Knowlton Family | Arizona Portrait Photography

{Knowlton Family Portraits | Agua Caliente, Tucson, AZ | January 2012} I met this sweet family at a homeschool co-op day. I set up a little booth, shared some pictures, advertised a 'bonus' promo for those who booked on the day of and came home with a grip of new families I'd get to capture memories for!  The Knowltons  showed up dapper and ready for an amazing session!

so much stinkin' personality! the boys ate UP all the attention... daddy-daughter really get to me. I've been missing my dad a lot lately. It makes me get all tender and mushy when I direct the daddy-daughter moments during a session... Seriously, i've never had such willing candidates to whip out funny faces on the fly! I ADORE the in-between moments when shooting families...those bite-size 'rest' times where the kids get to do what they want. You get to really snag some AWESOME faces... :) Mom NAILED it in the 'prop' department. I really encourage families to bring a little momento that would be a special icon of who each member is... costumes are most favorite! :D this little guy took his legos REALLY REALLY seriously. it was awesome. below are three images of about 20 as he explained how cool this particular contraption was... Little bit on the right (below)...yea, this is what he called his VIKING costume. check out those fuzzy boots! SO. BOY. And parents of three youngsters can still get sweet on eachother....i LOVE these moments... My most favorite thing about the time i got to spend with the Knowltons, was watching Karen. Just in that hour and a half, I was so impressed by her constant giddyness with her kids. You could tell she had the 'im a mom of two crazy boys' thing DOWN. She wasn't faking. She wasn't pushing through to make. She let the wildness slide off her shoulders and laughed WITH her kid. Seriously. My eyes just welled up thinking about it. She challenged me, so much, to dive into my kid's fun. She did more than TOLERATE the craziness. That strikes a chord with me in so many ways... :)

Griffith Family | Tucson, Arizona | Family Portraits

{Grifftith Family Portriat Session  | Auga Caliente, Tucson, AZ | November 2011} This family is extra special to my heart. Derek, the dad, was one of the first guys at Second Mile to chase Lawson down and befriend. Jen, the mom, has rocked my world with her testimony. She was introduced to Jesus less than 4 years ago and it changed her life. She radiates a bazillion tons of joy and belief that makes my head swim and my heart intrigue. Even Lawson has said on numerous accounts, 'Laura, you should rub up again her. A lot'...(beat) uhm, he probably said it a bit differently. that just came out weird. But point made. We would rub up against the Griffiths every day if we could. It's true Griffiths. We are so excited about getting to know you guys better! (P.S. I've never had a client plaster their home with their session's pictures as fast and as die-hard thoroughly as Jen did. It's awesome! I mean--it'd be awesome even if it wasn't my work. I just love pictures. But the fact that i took them--so cool. So encouraging. In fact, I believe an MVP award might be due...)

Miley...gosh her little smile just makes me beam :)I had to warm Abby up a little. I warned her, 'So Abby, you will feel uber cheesy, silly -- but you gotta nose dive ok straight into this lil' project? So...i'm gonna say 'snap' and every time i do, you have to whip up a different pose, pop a hip, make a silly face...lets just play. It took 20 'snaps' and we landed some GREAT keepers :)sisters...guh. i love sister shots. yes owen was genuinely gnawing on Derek's nose. he's such a beast.