Sophia and the Tangerine

Sophia and her mama, Erica, met me at a local park on Wednesday for some two-year-old birthday photos. In our correspondence before the session, Erica said that there was just one shot that she had to get -- Sophia standing on a bench looking at a tangerine. Erica's grandmother has a shot of her as a child doing the same thing, and it has become a bit of tradition that they are hoping to uphold. Sure, I thought. How hard could that be?




How hard? Well, we spent our entire session chasing that shot or a variation of it and still didn't come close. Oh, we have pictures with the tangerine, all right. Sophia grew strangely attached to her round little friend and carried it everywhere. But would she stand and look at it? Not a chance.




On the bright side, we did manage to capture lots of fun two-year-old shots. Everything from tears to laughter. I just hope Erica doesn't mind the bit of orange in most of them. I had been warned that Sophia can be slow to warm to strangers. She stayed close to mama for the first bit, but isn't that part of being TWO? Gorgeous eyes checking me out.

Is she giving me a thumbs up here?

We swapped the tangerine for a flower. Sophia had fun exploring the different plant textures.

Big smile!

More flowers to touch. Sophia's schoolgirl outfit is adorable.

One of my favorites from the day. See the path of tears? I love that mama is there in the background comforting her. This is a shot I wish I had with my kiddo(s). (Don't worry, she gets happy soon after this.)
See?

Killer lashes. One lucky girl.

We wore mama out with this shot, but I think it was worth it.

Running free.

Gorgeous light, mama, and daughter. This says love and security to me.

Happy 2nd birthday, Sophia! I hope you and your tangerine had a wonderful day. Thanks for a fun morning, Erica. It was great to meet you!