Baby Jackson

I met Nikki and Baby Jackson when he was around 5months old.  Nikki and her husband Eric take a lot ofpictures of this beautiful child, and they wanted to supplement their collection with an occasional formal picture session.  I was hooked after our first outing, when I was able to see the reflections in his eyes.  

If you explore either iris in this enlargement, you can detect the red bricks and tan garage door of his house (right side), the broken white lines of the sidewalks (just under the pupil), and blue sky and green foliage (above the pupil).  This fuzzy blowup won’t sell, but it still intrigues me today.  

Broadly smiling babies are the picks that sell.  With a little patience you can also can get those more purposeful frames-my favorites.  All the location shots are one light set-ups following the general advice of guru Zack Arias (the dramatic twilights will come later for Baby Jackson).

My friend Minh and I liked Baby Jackson so much we asked him to model for an Easter promo session after his first birthday.  This is a simple two light plan in the studio, and admittedly it is a bit start.  We thought Jackson’s huge volume of cuteness and some splashy color would win out.  My pick is “Two Baskets with Bunny Rabbit”, below.

By now I was getting together with Nikki and Jackson about twice a year for a session.  We managed to put the whole family against the fall colors in a nearby park.  

Ten months later, in 2013,  we went back to the studio.  The baby is just about gone here.

A few days ago we took a quick scouting trip around the county, and we found this totally cool one-eyed tractor in a barn on McDaniels Farm Park.  

I don’t know exactly what we will do with it: maybe a subdued composition like the one below, or a completely different view against a century old harvester.

Jackson’s completion and hair is beautiful against the greens in this setting.  However, I have to remember to bring a comb and speed light the next time I attempt this pose.