This is our tradition in the field. Let me get you caught up. Four years ago, a friend posted a snapshot of her boys in a field surrounded by yellow flowers. I immediately asked her where that was and decided that I had to take my 3 year old princess over there. I got my kids up and ready one Saturday morning and headed down to this field.

My daughter was dressed in a hand-me-down flower girl dress that she would frequently use for dress up. I also grabbed my bench that is made out of an old spindle bed. The field was AMAZING. It was a couple acres filled with yellow wild flowers. That morning (at 7:30 in the morning) the clouds still hung in the crevices of the mountains behind the field. Epic. Ethereal. Stunning. Here is the image we produced that day.

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This is the image that I have as a 20×30 canvas in her bedroom. It was also a featured in our living room for quite some time. After I shot and edited this, I sent it off to one of my pro photo labs, and they made it their photo of the day. At that point, I knew I was on to something.

Crunched, vintage paper overlay.

The next year that we went was pretty sad. Shortly after the field was in full bloom in 2011, someone mowed the whole darn thing. And they didn’t just mow it, they tilled it up. The field in 2012 just didn’t come close the glory of the previous year.

There were NO yellow flowers in sight. The overcast day really reflected my sadness.

In 2013, I was determined to make something magical despite what the field may look like. Bloom or no bloom, I was going to produce something timeless, beautiful and memorable for my little lovely who was 5 at the time. I found a dress pattern and handed the dress making duty to grandma. Addie chose the parasol and the hat. I decided to bring out the black bench again. And I LOVE the result. The field has a few wild flowers trying to peak through, but it was green and still gorgeous.

This feels like it came out of a time long ago. This image is 20×30 in a gorgeous frame by The Organic Bloom in her room.

This year, in 2014, the field has started to come back to life, but not in the large part of the field. The wild flowers have found a safe haven in the back of the field behind a fence. That is where we went this year. Each year as we do this, I am so happy that Addie and I have this tradition together. She is totally into it and LOVES posing for it now. She loves the special attention (this is HER field) and she loves to look at what I have created. I treasure these photos of her and we will continue to do this as long as she lives under my roof.

Enjoy the images from this year.

And of course she had to add some bling.