Mason's going to be in the Spring/Summer Chasing Fireflies catalogue! Sign up for one now so you can see him!
The talent coordinator for CF called us on Sunday morning to see if we could have Mason there Monday at 8:30am. After working out the logistics, we confirmed his shoot time! The shoot was in Islamorada, in the Keys. It would have been a hike and a half in the car, so on Sunday afternoon we flew to Ft. Lauderdale and then drove (2 hours vs. 6 from home) to Islamorada. We had dinner in a casual seafood place on the beach. Mason did his usual waving, smiling, and charming of all the staff. then we stayed overnight in a hotel.
The shoot was at The Moorings. They rented out a cottage on the beach. It had so much natural scenery, they didn't have to fake anything. The first thing they did was put a little bit of makeup on Mason and do his hair. The makeup woman, Angelique, was so great with him. He needed a little bit of cover-up on the red marks on the sides of his nose. He didn't like that a whole lot, but liked it when she brushed powder all over his face. She said all babies like that. She put (very little) product in his hair and he was ready!
His first shot (there were three!!!) was in a light blue knit outfit, pants and a hooded cardigan with a white onesie (so soft!) under it. It matched his eyes. He sat on a blanket that matched his clothes on the top step of the porch. The last shots of Mason were with the hood on. I knew he wasn't having any of that! He pulled the sweater off over his head to get that hood off!!!
When we went to the porch, I was introduced to the baby wrangler, Joyce. Her job was to keep him smiling, positioned however the photographer asked, and to keep his clothes straight. She was so great with Mason. He liked her a lot. He even kissed her!
His second shot was on a windy path and against a fence. He wore baby Levis (so cute!!!), little white Chuck Taylors, a tee with a bear dressed like a cowboy, and a cardigan with the same bear on the back. For this shot they wanted his front and back. He stood up, leaning on a stool, he sat down holding props (little dolls dressed like cowboys), and he stood along a picket fence.
He had a long break between shots 2 and 3. In that time, he banged his eyebrow on a coffee table (the red mark faded before the third shot - whew), he got cranky (from the bang and hunger), he had a bottle of milk, and he perked up again. The third shot was at the water's edge. He was wearing the same jeans from the previous shot, no shoes, and a tee that had a lobster on it and said "pinch me". There were some starfish props that he put in his mouth, so they took them away. He wasn't as happy during this shot as the previous ones. He didn't like the beach sand on his hands. We had to keep wiping it off. He was most happy and silly toward the end, when he was trying to get a little red bucket to stay on his head. I hope one of those pictures gets in the catalogue!
The whole time, only one parent was allowed to go with Mason. Will stayed behind and talked to one of the women who run CF. Dina talked to him for a long time. She told him that they look for natural looking kids, and not "model" kids who want to pose for you as soon as they get into the casting call. She told him about how she and 2 other women started the company 2 years ago with 6 people. Now there are 50 employees and a 20,000 square foot warehouse. Pretty neat. He also talked for a while with a little model girl's dad. He told Will about their experiences, that they'd saved enough for college for her. Wow!
I don't know if we'll have another opportunity like this. It was a lot of fun and such a great experience!
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