Last month I had the honor to capture a very special moment in Nicole’s life, her christening into St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church. This happens to be my second opportunity to photograph a greek orthodox christening and it’s such a beautiful ceremony so full of life and tradition. Nicole is the happiest child I have ever worked with and even though she, like most children, have a difficult time during a christening she did stop and smile for the camera throughout the ceremony, as I had no doubt she would.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the greek orthodox tradition here is my meager attempt in walking you through how it goes. It begins in the back of the church with, the pastor, parents, god parents and child being christened. Once they make their way down the god parents are an integral part, wiping the child down with oils before she is dipped three times into the water. She is then changed into her full christening dress, handed off to her parents, and the family and god parents circle the font, give her communion, then at the end a lock of her hair is clipped.

Nicole did fabulous and let us all know just how displeased she had become and like any rite of passage the family took it in stride.