It’s always a treat to see this family – not only because I’ve been photographing Erika and Emmanuel for so long, and not only because their kid is the perfect combination of the two of them and is SO funny and adorable, and not only because there are always extremely cute animals involved (shout out to Beans and Habanero who made appearances this year) – but because someone is always wearing a bowtie and because we embrace whatever life throws at us, including a very rainy day. Halloween is also usually involved in some manner – this year we showcased our seasonal spirit by donning a grim reaper costume while holding a black cat, pretending to have a pumpkin head, showing off a skeleton friend, drawing a large Halloween mural, and of COURSE pretending to be a family full of the friendliest, cutest zombies (which was a throwback to Erika and Emmanuel’s wedding photos, which their kid saw and wanted to replicate, which is even cuter). No one knows how to have fun and seize the day quite like them and I’m just happy to be a part of it.
It was wonderful to reunite with Caitlin and Christopher thirteen years after shooting their wedding in 2011! They look exactly the same somehow so I can only assume that in those thirteen years they were off discovering a secret elixir or something. They now have two wonderful children who are a DELIGHT. The oldest enjoys climbing trees, looking for worms, giving elaborate high fives where she insists on a running start from a great distance away, reading books, carrying around a gem that she named Gemmy, and of course, wearing a gold sequin cape. The gold sequin cape, folks, was the highlight of my year so far. There’s never a time where gold sequins don’t photograph fabulously and she knew it. She’s spunky and full of life and confident and obviously has great taste in capes.
The youngest enjoys all things city planning. He has a passion for Sanitation Engineering, specifically. He enjoys rolling around his custom garbage bin that’s pre-filled with [safe] garbage, and he enjoys picking up sticks at the park and putting them into the sewer grate so that “no one trips.” It looks like he’s having an involved discussion with Pennywise most of the time, but rest assured that he’s just out there doing his job so that when you visit the park later on, you don’t unwittingly step on a stick and suffer a terrible fall. The kids also filled my sweater pockets with Japanese Maple leaves and random pieces of pottery. They’re excellent at finding little treasures. In addition, they have an incredible dog Lylah that’s now my best friend, and they have the best taste in bird wallpaper. I think they’re great and I hope you enjoy this fun little spring session.
The last time I met Ralfi he was an itty bitty baby and now he is somehow 5 (?!) and he and his parents are somehow just as adorable as they were half a decade ago. Although now everyone knows way more about EDM than they did back then. And if you meet Ralfi, he will 100% tell you about EDM and also maybe even drop the beat on his Casio keyboard for you. Ralfi also enjoys breakdancing, but not on slippery carpets on hardwood floors. A sturdy surface is required – safety first – and I respect it. He is a high-energy wonder kid who loves Legos and coloring and I am extremely jealous of his race car bed. He is a Lego Master Builder who makes awesome stuff without any instructions. He has [coincidentally and accidentally] made a near-identical replica of the Waterworld set even though he hasn’t seen a Kevin Costner movie yet. We had a great time pretending that the floor was made of lava, and a less great time having a Redi Whip fight that went sideways when the Redi Whip can malfunctioned, causing Ralfi to be defenseless against the adults (he’s since made a full recovery). It’s always a joy to see Sarah and Chris and so it was an extra joy to see the great kid that Ralfi is now!