We named our youngest Farrah, which means happiness, joy, gladness in Arabic. I studied a lot of Islamic philosophy in college, namely Sufism, and received a certificate in Islamic Studies my senior year. I learned of all the great poets such as Rumi, Hafiz, Rabia, etc. I knew I wanted to name my last baby something meaningful and had no other name chosen, it was just the one for her. The name suits her extremely well. Our little Farrah is literally a joy. She has the best personality, imagination and sense of humor. She is a free spirit.

I work with families and young children most often. Most of the time, I have to do loud, crazy things to keep the kids attention. I often have to repeat things over and over. Parents also negotiate and bribe so the photo sessions go well. It’s chaotic with kids. I was also used to my older two kids who fought and acted completely nuts every time they’d see my camera. They are only two years apart so it was pure madness photographing them. It got to the point, where I gave up on the idea of perfection and sent out Christmas cards with them bent over, smiling through their legs with their butts in the air. With this said, it was a dream to take photos of Farrah. The session took about 5 minutes. I wanted to capture her before her front teeth fell out and it’s a good thing I did because she’s lost 6 teeth in a row, shortly after.

I let her choose her own outfit in which she hand selected. I also allowed her to do a few poses the way she wanted to, offering her no direction and those turned out to be my favorites.