Warning: Long Post Ahead!

From the first moment I lay eyes on a photograph of little Hudson, I knew I had to get my camera on him. The problem was, his big baby blues were across the pond in Hawaii. So I waited, and drooled, and gushed to his mom over his photos whenever I had the chance. Finally, the day came when I got the good news. I was sitting in a booth at the Huckleberry Inn in Government Camp, enjoying my freshly cooked French Dip sandwich, killing time before shooting at a wedding at Timberline Lodge when I saw I had a voicemail. With my mouth full of food, I wiped the crumbs from my hands, held down 1 until the phone connected and almost choked when I heard the words.

"Janer Baner! We're coming to Corvallis and we want you to do some family portraits of us!"

Josh nearly had the remnants of some half-chewed French Dip goodness all over his face when I listened to it. I was thrilled! And it was to be on my birthday! What a present! As the weeks went by, their three-person, one hour family session turned into a six person session with Caila's parents and brother. From there, it quickly turned into a 17-person extended family reunion, two hour portrait session set at her grandparent's wheat farm in Lebanon. The timing was perfect. But as the day grew closer, weather.com was quickly becoming my enemy.

By the time Saturday rolled around, the forecast was grim. Showers steady from 10am on, and thunderstorms in the afternoon with a 60% chance of rain all day. I prayed for two days. As I got up that morning, I prayed. As we drove over the pass and into Corvallis, with blue skies peeking between the clouds, I prayed. This was a family gathering together from California, Hawaii, Salem and Albany. And it was set to rain. But by 2:00, I was astounded. Not one drop of rain had fallen, and the skies were absolutely clear. So clear in fact, that I prayed again. (I love that God has a sense of humor!) We had yet another discussion.

"Ok Lord. This is awesome that you answered my prayer verbatim. Thank You for Your faithfulness! However... You created photography. And while this sunshine is beautiful. we're set for a 3:00 photo shoot and You know the light will be a little harsh. A little bit of cloud cover might be nice..."

As we pulled into the driveway that had marked the entrance to the family property since 1954, I was speechless at the incredible landscape in front of my eyes. And I couldn't help but smile at the high clouds that had started to formed overhead.

God is good. And He is so faithful to answer our prayers. The result is quite possibly my favorite shoot to date. It helps that it was with people that we love, and who love the Lord as much as we do.

Here are just a few of the many from that afternoon.

Hudson had just started walking a few days before the shoot. As soon as his wobbly little legs were under him, he was off. Arms outstretched, trying in vain to walk straight, and concentrating with all his might to get to his target destination without face planting. This shot pretty much sums it all up:

I had to include this one because in this shot alone, 110% of Caila's dramatic personality is wrapped up in Hudson's little 10 month old body. Knowing her well, and having known her for nearly nine years now, this shot makes me laugh every time I look at it.