I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to happen.

We announced the winner of our Cutest Kids Contest, Brooks Dean, back on April 13. Now I realize that the weather this year has been pretty unpredictable, and you never know from one day to the next exactly what it’s going to be like. But I thought that surely it wouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks to get a shoot scheduled and pictures up.

Try a month.

Three times we tried to get a shoot scheduled and three times the weather conspired against us. Every time it seemed that we were able to get a date coordinated Brooks’ mom and dad, Brooks and Jama Dean, it would pour. Attempt No. 4 was last Saturday and it seemed all day as if it was going to be yet another scrub. First of all, our preferred location, World’s Fair Park, was a madhouse of activity, which would have made a portrait session next to impossible. Second, even as we were driving to our backup location, UT Gardens, it appeared as if the heavens would open up yet again. And finally, even after we got there and started taking pictures, equipment problems reared their ugly head.

All that combined for probably our most interesting shoot to date. We were literally racing from spot to spot, desperately trying to get enough shots in before it began to rain. We were also dodging at least two other shoots that were going on at the same time and I was in full improvising mode to try to get the equipment to do its job properly.

God must have been smiling on us because we got it in and actually got some great shots. Brooks brother and sister, Devin and Camryn, joined in for some really sweet shots as well. As promised, we’ve already added one of the shots of Brooks to the masthead of the blog and the initial rotation of the Studio P website. A lot of what we had planned for the shoot we weren’t able to do because of the weather, but it also opened up a couple of opportunities (like the first shot with the storm clouds in the background) that we might not have had otherwise. All in all, it was a good lesson in thinking on our feet and making do with what we had.

I think the results speak for themselves. Enjoy.