A girl and her backpack...

She looks ready and excited, doesn't she?  Even tho' the backpack is as big as she is!

True confession...

I have a confession to make.  It wasn't REALLY the first day of school.  It was a few days before.  Jenny decided (and I agreed) that there is enough to do on the first morning of school without worrying about getting any quality photos.  But we LOVE those first day of school pics our friends post on Facebook.  SO....the solution was to head to school a few days early when no one was around.  We had the place to ourselves and wrapped it up in about 10 minutes.  Easy peasy...lemon squeezy.  BTW...I downloaded the sign and photoshopped it on the chalkboard.  Love that someone was creative enough to come up with that design.

Finally...

And finally, just pure and simple H being herself.  Love her.  Next up...MORE school themed pics, but this is the end of the vintage.

Which will it be?

Practicing to be teacher's pet...

 

 

OR the class clown!

I'm all about the props...

Loved the vintage globe.  My friend had THREE.  Ha! I downloaded the vintage alphabet cards.  Love!

Just for fun...

And we even tried this iconic pose.  You don't want to know how many times the apple landed on the ground!  Ha!

Sweet scenes...

I just loved this little scene...

And here is a sample of her handwriting at this age...

A is for Apple...

 An apple for the teacher...

Or maybe for herself....  Ha!

Just give her a book...

This was the easiest part of the session. I just gave her a book and let her read.  She was happy and I just kept shooting.  I'm thankful she loves books!  They will take her to faraway places and give her lifelong friends.

It's the little things...

Never underestimate the value of little things.  To me, they speak volumes.  This is perhaps my favorite shot of the day.

I love little feet that still don't touch the ground...

Love that my friend even loaned me some vintage readers. 

School Days, School Days...

 

H is approaching a major milestone next week when she begins school for the very first time.  Yep, kindergarten arrived before I was ready for it.  And from the looks of it, perhaps before H was ready too.  She looks a little uncertain.  Ha!  Truly, she's excited...but I just thought these shots were too funny to discard.

Thanks to my sweet friend who loaned me some vintage props...the cool globe and chalkboard and easel and the amazing vintage desk.  And let me tell you, that desk is HEAVY.  My hope and plan was to do this in a vacant field at golden hour, but we girls couldn't lift the desk by ourselves.  So we did it in our neighbor's side yard before the sun got too high.  Not my first choice...but good enough...and a LOT more convenient.  

Bob wonders why I chose the vintage theme instead of shooting her with a computer...more appropriate for 2015.  Because this was too much fun.  Prepare yourself for way too many school shots over the next days.  This is a big deal for the first grandchild and I haven't been shooting too much lately.  I still have pool pictures to process and SOMEDAY I will get to them.  Ha!

Carefree...

These just look like the carefree days of summer, don't they?  Love the color combo and her genuine, natural, relaxed smiles.  This is the end of my 10 minute practice shoot....next up? Swimming pictures, once I get a chance to process them.  Still way behind following my wrist injury, but I'm getting there!

Daddy is funny!

We always get the cutest expressions when Daddy is acting out behind me.  Love love those freckles and that one little dimple....

Channeling Pippi...

I had just shown her a picture of Pippi Longstocking and this was what I got!  lol

Keep your finger on the shutter button...

Keep your finger ready on the shutter button, because things change quickly when you're five. One minute you're showing off your dimple (above)...

The next you're tickled by something funny that Daddy did....

And sometimes you decide to give us a preview of a teenager! 

On the serious side...

I'm trying to get out of the habit of asking her to smile....so that means we get some serious shots.  I actually love them...especially that top one, which is close enough to show her cute freckles and her captivating blue eyes....or maybe it's the second one where she's pondering something....OR....the third one with the Mona Lisa smile. Ha ha!  Decisions, decisions...

A prop always helps...

After our 4th of July celebration, we had a few extra minutes so I grabbed H for a little portraiture practice.  My goal is to capture her looking natural.  A prop always helps!  She loves my mini pinwheels...especially when they match her clothes!