The Alguire Grandkids – Cornwall Storytelling Photo Session
I’ve been looking forward to writing this blog post for ages. It’s all about the beauty in the chaos of spending two hours with four children under the age of 4. It happens to feature six people who are all very important to me. If you’ve ever heard me tell stories about my niece and three nephews, you’re about to meet them. :)
Let’s start with the obvious: these kids are busy. They run, they climb, they fall over, they argue, they get dirty, they get into small spaces, they reach up to high places. And, in Ollie’s case, they always have to mark their territory. Welcome to the real world, right? Most of that – maybe even all of that – won’t come as a surprise if you’ve spent any time at all with young kids. There’s nothing unusual about it. A lot of the “how” details, though, are specific to this stage of life, and that’s what I was so interested interested in capturing.
Our plan was a simple one. Go to Mom’s barn, take a couple of casual portraits to tick that box as quickly as possible, and then get down to the serious business of play. What I didn’t realise what how playful the portraits would end up being. :) Watching Mom and Dad play with their grandkids was one of the highlights of this whole session for me. Along with a couple of hours of playtime, we also managed to learn some useful lessons…
The kids learned that they can play hide and seek in the horse trailer closet. Mom and Dad learned that playing in the (very dark) horse trailer leads to some squeals of fear. Mom showed off a long-favoured game involving a dolly cart and lots of running. We learned that Matthew is now keeping up with his brother and cousins, but he’s still figuring out what part he’ll play in the gang. For now, he’s settling for the role of Master Timbit Eater. Ollie learned that you can climb up the hay pile, but getting down isn’t quite so easy (or comfortable – hay is scratchy!). Shane learned that he likes the idea of feeding the horses a little more than actually doing it. We learned that Calla isn’t afraid of the horses, and that this little chatterbox can actually have a quiet moment of her own (as seen above). Dad learned that Timbits will get any child’s attention in a hurry, but the children in question learned patience while forced to wash their hands. While Shane learned that the horse trailer makes a good substitute for a swing set, I learned that Matthew is the family reporter. I also learned that Ollie likes layering his underwear and decided to wear two pairs that day. Hey, I can see his logic – better safe than sorry, right?
As with any perfect documentary session, this one ended in tears with an epic meltdown from Ollie and Calla. You can scroll to the end to check out the drama. In typical kid fashion, it lasted 3.5 seconds and then everyone was all smiles (and sandy hands) once more.
Grab a coffee and prepare to smile. Here’s a little highlight reel of our morning together at the barn:
I’m Ang. I’m a Cornwall, Ontario-based photographer offering maternity, child and family portraiture in and around SD&G. Visual storytelling is what I do best; weddings and documentary family sessions are available worldwide. I’m an avid traveler, an adventurous eater, and my passport is always up-to-date. I have dual citizenship with the UK and I’m ALWAYS ready for an adventure. Laughter is important in my life and in my work, so my clients experience informal, interesting shoots that make them feel connected to one another and full of life. Please explore more of Moment.us Photography‘s site to see more examples of my take on storytelling family photography.
