Brothers and a Blue Blankie {Portland Child Photographer}

I grew up as the child of an avid antique collector. "People's old junk," I'd say, as we'd go in search of what they'd discover. I vividly remember being dragged around to estate sales and antique shops, swearing to myself that I'd own nothing but brand-new IKEA furniture once I grew up.

Somewhere down the road, that changed. Warranting just short of a told-you-so from my mother, I fell in love with all things old and and antique, rustic and worn. There's just something about these things that carries more character and history than you can describe. Our garage is full of all of my treasures....steamer trunks, vintage luggage, heirloom chairs, wooden crates, antique scales, a galvanized baby bathtub, and baskets of any shape and size.

You can imagine my delight, you see, when I got one last email before meeting up with a family for some child portraits. We had planned on doing some pictures on the shore of the Willamette, and as an afterthought, she mentioned, "I have some vintage suitcases, can you think of a use for those?"

CAN I?

It took all I had in me to not call her that same second with my ideas. "Of course," I casually replied. Unbeknownst to her, I was plotting what I had wanted to try for months.

And these kiddos fit the bill perfectly.

We had a great evening together. Sure, we got the pictures of the boys on the water, but even more fun was our trek downtown, lugging suitcases and an old leather trunk. We cuffed their jeans, rolled his shirt, and even let a loved blue blanket come along for the trip. Their rosy-cheeked little faces atop worn old luggage reminded me of everything that I loved not just about antiques, but about how neat it is to be able to capture these kids in such a special moment in time.

Now don't ya'll go telling my mom.