Every kid model has a "book". Milo also has a tree.
It started by accident. His first proper outdoor session, two summers ago, ended up at the big oak by the paddock fence because the light under it goes soft and green in the late afternoon. He leaned against the bark in his little beach shirt, produced the exact half-smile he produces when he thinks the grown-ups are being slow, and that frame booked him three catalogues.
So the next season, when the brief said "autumn colour", the photographer suggested we go back. Same tree, same boy, new jumper, leaves down. And then again in spring. Somewhere along the way it stopped being a location and became a measuring stick - you can flip through the book now and watch him grow an inch per visit, shirt sleeves marching up his arms.
Clients like the consistency more than we expected. Art directors talk about "authentic repeat settings" and we nod seriously, but the truth is simpler: Milo relaxes the second we arrive because he knows the drill. First the posed ones, then the silly ones, then five minutes of actually climbing the tree as payment.
The photographer has promised us a print of all the tree frames in a row when he turns ten. We've already picked the wall.