‘Simon Says’ Anyone?

Simon Says, Hokey Pokey, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider ALWAYS do the trick on the set of a Graco photo shoot and let me tell you, I’ve become an expert at all three. It’s amazing how a few silly moves, a loud (bad) singing voice, and the willingness to look like a complete fool will turn out the perfect little laugh everytime. Worth it? It might just be my favorite part of the job.

Best Breaktime Activity (above): Becoming rock stars.

I just returned from a major photo shoot for the next Graco catalog and wish I could have made a documentary for everyone to see (idea noted for next time!). I’m not sure why, but behind-the-scenes is always the most fun and although you can capture amazing moments in front of the camera, sometimes there are special things you all don’t get to see. On every shoot I try to stop, look around, and really enjoy these types of experiences. One minute there’s chaos, babies crying everywhere, toys strewn across the room and the next everyone has crashed- nap time on the Graco set (just the babies unfortunately) and peace is restored. Sometimes it’s not just the babies that are cranky… sometimes the crew just needs that food or sugar so kindly provided by the producer as a mid-day pick-me-up.

I thought I’d share a few great memories from the shoot with some photos we took ourselves…obviously not photographer quality…I’m still learning those skills!

Although the kids on set enjoyed the product we shot we felt it was important to pass it forward to others. To round out an already fun week we donated the products we shot to the local Los Angeles County Federation of Labor in Partnership with the United Way who are in a cooperative partnership to support the Southern California wildfire victims. To learn more visit their site and read about their encouraging mission to help others in need. It’s inspiring, just like the little ones we saw all week.

The sweet innocence and fun of taking photos isn’t lost on these kids and it’s refreshing. I took a couple special photos (including my about page photo) at the end of the week and was totally upstaged by that cutie….just as it should be.

Favorite Look : They held this gaze for quite a while and eventually one put her arm around the other!

Favorite Quote: Two little girls (ages 1 1/2 and 2) using “Baby!” as each others names.

Shoot mascot: Curious George…he would pop up and hang from everywhere!

This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2008 at 8:15 am and is filed under Babies . You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.