Dear Reagan,

Summer is almost over & here we are, looking for school clothes and making sure your sleep schedule is working. Next week, we start a whole new routine. You are going to have so much fun in kindergarten. You love to learn, and you are curious about things that most kids probably wouldn’t be. The other night, we had a whole conversation about daytime and nighttime at home and in China & how they are opposites. You were so fascinated. I love watching you absorb information. Here's to our next big adventure.

I have said it before, and I'll say it again. And probably will again and again and again in the future, but portrait sessions can be stressful.  Clients are paying good, hard-earned money for photos that they want to be perfect. The outfits, the makeup, the kids' clothes, the location. It's a big deal, especially for moms who worry that their child will misbehave or get shy or start screaming their head off in the middle of the first shot.  Let me just say it for those moms-sometimes you can do everything in the world, bribe them with the moon and all the stars in the sky, and they're still going to make it hard. That's what kids do sometimes. It doesn't mean that we can't get at least a few shots that will make you happy.

I once had a client who had a mini session on a chilly April morning. She wanted photos with her two children for Mother's Day, and since it was growing close, we decided to go ahead with it. Her little boy, then 5 years old, was not having it. He would not smile for me, and he definitely wouldn't laugh no matter how big of a fool I made of myself. Nothing worked. I talked to her about a reshoot when it was warmer if I wasn't happy with the images.

But later, when I was culling images, I found three of him alone that I knew needed to be included for her on top of almost 35 other great images. She later wrote me and said that one of those three was her absolute favorite from the whole shoot. I caught him at just the right time to get him looking at the camera. There was no smile, but she said that it was him perfectly, just how he always is.

A big part of my business is hinged on word of mouth referrals. My clients telling their friends and family and recommending me. I am so thankful.

So when Jill called me about getting Courtney’s senior portraits done, I wasn’t too surprised. Her sister Kelley always sends her family and friends to me, and I am forever grateful.

Courtney is here for the summer and will return to England to start her last year of high school. She wanted to make sure that she got to do senior portraits in Lawrence before she left. A quiet morning at South Park and on Mass Street was perfect for her session. We managed to find deserted alleyways that worked so well for her and her quiet and sweet demeanor.