. dax .

Dax's big brother Ben was one of the first babies I photographed when I bought the studio, and I last week I got to shoot Dax, who actually turns one today.  Happy birthday, little man!  Both of these boys are so mischievous and full of energy - I loved it!  Here's a shot of Ben from his shoot in 2008:

Can you see why I LOVED working with these boys? Okay, so, meet Dax - future Gap Kids model!

And here's big brother Ben, all grown up!  Thanks so much, Becca - it's always good to see you and the boys :)

. elias .

I love Elias' eyes.  They're so huge and so dark and he was one of the happiest, easiest babies I've shot in a long time.  He's a little male model already (just check out the second shot :)  Dad wasn't sure about that little striped hat, but I think it was adorable.  Thanks, Lindsay and Alex!  You have a very sweet little boy :)

. the halk family .

Haven and Matt are dear family friends, and the reason we were in St. Croix in the first place!  Forget "family friends" - they count as family.  Their daughter Evie is one of the cutest, sweetest, most hilarious, most gorgeous children I've ever met.  I should also insert, proudly, that Evie loves my website.  Every night, she'd crawl into my lap, look at my laptop, and announce, "I want to see pictures of grumpy babies.  I want to see pictures of girls in white dresses."  Then she'd point out her favorites.  I'm smitten :)We had such a great time doing their family shoot at the beach where Columbus supposedly landed.  Once again, amazing light, amazing water, amazing smiles.  When they got splashed by an unexpected wave, this shoot sort of turned into a "trash the family" extreme portrait session.  Yay!  Extreme portraiture.. hmm.  Maybe I'll start a trend.  They ended up dancing, falling, playing, swimming, and I think Evie was doing some sort of two-year-old instinctual naked yoga (the last one is one of many favorites from this shoot).   What cool wonderful people :)  Haven, Matt, & Evie - thank you so much for everything -all the rum, all the improvisational cooking experiments, all the late-night talks, and for letting me go a little nuts with your bug zapper that one night :)

. the morain family .

My shoot with the Morain Family in St. Croix was definitely one of the more fun family shoots I've done.  They had some great ideas, so we started out at the St. George Botanical Gardens, where there are plantation ruins, total lush gorgeousness, and unheard-of flora everywhere.  I'll admit, I never heard of a sausage tree before my visit to the botanical gardens.  Now I know.  Then we headed to Carambola Beach Resort for a lifestyle session, playing on the beach, having drinks, and hanging out in hammocks until sunset.  The very last shot - I promise - was unposed.  I like to think she's really that happy about living :)  Morains- thanks for a wonderful session, for showing us all around the island, and for being so flipping photogenic and lovely people.

. lia allegra .

I did this shoot with Lia the day we left!  What a cute little curly-haired ball of energy.  She even served me a dinner of goldfish on a coaster.  Sometimes I forget how much fun it would be to be a kid again :)