So I’ve been told this technically isn’t a dandelion, but humor me here. This is my daughter, captured in the same pose, same location, same outfit, same pigtails (as a toddler will allow, of course) for the past three years in a row.

The first photo, when she was two years old, is what I call a happy accident. At that point in time, I was trying to master shooting in manual mode and getting the shot right in camera. I had not gone into business at that point. I dressed my daughter up and made her be my model (a role she quickly learned how to avoid). I found a great location near our home that I use all the time now for photos. It was then that I saw this MONSTER sized dandelion. I had never seen anything like it! There was only a small patch of them near the rail road tracks. I picked one, put it in her hands, showed her how to blow to make the seeds fly away, and frantically ran over to set up my shot because I knew it was impossible to ask a 2-yr-old to wait for such an awesome task. Lucky for me, no matter how hard she blew, the seeds wouldn’t fly away, so I just had to be quicker than her realizing that all she had to do was shake the flower to make all the seeds blow away. I believe I got the shot seconds before that revelation happened. I actually didn’t think the photo was anything special until I posted it on a photography forum I am part of and the thread took off like I was posting a hot piece of gossip! I was incredibly flattered that the photo got so much attention and didn’t really see the beauty and wonder of the photo until after that point. My favorite part is seeing the sheer determination on her face and knowing that more spit than breath was blowing out from in between those gorgeous red lips.

The next year I asked myself, “now wouldn’t it be cool if I could get the same photo one year later?”. Achieving this feat was like a complicated equation (you know how I love my math). This is what was going on in my brain: [(big ass dandelions in bloom)+(overcast soft light in the middle of a summer day)]/(my daughter’s mood… she was 3 afterall) + (my 1-yr-old son’s mood and willingness to behave long enough to allow me to get the shot) = SUCCESS. The planets must have been aligned that day because it worked!

Surprisingly (or maybe not for all you moms out there), the third year proved to be the most challenging. You see, by this point in time, the only photos I got of my daughter were when she wanted them, and after having had so many photos taken, this mood did not strike too often. Even more difficult was getting her to wear the same outfit again. Mind you, she was 4 years old 4-and-a-half-years-old (mentioning the half is very important at this age), and the dress was size 2T and the sweater was size 18-24 months! Plus all of the conditions listed above had to be met. After an entire summer of begging, I was desperate because I really wanted that photo. If I never get one again, I had to at least get three, right? I had to stoop to bribery. I promised her a cupcake from Bliss Cupcakes if she let me get the photo. Of course her brother would get one too. Food always does the trick… they are my kids afterall. So, a patch of these dandelions usually grows across the street from my house. On our way to driving to the location, there was a single flower growing near our house. With the utmost of care, I gingerly picked it and wedged it in between the passenger seat and the center console so as to not knock any of the seeds off. Sure enough, when we got to the location there wasn’t a flower in sight. I knew she was now old enough to blow the seeds off with one single breath, and if she wasn’t successful on the first attempt she had enough sheer determination to eliminate the rest with a follow up breath, so I gave her very specific instructions to wait until I was ready. Lucky for me she is a good listener… when there’s a cupcake on the line, that is.

I just showed her the series of pictures and asked if I can get one every single year until she turns 18. With a big grin, she looked at me and nodded yes. Getting her to fit into the same clothes will be a challenge, of course, especially if I keep bribing her with cupcakes.