Peter takes great pride in his yard, and the family spends a lot of time there, so this was the perfect place to create their family portrait.
We started with a more formal look, putting them on what I referred to as the "blue tees", (the place looks like a par 3 hole on a beautiful golf course, but this was actually just a raised area behind the house and overlooking the yard.
Then, we ventured down into the yard itself, eventually adding the two family dogs, Penny and Pugsley (whose full name is Pugsley Sir Underfoot).
When I arrived earlier in the afternoon to make my final selections, Peter had his tractor out, and wearing his overalls, was concientiously blowing all the leaves to regain his park-like look. And that gave me an idea.
He changed back into his overalls, brought the tractor back out and we stages this. The family said it's pretty true as to how things really happen. Peter working in the yard, everyone else enjoying the fruits of his labor.
Then, we gathered them all around the tractor for an "informal formal" family grouping,
and finally photographed Peter on his throne - his John Deer. The family said this caught him perfectly. 
And how could we end such a great fall day but with a leaf fight between Gretchen and Keith. They really got into it - so much so that the camera couldn't keep up with how fast they were moving - it's amazing how much the body can move in 1/30th of a second.Thanks to the Rasmussens for a great afternoon.
