Can you imagine the scene? Parents are bumping into each other on the grass, trying to extract their own small, highly mobile offspring. Their calls are drowned out by the cacophony of happy kids attempting to get in one last trip down the slide before day’s end. Standing by the playground gate, I hear, “Excuse me, Kristen.” I look around, trying to ascertain who is calmly speaking in the chaos. I finally discover the source, roughly 2 feet below.
3 year old Elliot is attempting to schedule a play date during the mayhem of preschool pick up. Phrased with the maturity and perspective of an adult peer, I remember always expecting to find that little voice to be at my own height. A little unnerving then, but now, a fond and perfectly congruent memory.
Since then, I’ve had the privilege of watching Elliot grow up into an actual, awesome adult. You can imagine how excited I was to try to make a record of who he is at this moment. Something pretty hard to define when it comes to Elliot. He’s a lot of things, and conversations with him are never dull. He has so many interests but says that video games, biking, chess, and CrossFit are ‘critical to his being’. At his request, we picked a wide open desert location where we could document some of those aspects of his personality.
It was SO MUCH FUN. He’s always irreverently game for whatever, keeping me laughing while he pokes fun at everything. His mom, Nora, was along for the ride, bravely holding up a lighting scrim that quickly turned into a sail in the fierce desert wind. Thankfully, she was able to use her mad muscles to keep herself from flying away, never to be seen again!
Elliot is headed to the University of Arizona Honors College, for whatever school may look like this fall. I’m looking forward to what comes next for him.
Flagstaff Family Portrait Photographer • Flagstaff Maternity Pregnancy Photographer • Flagstaff Newborn Photographer • Flagstaff Child Photographer • Flagstaff Senior Portrait Photographer • Flagstaff Couples Photography
Kristen Dacey Iwai of KDI Photography is a full-time professional portrait photographer based in Flagstaff, Arizona with decades of experience. Making portraits of families, pregnancy, newborns, babies, children, and high school seniors in her downtown studio and on location, she serves clients from Flagstaff, Sedona, Tuba City, Winslow, Payson, Page, Williams, Prescott, Mesa, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona
