Last week, I met up with Declan on his nine month birthday for a little portrait session. Nine months old is probably my favorite age to photograph. Most babies at this age can sit up and stand up well on their own…but won’t run away from you. Sure, a lot of them are crawling, but if I can make enough silly noises…they tend to stay (mostly) still. The only possible challenge of this age is teething…which creates fussy babies…and along with that, smiling. For example, my sweet baby was all smiles at six months old. Somewhere around eight to nine months, she decided that smiling on camera hurt. If a smile is captured, it’s a miracle! Smiles were NOT a problem for Declan. He was one happy baby during our time together. Granted, I work very fast because I believe babies have short attention spans when it comes to being photographed…but he was a real champ. Heck, Declan was not only a champ…he was kind of a flirt. His father need not worry – this little boy loves the ladies. While I was working with Declan, his mom and Grammmy tried to entertain Felicity. For those of you who have met Felicity, she is a sweetheart…but she is strongly attached to her mama. And when she’s not attached to me, she tends to fuss…or worse, cry (at varying degrees). Fortunately, this did not stop Declan from working the camera. He kept smiling and babbling at me as I snapped away. I guess it’s true what they say about photographers’ children…they are the ones that won’t smile. Luckily I don’t have that same effect on my clients. With that said, I certainly enjoyed hanging with Declan and can’t wait to see him again – hopefully, at the pool!