This is my girl. My girl as a tween, a 10.5 year old sometimes immersed in childhood, sometimes immersed in growing up, often immersed in reading or running fast after life. I was actually setting up for a different shot (for our personal family New Year’s card/so stressed to be honest) and I looked over and saw the Maui pre-sunset bathing her in beautiful light. (Thank you Lord!) As if that wasn’t enough of a treat, she gave me a smile, relaxed, genuine and not an “Oh no, my mom is a photographer and I better smile or I’m in trouble” smile. (Yes, this happens. A lot. I will always say the hardest people to photograph are my own children.) Maybe her smile was real because I was looking at her with eyes filled with a genuine love in that moment. (Note: be intentional to do this more often. See what happens.) OK, so here is my baby girl who is passing my shoulder as she keeps growing, and keeps becoming more and more beautiful to me. And as I’ve always told her, beauty starts from inside, in the heart. I love her heart most of all– and maybe that is why I was so thankful for this portrait– because I get a glimpse of her heart as she continues to embrace this adventure we are on and her new life in Maui.
