This session with Sophie was so beautiful. Creating candid child portraits can be pretty tricky sometimes, but with Sophie, it was super easy!

natural metro detroit family photography by kellie&jean photography

Whenever I’m doing a children’s session, I like to let the child lead the session. They get to explore, show you things that they think are interesting, and they don’t have to worry about saying “cheese” 14 times. It’s just like another day at the park to them; and to me and the parents, it’s just that much easier to get natural & candid child portraits.

Sophie warmed up to me almost immediately. As soon as she got out of the car, she walked right up to me to say hi, and from then on we were new buddies. I followed her around snapping pictures, occasionally putting my camera down to sit & talk with her. She had so much to say about the minnows in the pond, bees buzzing around (while she made a really cute “bzzzz” sound), other visitors at the park walking and playing with their dog, what she liked about the rocks on the ground in front of her, and so on. Sophie is such an intelligent little lady, and for being only 2 years old, I was amazed at some of the sentences she was forming. (and yes, her eyes are really that blue!)

The session took place at the beautiful Proud Lake State Recreation Area. The park itself is surrounded by nature, trails, creeks, and a nice secluded beach area. I used to come here a lot when I was younger, and a lot has changed, but the park is still just as pretty as I remember. I actually crossed paths with a very large fox on my way out! (By crossed paths, I mean I was in my car and the fox was outside. This story would have a lot more exclamation points if I literally crossed paths with a fox.)

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