Meet the Williams Family
This is my second year working with this sweet family from Tennessee, they stayed at the same house on Wild Dunes Resort this year as they did last which is just steps from the beach. That always comes in handy when working with a family on a sunrise schedule, the closer to the beach you are the easier it is to entice the kids to jump out of bed and see the ocean. This year we met right at 6:00am which is actually considered "blue hour." This is the timeframe before the sun actually rises and the lighting is slightly blue and changes to that "golden" look once the sun gets closer to the horizon. Sunrise portrait sessions have the most variation in color than any other session I take actually, for this reason.
I love working with repeat clients since I always feel so warmly welcomed by the kiddos, they always seem to remember me. Not just because I had a camera in their face the whole time, but because I have a chance to connect with them and ask how their school year was, how big they've gotten, and because we always find some cool shells or share a surprised look when we all get hit by a wave. I love these connections with families and growing kids. They remember my dumb jokes, but somehow still find them funny.
Whether we have or have not worked together before I love when clients tell me their favorite things about their kids, or maybe a favorite shot myself or another photographer has captured for you. Recreating images may be silly to some, but I love for you to have those memories year after year as your kids grow. Even if I can put my own spin on a particular image we've created before. I love the challenge. For this session I knew a few of the things we had done before, such as attempting to get the kids to ring-around-the-rosie. But what I saw more of an opportunity for this time around was more story telling with my candid imagery. Stepping back once I know I've gotten all their "wall worthy" images and just capturing them doing their own thing. That brought about lots of lovely images between mom, Erin and her boys, and her daughter. As well as the kids each doing what made them the happiest. For L, all she wanted to do was look and collect shells. For E and K they loved being in the water, either jumping the waves or running from them. I love seeing kids at their happiest.
I always encourage families to be willing to get a little wet at the end of their session. The authenticity in the kids faces when jump waves or watching mom get splashed is priceless, and this is truly what they remember most when they look back at these pictures. This was my favorite part about their session this year and last- see those kids really embrace the water. Except for little L, she's still a little hesitant about the water. But that's okay, maybe we'll get her in next year!