Most of you may have expectations for your beach portrait session. You want at least one good photo of the family sitting together, smiling at the camera. But when you throw toddlers or infants into the mix, those chances grow slim!
On a recent session, I was photographing a family of about 10, with five of those being toddlers under the age of 4.  When we attempted to get the entire family photo, most of the kiddos were not happy! In fact, they began crying! What to do? Well, I have photographed hundreds of children over the years, and I have learned not to push them when they don't want to do something! So instead, I had the family walk down to the water, and just play with the children at the edge of the surf.  Once the children began having fun, they warmed up to me, the photographer, and I wasn't a stranger anymore! Before the session was over, I had great photos of the children smiling, with the entire family.  My advice is, don't force toddlers to do something they don't want to do. Just be patient and they will come around.
Here is a link to a similar situation!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/09/family-photo-session-not-your-average-day-at-the-beach/

Last night I had a photo session with Pru, from north Alabama.  I had the opportunity to capture her family in a session two years ago. This year, she and two girlfriends came to the area for Labor Day, to enjoy the Emerald Coast, and she wanted me to photograph them, and I was more than happy!  It was a cloudy afternoon, and I thought that it may even rain before/during our photo session.  But I was more than pleased that we had somewhat of a sunset through the cloudy skies. More than that...I was amazed at what the sky was doing to the east, opposite of the sunset.  I don't think I can even remember such a sky! To the east, it appeared to be a sunset, though I know it wasn't! I really don't know what was happening, but I thank the Lord for such an amazing sight.  And, I got to capture it with seagulls in the background!

Santa Rosa Beach Photographer/Beach Photographer

Sometimes, being a photographer on the coast of Florida, I feel like a storm chaser!!! Not that I am interested in actually chasing the storm, but rather, running from it!
The majority of my clients happen to be from out of state--visitors to the Emerald Coast choosing to relax on our white, sandy beach and swim in our emerald green waters.  However, summer is met with sporadic thundershowers, making me constantly track the weather.  We have such a high humidity index during the summer, that many times it rains because it is so hot.  Usually we could count on an afternoon shower after the extreme heat, which would result in a more pleasant sunset.
That is until this year! My husband--who is a native to the area---says he doesn't remember a summer as rainy as we have had this year.  The days have often been "a wash" as far as photo shoots are concerned!  It is difficult to reschedule a session when families are only here for a limited time, and I am booked solid. It's like there is no where else to put them in a day...and I don't want to do mid-day shoots if it stops raining, because it is too hot and bright.  So we are left to shoot early morning, before 7, or in-between rain showers.  If it is cloudy after a rain, we can do the session then, during the day, in case it looks like rain for sure towards sunset.
Many times it rains on the main road--highway 98--and not on county road 30a, where I usually do my sessions (because it is more secluded). And then sometimes, it rains on one end of 30a, and not the other.  Recently I had a daytime session scheduled and when I met the family, it was raining at the location.  I took a gamble and told them to follow me down 30a.  Within a few miles we had outrun the rain, and we had dry skies for their session!  Someone else might have just given up.

Just yesterday I had a session with a family I had photographed two years ago. It was a rather large group, with two little ones (and babies can be a challenge, but I love it!)  They had not known if the photo shoot would be able to come about, since some of them had to rerun home earlier in the week due to a death in the family. They were able to return midweek.  The rain chance was great the day before, and then it lessened to almost nothing on their day.  But later in the afternoon I saw cloud rolling in, so I called them to see if they could meet sooner.  

We met an hour later, with clouds in the sky.

 As they got out of their cars, the sprinkling began. I looked overhead and saw one slightly dark cloud, and I could tell that was soon to pass, and it did! We were able to successfully continue the session, and the family was happy. And that, makes me happy!!

My point to this post is that it is always a challenge being mainly an environmental photographer (I do have a residential studio, which I mainly use for infant sessions), especially when my clients are only here for a limited amount of time, and my schedule is packed, with not much room for rescheduling.

However, I will always go the extra mile to attempt to accommodate my families! With that said, wish me luck for tomorrow as I have two sessions scheduled!

The Real Candid Portrait Session!

During a recent portrait session, I had three cousins who wanted to have fun during their session...and I'm all about that! I photograph hundreds of people every year, and I always tell them that I want to capture them having fun and showing love to each other. I don't like people just standing there...with their hands by their sides! So these girls just made the session all about their fun with each other, and it was great!!

Santa Rosa Beach Photographer--Indiana Family

When Jennifer and her husband and son traveled to the Emerald Coast from Indiana for vacation in July, they knew they had found a gem on the beach! Destin and Santa Rosa Beach are known for their white sands and emerald green waters, and 30a in south Walton County is even a better kept secret. Their son, Sterling, is getting older now, so they know it is going to get more and more difficult to get together for vacations....there are jobs and college and girlfriends and wives to create more stumbling blocks for all family vacations. Their interactions were sweet and you could tell they have a special bond!
Thanks for the opportunity to photograph your time together!

A Surprise Beach Proposal

Tyler brought Meghan to the beach for her birthday. She had no idea what was in store for her while here! He told her he had set up a beach portrait session, but unbeknownst to her, he had called me ahead of time to let me in on the surprise he wanted to execute. I had some suggestions for him, since I had photographed surprise proposals in the past...and I have to say; I am about as nervous as the grooms!
She was sooooo surprised and so EXCITED, that I am glad I captured it on video for them!

Meghan & Tyler--A Surprise Proposal! http://vimeo.com/71177747 "Tyler called me about a month before he was bringing Meghan to Destin for her birthday. He let me know he wanted to pop the question, so he allowed me to help him plan "the deed" as a part of the photo session he told her he was giving her a part of her birthday. I suggested he use a shell I would provide, and wait until the end of the session. Meghan was totally surprised, as you can see in this film."

Congratulations you two.....and best of a future together for you!!

Jess and Ryan met at FSU and had an attraction for each other. But, alas, Ryan knew he had to be serious about classes and grades since he was med-school bound! Yet he realized he couldn't let this gem go, and they became engaged.
They both are in medical school, and have dreams of somehow using their skills in the mission field.

Congratulations you two, for a match made in Heaven!

Click on link below, or copy and paste the link.

https://vimeo.com/70087470

When Meghan met Tyler at a mutual friend's party two years ago, she was not interested at all!

She had just gotten out of a relationship a couple of months earlier, and was in no mood to get into a new one.  Besides that, she thought he was a nerd!

Fast forward and Tyler called me a couple of weeks ago to book a beach portrait session for their trip to  Sandestin. He planned to propose to Meghan while they were in town, and looked to me for some suggestions. 

We decided that he would put the ring in a shell that I would bring to the beach as a "prop" and would do the actual proposal close to sunset, after we had already taken some other pictures.

The proposal went just as planned, and Meghan was totally caught off guard! In fact, Tyler said he had a speech prepared, but she was so surprised and kept walking away from him, so he didn't get to say what he had planned!

This Birmingham couple got engaged on 30a, and will never forget their time on the Emerald Coast!