Last time I photographed Anika and her extended family it was over at the Marina and that was such a blast. So I couldn't wait to see them again with the location being Old Fort William this time around. Right up until the morning of we weren't sure if the weather was going to cooperate but the rain ended up holding off and we managed to get an hour plus of photos in.
Once they arrived, Anika made sure to get a washroom break in for the kids just in case. We then headed outside and started our walk down the beautiful trail that leads to the park. Fall isn't quite in full swing yet but the colours leading up to the park were still very pretty. Both Abby and Will had a ton of energy and I simply tried to keep up with them. We still managed to stop along the trail here and there and get some good family photos as well as some great candid ones. One of my favourites was when Will decided to take off down the trail and Abby ran after him a bit, only to stop and wave her arms and yell. It was such a funny moment.
Just before the we got the actual park we stopped in quickly where the Teepee's were. I suggested that we try and get a photo of the kids in front of it but they were a bit scared of what might be inside the Teepee's. So we moved on, but not without a good candid photo of Anika showing Will that there was nothing to be afraid of.
Once in the park, we simply walked around a bit and stopped here and there for some photos. The biggest challenge of the day, for me at least, was getting Will to smile instead of making a face. As it turns out, I managed to get at least a couple genuine smiles from him. Although, they were few and far between.
On the way to where the animals were I decided to try and outrun Will and Abby. It didn't work out as planned because after hiding quickly around one of the cabins, I immediately popped out and scared them only to realize that Abby didn't take it so well. She started crying, and I felt bad, but Aaron assured me that she just gets like that sometimes. In any case, it led to my favourite photo of the day where Anika was consoling her on the path trying to get her to calm down. It ended up working and I came away with such a sincere photo.
We eventually made it to where the goats were but by then, both kids were not really feeling it so we got a few more photos within the park and then headed back down the trail. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the rain held out just long enough to finish the shoot. Each session I do with Anika and her family, is more and more fun each year. I really can't wait until the next one and I'm anxious to see what location we do next time!
