it twice, and then remember that you’ll probably not even need what you forgot anyway!  Lately, I’ve been using an umbrella with my off camera flash during shoots.  Since I had traveled about 6 hours the day before, I had put my umbrella in a pile to use at the wedding I would be shooting the next day.  I totally blanked on the fact that I would need it for this session.  I decided to try using the flash without the umbrella anyway.  This little guy hated it!  The bright light being snapped every few seconds just wasn’t letting him be natural and smile.  So I adjusted my strategy and decided to just go without.  Normally I would try and use a reflector, but I knew the constant stream of light aimed at his face wouldn’t make the situation any better.  A few tweaks to my camera settings and I decided to just do more post processing work in Photoshop if needed.  These images turned out great!

This little guy has a great bond with his momma.  She had him smiling and animated in no time.  This is my biggest tip to getting great images of your little ones, have someone else there to help get those great smiles.  Even though I love what I do,  hopefully one day I’ll be getting so many sessions booked that I will be able to afford to hire an assistant to help do all these extras like remembering umbrellas, holding diffusers, carrying my gear, and getting little ones to smile at the camera lens.  Until then, I’ll be earning my keep!