A Model Model

First of all, we’d like to call your attention to the fact that on March 5th Elise was wearing shorts! Can you believe it?! We’re impressed by the beautiful spring weather we’ve been having here.

Today, Elise and Heather headed for Scotts Valley so that Elise could be a “model” for a photography workshop. This consisted of gaggles of photographers chasing kids around and through a playground to take pictures of them. This mostly worked until Elise realized that there was sand all over this playground, and found a random piece of plastic to use as a tool for digging. She ended the day absolutely filthy, but absolutely happy as well.

It was interesting to see the styles of the different photographers we met. One woman sat around and waited for shots to come to her. Another suggested different venues and wasn’t quite sure what to do when Elise wanted to just continue playing in sand. Still another had some assumptions about what little girls like which put Elise off in about 30 seconds, after which Elise mostly ignored her. That was a truly fascinating interaction to watch-who knew that a three year old can give the cold shoulder so effectively? The fourth photographer got into what Elise was doing by playing alongside and asking questions about how to join the game. She was by far the most successful in her interactions with Elise. Here’s hoping she got some of the best pictures!

Of course, the photographer Mommy liked most was the one who repeatedly commented on how beautiful Elise is. (awwwwwwww) She took pictures of Elise asleep in her carseat when we arrived and raved about her blue eyes and brown hair and the expressions on her face.

We’re headed back tomorrow for mommy/daughter portraits. There are worse ways to spend an afternoon than frolicking amongst the redwoods...