You may have noticed on Facebook I have been trying to take more personal photographs-at the beach, stopping after softball games in fields, ya know, the norm? I hadn’t been doing well with that in the last 3-4 months or so but lately I just can’t wait to get out and photograph my kids even though I am getting plenty of opportunity to use my camera during these busy summer months! I think sometimes people may visit my page and just see a bunch of families on the beach and think oh, she’s just a beach photographer (I think I posted about this a month or so ago too). I am not even close to just a beach photographer but I do a lot of family sessions on the beach for families visiting our area. It’s really an awesome position to be in-to get to capture these memories. Lots of my families just bring their kids and come relax, make traditions that their kids will carry on. But some of my families are multi-generational; brothers, sisters and their spouses and kids meet here with their parents they don’t get to see often enough and they reconnect, cousins act like friends who were never apart, sisters get to shop together, and brothers get to relive their glory days though stories from their past that they tell every.single.year (believe me, I have heard a few sports stories a time or two or three or…).
If you haven’t been to South Walton you are missing out-seriously missing out. Gorgeous beaches, tons of great restaurants, fresh seafood, and so many fun things to do, like movies on the lawn at Seaside, riding bikes in Watercolor, strolling the shops on 30-a, deep sea fishing…And like I said the other day, I have said to my husband a time or two sometimes I wished we didn’t live here because it is such an amazing place to vacation. There is something about making that drive and coming over the bay, turning onto Hwy 98 and feeling the stress leave your body; pulling onto 30-a and seeing that turquoise water appear over the dunes and just remembering the previous years-the warm water, the salty skin, the sting of a sunburn, and the snow white sand under your feet as you sip on a cold beverage and watch the kids splash in the gulf. I am lucky-I have lived within 30 minutes of this beach my whole life and now my kids get to grow up here. My husband and I get to drive 5 minutes to the beach on a whim in the afternoons if we choose and some afternoons are simply magical. Like this one…the water was warm, we were having a few relaxing drinks, and the kids were having a blast. It felt like summer and it felt pretty close to perfect. Are the images technically perfect? No way! In fact, those sparkler images are purely experimental and who cares? I think they are neat and they are exactly how I remember that afternoon. Anyway, sometimes I think its nice to share a little about yourself in this “business” we call photography 😉 I hope your summer absolutely rocks! (Also posted on my personal blog Photogingmama.com)
