So, there we were, minding our own business at the forest preserve. Normally, I prefer to wear something a little more fashionable to my sessions than Crocs but Jimi is my cousin so the cares weren't there. Crocs it is. When I put those bad boys on before leaving for my session I had no ideas I would later be thankful I wore them and sorry at the same time. We were in the forest preserve and I was photographing Jimi and his family. I got them all posed and was snapping away when I felt something on my leg. At first I ignored the sensation, assuming it was just the overgrown grass we were standing in, but then I head the buzzing. I looked down and my right foot was covered in bumble bees. They were all over my leg and covering my foot. All I could see was chubby bumble bee butts in every Croc hole of my shoe. Instinctively I reacted without much thought. I'm well aware that bumble bees are fairly harmless and won't attack unless provoked but in the heat of the moment all logic was gone. I ripped my shoe off and started swatting. And that's when the chase began. I yelled BEES! RUN!!! Sarah starts running. Jimi scoops up the boys and starts running. I follow, with one shoe on and the other in my hand swatting them away from the boys. Once they're in the clear I notice Sarah was struggling to ditch the bees no matter how fast she ran around flailing her arms. 

This is when I found myself in a predicament. I was torn. I was majorly concerned with everyone's safety at this point and hoping nobody was stung and nobody was allergic. And that huge part of me that loves to document everything so badly wanted to stand back for a moment and capture this ridiculous moment. However, I did not do that. My concern outweighed the desire to photograph Sarah running around and screaming. Jimi and the boys were in the clear so I went running for Sarah who was battling a couple relentless bees on her head. I was trying to gently whoosh the bees away from her head with my shoe but one stung her and was either stuck in her hair or going back for me. I wan't sure which and that's when we made the decision to whack her in the head with the shoe so the bee would either leave her alone or meet it's fate. At least it was a Croc and not a harder soled shoe!

After we regrouped and recomposed ourselves we took a short breather and noticed that in the parking two grown men were sitting in the safety of their car laughing after observing the whole bee fiasco. Sarah fixed her hair and we all had a good laugh about what had just happened. That's when she asked me if I got any photos of the chaos. I told her that I regretfully did not and we were both bummed. Those would've been some good ones. I know how much She loves the outtakes from all of their sessions and those would've been some keepers for sure! 

Thankfully, this has never happened before. So if you're reading this and now on the fence about booking a session, I assure you that in the 15 years of photographing families nothing like this has ever occurred. This just happened to be the day. I must've stepped on their nest in the ground.

So after all that we find a new spot to shoot. By now the boys have shed their bashfulness and we're ready to roll. Baby Grant had just turned 1 a few days before our session and James would be turning 4 a few days after. Those two little guys have so much energy and personality. They're sweet, adorable, smart, and I love watching them interact. Sarah and Jimi are always fun. They had one of the funnest weddings I've had the privilege of photographing and I've been honored to photograph all of their important life events since between maternity photos and family photos.