I have a friend at church named Erana who is very talented at photography. She was Sienna's nursery leader last year and Sienna absolutely adores her! Erana came up with an idea for a photo shoot using the story by Hans Christian Andersen 'The Princess and the Pea' with Sienna as the princess. Sienna is a hard subject to photograph, she hates me asking her to look at the camera, let alone smile for it. It takes a lot of persuasion to make her have her photo taken. I loved Erana's idea but I told her I was worried Sienna might not be an easy model however I felt confident that we could bribe her with lollies!
Erana got to work ordering cool patterned sheets and little props for the shoot. On the day, Erana and her brother Ethan took a trailer to pick up mattresses they borrowed off several people (including us). Then Erana set up her photo shoot in the chapel against a white wall. Sienna and I arrived and Erana painted Sienna's nails - she even had a little heat light to dry her nails under. Sienna was in heaven! I brought along a large box of lollies and Sienna happily ate lollies before, in between and after the photo shoot.
In case you're not familiar with the 'Princess and the Pea' story here is a run down of it I found on Wikipedia...
"The story tells of a prince who wants to marry a princess, but is having difficulty finding a suitable wife. Something is always wrong with those he meets, and he cannot be certain they are real princesses. One stormy night, a young woman drenched with rain seeks shelter in the prince's castle. She claims to be a princess, so the prince's mother decides to test their unexpected unwitting guest by placing a pea in the bed she is offered for the night, covered by 20 mattresses and 20 feather-beds. In the morning, the guest tells her hosts that she endured a sleepless night, kept awake by something hard in the bed; which she is certain has bruised her. The prince rejoices. Only a real princess would have the sensitivity to feel a pea through such a quantity of bedding. The two are married, and the pea is placed in the Royal Museum."
I loved hearing this story growing up! Not sure if we had it in a book or if it was on one of our story cassettes we would listen to as kids.
Erana did such a great job and so did Sienna - Erana and I were both surprised and impressed that she let us take so many photos and followed most of Erana's directions!
Can you spot the pea in the mattresses?
I love this one!
and this one...well all of them! The princess yawning...
Yawning and stretching...
The offending pea!
I was so impressed by how the photos turned out...Erana is so talented and creative! I'll treasure these photos of my little princess for years to come!
