Sometimes, you just have to roll with what the kids are up for at a family session. This is especially true with post-custody sessions for adopted children. Introducing them to yet another new person and expecting them to do what you want at that time can be a stretch! On days like this, we let things play out as they will.
Amy had let me know prior to the session that she was expecting Rowen to be somewhat hesitant with new people and possibly having a difficult time transitioning as he was very attached to his foster family. Knowing this, I was ready to take things very tentatively and most certainly wouldn’t be insisting on leaving his plush bunny aside for any of the photos. That would be his decision.
When the family arrived, Rowen wasn’t ready to meet a new person yet, so we began by walking through the main gates toward a potential location. I stayed behind and captured these moments from a distance. Rather than force the issue, we just kept walking until Rowen was ready to play. The hazy morning light of autumn made our images soft and calm, so it was really hard to go wrong with a beautiful scene like this.
When we finally reached the end of the palace grounds, Rowen was a little more comfortable and we found ourselves a patch of fallen leaves. To get things started we showed him how they can be thrown in the air and that got our first smiles. Perhaps a little sooner than the adults may have liked, Rowen’s loving older brother, Kallan, decided to involve him directly by throwing the leaves over him. Thankfully, that went well and we were on. By giving a few suggestions to the other members of the family of what would work for the pictures, I was able to create images around what the little man wanted to do. It would be nothing but running and leaf-throwing for the next hour or so.
Once the simple pleasure of picking up and throwing the leaves yourself was discovered, it didn’t take long for bunny to leave Rowen’s hands. At that point, we quickly tucked it away in the hopes that he would forget about it for a while and play with his family. It was then that the true running began. We might have thought we were chasing him around before, but we hadn’t even begun!
The littlest member took off down the corridor between two buildings and it was all we could do to scramble everyone and chase him along. Little did we know, this is what we’d be doing until we ran out of energy. We ran one way together with the family in toe. Then, Kallan joined his brother for a couple of laps of the corridor. To get a little variation, we picked up both boys and did the run together.
As we often see with toddlers, that ramp in energy followed the course of a standard distribution curve. It was over as soon as it started and it didn’t take long for our little man to be ready for a nap with a bottle in his mouth and a bunny under his arm. We called the session there and headed in for the morning.
As always, a bit thanks to the McMillian family for allowing me to document this special time in their lives. If you’re interested in having your own family documented in Seoul or anywhere else in Korea, please do reach out! Don’t forget to follow my Instagram as well for plenty more family photography!
