Last Sunday night

This one might have to be printed and framed for my desk at work. Zoe and the two main guys in her life: Daddy and Hoot. They are not necessarily listed in the order of her preference, depending on her mood. Hoot never makes her say "please" or stand in the corner, after all, and he's always willing to share all of his dessert with her.

We were sitting on the concrete ledge of a flowerbed at the Kirkwood Train Station Sunday night, waiting for a freight train to come through (Zozer loves to watch the trains go by), and I took the opportunity to make a few images. The one down there of Zoe crouched by the tracks making her own photograph is from that night.

Anyway, getting Zoe to smile without looking like she's either in pain or constipated can be a lesson in futility, as she's got this strange notion of what she's supposed to do with her face when she thinks she's supposed to be smiling. It's about as far away from her natural smile as she can get. I never tell her to smile. I want my photographs of her to be her, not a perma-grinned "just take the damn picture" her. However, she's around other children enough now to know that when a camera is raised, one is to stop, pose and smile. To get her to relax, I've taken to mentioning something that I know will make her laugh, or just trying to catch grab shots when she's already laughing.

The first couple shots in this particular sequence are of her doing the goofy-grimace thing. Then she spotted a train, or someone walking a dog, or a fire truck (which she calls ambulances) or an ambulance (which she calls fire trucks - sorry, Uncle Shawn, we're working with her!), or something equally amusing, and she just lit up. I've got M pretty well trained now, and he stays put and gazes steadily at the camera with his smile fixed while I snap away. He looks identical in the entire sequence. Zoe's expression runs the gamut, and the above shot is definitely the keeper.

Hoot, as usual, is the perfect subject. His smile is always quite lovely.