My best pictures of Jocelyn. Ever.

In late May, my friend Heather organized a low-key girls' night out at Caribou. I had to pore over research studies for my thesis, but everyone else played with photo and digi-scrap stuff on their laptops. Good coffee, good company, good times.

While I wasn't partaking in the photog fun, I did catch a great tip for taking pictures of Jocelyn. You know, the girl who won't be stopped for a picture and who won't look at the camera. Here's a classic shot of Jocelyn from a week before our girls' night out:



Cute, yes. But every so often, I want a shot with her looking at me. And someone - Laura? Rachel? Heather? Janie? not sure which one, but it was one of those talented ladies! - suggested telling Jocelyn, "Don't smile. Try not to smile. Don't you dare smile." Simple, yes. Not really reverse psychology (which I'm not a fan of because I think it reinforces disobedience, but that's another post...) but more of a silly game. And it seemed plausible. So I tried it the next day at the church playground.

Oh my word. Why didn't I discover this tool/trick earlier?




















(I should note here that maybe, just maybe, I should have been paying a little more attention to where Robbie was. Shortly after the picture above was taken, he might or might not have been taken out by his swinging sister. And the rest of the swing pictures might or might not have been taken with my free hand while I held and cuddled with a little guy with my other arm.)















And then it just got silly...












And to cap off our silly photo shoot, she was even willing to pose for this.


Yes, this is the same child who has given me files full of crying shots because she hated the camera. Thank you, H.Lo and company, for the best photos I've ever gotten of my sweet girl!

(And because I'd hate to leave this guy out, here's Little Man:



)