Tag Archives: Downs Syndrome

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Carefree | Chicago Special Needs Photographer

I got to play with a new buddy!  Meet Niko.  He was your typical three-and-a-half year old. We went to a nice open area where all he wanted to do was  run/walk towards the opposite side. LOL  There was no distracting this little guy, he was a man a mission.  I found myself jumping in front of him, running alongside, and doing whatever I could to take some nice pictures of him.  While he wasn’t into doing anything he didn’t want to (typical!), he was super happy.

Niko has Down’s Syndrome and was not able to communicate with words, but it was clear he was pretty much like every kid that age – loving to be played with.

Ok, so after the above picture, dad went over to where all of our stuff was to give the baby sister a snack.  I wanted to get some pictures of mom and Niko together.  As we start walking, he takes my hand and wanted me to continue the 1, 2, 3 swing game.  Of course I obliged him.:)

Oh, and did I mention his adorable baby sister??

Yeah, she was adorable, and also took my hand as we were leaving.  But this day was Niko’s.  Man do these kids have amazing blue eyes, or what??

Posted in Children, Lifestyle, Special Needs Tags: , , , , , ,
Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Olympian | Chicago Childrens Photographer

David is my last model for the Celebrate Differences special needs calendar.  I was a little star struck when I met David to photograph him.  He’s the first Olympian I’ve ever met, after all.  With a pile of gold and bronze metals from the past two Special Olympics for horseback riding,  I was quite impressed.  I was also impressed with his sense of style.  I don’t think I’ve ever known a boy who WANTED to wear a shirt and tie. lol  Mom dissuaded him, though.

As we started, David was a bit stiff, so I started with my standard bag of tricks to get him to warm up.  I asked him to make a silly face, to which he replied, “I am never silly.”  I asked if he liked robots, to which he replied, “I am terrified of them.”  His mom was flabbergasted because she claimed he was a very silly kid and was NOT scared of robots.  It was not until we started doing knock knock jokes that he really started warming up to me.

Isn’t he a great looking kid?  All these great smiles form the boy who was so stiff in the beginning.

Thank you to Celebrate Differences for choosing me to be your special needs photographer for your 2011 calendar.  I have enjoyed it immensely!

Posted in Children, outdoor, Special Needs Tags: , , , , ,
Friday, August 6, 2010

Dalton | Chicago Special Needs Photographer

I had been trying several times to get together with Dalton, but his mom and I always seemed to have scheduling conflicts.  On this day, it almost got canceled yet again due to all the rain we’ve been getting.  As I pulled into the parking lot, it started sprinkling.  We sat under a gazebo while I got to know Dalton, and then it started really raining. Sigh.  But after about 15 minutes, it let up enough for us to finally get a session together.  Under the gazebo, Dalton was busy reading, something he loves to do.  He also quickly warmed up to me and was talking my ear off.  I’ll admit that he was very difficult to understand as his articulation is heavily hindered.  While all children with Downs Syndrome have articulation struggles, there is a wide range of ability.  It’s a good thing I’m in deciphering mode with with my own toddler at home, so I was able to pick up on enough context to get the drift that Dalton was telling me all about animals, especially whales.  Maybe it was because of the Nemo book he was reading.

Dalton was very funny, if he stopped and noticed that I was taking his picture, he would pose like this (below).  While I normally hate fake smiles, I do love this image because you can see just how sweet he is.

Dalton definitely had a mind of his own.  He directed this session, and I was just along for the ride.  This is probably my very favorite picture from this session.  I love it.

Thank you, Dalton, for being my adventuring buddy and searching for whales, hawks, and frogs with me.

Posted in Children, Lifestyle, outdoor, Special Needs Tags: , , , , ,
Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Beautiful Girl & Location | Chicago – Naperville Childrens Photographer

Pretty Daniella and I had a rough start. The first time we met, it rained seconds after we started the shoot.  Thankfully, we were able to meet again only a couple of days later.  And I was so excited to discover this new location to have shoots.  It had a lot of beautiful variety with a reflecting pond, bridge, gazebo, gardens, etc.  If any client wants to travel to the southwest section of Naperville, this location is available.

Now back to Daniella.  She was a little shy at first, but she made quite the beautiful model.  Check out those amazing lashes!!

She really wanted to sit in the gazebo, which made her look dreamy with her white dress.

And some showing her personality:

Posted in Children, outdoor, Special Needs Tags: , , , , , ,
Saturday, July 17, 2010

Kami | Naperville – Chicago Childrens Photographer

This calendar model was such a sweet heart!  Seriously, eight year old Kami, with Downs Syndrome, was just the sweetest girl and completely up for anything I said.  Our session happened on a very overcast evening about an hour and a half before sunset.  It was perfect, and then right at the end, the mosquitoes came out, making it easy to call it quits.  And the best part about this session?  It was the closest one I’ve ever done – only about four blocks away from my own home.  I could definitely get used to such a short travel…

First off, I have to share my very favorite image from the session.  I just completely love her unabashed joy here:

But there were plenty of other fun ones with Kami, too:

And of course we had to get some pictures of Kami with her gorgeous little sister. Seriously, mom, I think you have a future heartbreaker on your hands.

Posted in Children, Lifestyle, outdoor, Special Needs Tags: , , , , , , ,

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