Brent and Jade ~ September 7, 2008

It's not often that I get to take pictures of family, and when the opportunity arises I am all over it like white on rice. Even though Brent and Jade live in San Diego it is hard to sync our schedules for dinner or trips to the beach, so their photo shoot was a treat for me. Plus I got to join them for dinner and hang out afterwards.

Jade was all about being in front of the camera. As soon as my hands grasped the black body of my Canon 5D, she was throwing poses as fast as Cole Hamels throws pitches over home plate. And each pose was true to her personality: outgoing, animated, strong, charming, goofy and inquisitive.

Brent was just the opposite. He didn't care that I had a camera in my hands, maybe because he is accustomed to being watched. He regularly makes most valuable player for baseball and he has the speed and maneuvering skills that make him a starting running back for his football team. Not only is he athletic, but he has great eyes. The sunset made him squint a lot, so after it dipped into the horizon I told him to open his eyes as wide as possible. His reaction was a bit like a roller coaster face. Nonetheless, I got the shot of his killer eyes.

Fritz Betschman ~ August 23, 2008

At six months Fritz was just about crawling and his happiest moments were when mom or dad held him up so he could stand on his feet. He was probably thinking he would skip the whole crawling thing and go straight for walking.

Also he was up for the entire photo shoot! He did crash as soon as I put the camera down, but so far he has the best track record among all the six-month-old babies that I've had the pleasure of photographing. What a trooper!

The last two pictures were his final moments of distraction before falling asleep. It was amazing to witness his newly developed hand-eye coordination. It was as if he just found his hands and how useful they are for putting things in his mouth.