Johnson & Johnson Part II

Today was our big Johnson & Johnson day! All weekend was spent cleaning and picking up  the house and we had professional cleaners come on Monday. (They were not that great. Mom is WAAAAY better.)

At 9am the production/photography crew arrived:

Photographer: Michael Franzini
Producer: Brett Henenberg

Photo Assistant: Astor Morgan

Photo Assistant: Nicholas Carter

Hair/Make Up: Dania Simental

They shot a tea party scene upstairs in Lilly's room the majority of the time. The first hour at the house was spent setting up the shoot; lighting, hair, make-up and props. We didn't realize just how much goes into perfecting the light on a photo shoot. All of the natural light coming through the windows were blocked with shields and a photo assistant stood outside the house holding a light the entire time we shot upstairs in Lilly's room. That's right - stood outside in the cold for the majority of the morning.

Lilly did really well with the whole shoot. It was basically a play date with lots of adults who were all focused on her! How could she not love it? The tea party scene took about 45 minutes to shoot. There was a lot of "cheers"-ing with our tea cups. Brian and his long legs were hard to get in the shot initially until they made him scoot in as close as possible to the table. Poor guy! Lilly looks great in the photos!

Afterwards we moved downstairs for a close-up of Lilly drinking hot chocolate w/foam - her version of my mochas. At this point she was getting tired of being "on" but Grandma Dana came to the rescue! Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Michael stopped by towards the end of the shoot. Grandma Dana was a new face and new stimulation for the tired Bug. Lilly went through 4 full cups of hot chocolate until they got a shot they wanted. Everything was done by 12:45.

Obviously we think Lilly is the bees knees (and what parent wouldn't think that of their own child?) but we were really impressed with how well she took "modeling" directions! She was asked to use her right hand to hold her tea cup so it wouldn't block her face and she obliged, she cheered on cue and looked at the camera when told, big grin, all teeth and a dimple to spare. (at least during the first scene when she was tired)

The entire crew was very nice and professional. They've already gone through 34 of 48 states that they are driving to and Hawaii and Alaska are being reached via air, with Hawaii being the last state to visit/a little vacation!

That's it for now.We know the book is supposed to be released in May to coincide with Mother's Day! When we get more info, we'll post. Most of the pics below were taken on my camera by Astor Morgan - one of the amazing photographers! He's super nice, great with Lilly and was kind enough to give me some tips on photography and buying a DSLR camera.