I love photographing families in their happy place. This fun family with a young baby was up for the weekend at the Heritage Club, Vermont. They ski there throughout the winter. It was fun to capture them playing in the snow and inside when they warmed up!
While on Nantucket this summer, we were introduced to a new beach, Steps Beach. You come out of this leafy passageway and look out over this diverse hillside with wooden pathways, sandy dunes and aquamarine water. I had taken a walk in the morning of our last day on island. I was thinking about swimming, but decided instead to just sit on the beach and watch life go by. Best decision ever. I had forgotten how much happens when I just stop and pay attention. A woman in a turquoise bathing suit and straw fedora came down to swim. She swam a long way out and then met up with another swimmer who she joined and they swam together. Do they do that every day? The seagulls were flying overhead along with a random helicopter, the ferry appeared and headed in past the jetty, a couple walked by me holding hands. The cloud formations were striking, one looking like a lady striding across the sky in a flowing dress. For a quiet beach, there was a lot going on.
A family that I have worked with for years had one day when they were all together on Nantucket. We planned for a Saturday evening. On the way over on the ferry, I got a call saying that it was pouring on Nantucket. A moment of concern! Then I looked in the direction of the winds and less dark skies were coming. So we decided to go ahead and were rewarded with beautiful skies that cast a gorgeous even light. I've learned that almost every kind of weather has a unique beauty.
Looking back over shoots from the year, this was a funny weather story. It was pouring rain a half hour before the shoot! But on the radar, it looked like the rain would pass. So the family was open to trying the shoot and so was I. Nothing like the beautiful weather right after a rain. The shoot was at Compo Beach and the teenagers had not been very excited about having all their friends see them during the shoot. Problem solved! Almost no one there and the light was spectacular. The family often looked like they were in a spotlight and then the rainbow came. As my father used to say, "You don't have to be smart if you're lucky!"
One Sunday afternoon in August I did a photo shoot at a Westport family's beach retreat on Cape Cod. The cabin has been in the family for years. Beautiful weather, lovely light, and fun family. This was a photo session I donated to the Silvermine Arts Center benefit auction last spring. So in addition to contributing to a great cause, I was able to do the session in a wonderful spot.
I spent an afternoon in Falmouth, MA, last summer with a mother and her two children on vacation. The session began at a local lighthouse near Woods Hole that opens for tours once each year and we all climbed the spiral staircase to the top for a view. Then we went to their favorite spot at Woodneck Beach to get photos of everyone playing on the beach. It was a perfect afternoon and the water so clear and warm it felt like being in the Caribbean.
This was a destination photo session on Nantucket at Sconset Beach. It was a breezy August day, I featured some shots in color because of the way the girls' bright outfits stood out against the sand. I love sessions at the beach because it is a natural place for kids to feel free and the wind energizes everyone.
Here is a family that I have worked with for years. We started locally, in Westport, then I did a photo shoot at Torch Lake, Michigan a few years ago to capture memories of a special house that had been in the family for years and was being sold. Now the family has moved to Florida and they were having a retreat in Naragansett, Rhode Island for a month last summer. It was the perfect time for a new photo session. We explored the modern house that they had rented, kids played on the beds and threw water balloons. It was a very foggy day when we went out to spend time on the huge rocks on the point. The rocks created many very cool backdrops for pictures and the fog made everything feel very ethereal. In the afternoon, we went to the beach that they love to go to. The kids flew kites and played in the water and had a full fun day.
I had a great destination photo shoot last summer in Falmouth, Massachusetts. This Westport family was at their annual Cape Cod retreat, visiting grandparents and enjoying familiar places and activities. The session started at the house where everyone loosened up with hoola hoops and wiffleball. Then we drove to the local club where the family sails and hangs out. We found some nice spots to do family portraits and then took advantage of the driftwood and rocks along the beach to do some individual shots of the kids.
