Santa Fe is a town with a lot of grandparents. Folks move here when they retire, and children who grew up here often have to move away to find work.
So it was no surprise when I got a baby portrait session booking from a grandmother for when her daughter was in town for a visit with the new grandson, nine-month-old Joseph.
The session was scheduled with just a couple of day’s notice, and I spoke to Joseph’s mum the day before they left to come here, pinning down some details and getting a sense for what she had in mind.
The shoot was at Joseph’s grandmother’s house, and he was a slightly serious young man when I first arrived.
But he soon loosened up, and some nice soft light entered the living room from windows under a portal.
This was good, but there were still some challenges.
There wasn’t a lot of space, and the overall lack of light and lots of patterned furniture and furnishings meant I was watching my backgrounds even more than usual, and trying to get myself in the best positions for clean flattering shots.
All this while Joseph chased balls and followed the cat around in good humour.
We also ventured outside to the garden, where Joseph looked suspiciously at the grass, but enjoyed the shade of one of the trees with his mum.
I was happy with the way the images came out, and so was Joseph’s family.
‘Wonderful,’ said the grandma, who now has lots of good options for portraits to have around the house to remind her of her lovely baby grandson.