I recently got a surprise call from a friend I had not seen in years & years & years…well, I’ll just say it had been a long time. He was one of my dearest and best of friends from back home. We talked for a little while and caught up on life and what we were doing. When I mentioned my photography, he immediately said he had checked out my website & blog and wanted to know if I would take some photos of his family. (He was planning a week long vacation to beautiful Tybee Island, which is a 15 minute drive for me.) “ABSOLUTELY!” I quickly replied. I was very excited about seeing him again and getting to meet his beautiful family.

This is Jesi…she is cute, spunky, full of energy and looks just like her Dad.

This is Reece and like most teen-agers, he simply wanted to chill rather than have his photo taken. Of course, he was awesome to participate once we got started. Tks Reece! 😉

This is my friend Chesley…his super beautiful and super nice wife Lisa and of course, Jesi & Reece.

This photo made me smile because Jesi was looking at Reece who was laughing. Yes, he was laughing at me, once again proving that I am funny!

I purposely composed this shot with Reece off-centered and focused on him, but kept Lisa in the photo, blurred in the background. I rarely shoot my clients front & center unless it looks artistically better. I just love Reece’s big smile and also I think he has the coolest hair ever!

Some shots by the water. Jesi obviously loves the water, just like me.

I love this photo of her and so I played around with the toning in Photoshop. Boosting all those blues in her outfit and water made all the colors pop and the image more fun.

The sun was still pretty bright at this part of the shoot, but I love it in this photo.

At some point Jesi decided she would hide her face when I tried to take her picture.

Still hiding…

And still hiding…

Running and playing. Jesi was happy.

Jesi was not that happy to come take photos.

I love the expression on Reece’s face here. Jesi still did not want her photo taken.

Perfection…a big smile from Jesi! Thanks Jesi. 🙂

I did talk Reece into letting me take a couple photos of him. I was in awe of his really cool hair. I believe he said the streak was purple and now it is blonde. Very cool either way.

As Reece stood in the background holding Jesi upside down to entertain her, I was able to get a few photos of Chesley and Lisa.

Yes, I purposely again off-center them in this shot to get the shoreline in the photo. However, the smiles and laughter are all credited to them.

One of my favorites…

Check out the bird in the background. I can never get those birds to cooperate for photos.

For those clients who always ask me how to dress for a family shoot, here is a perfect example. (Of course, clothing also depends on the location we are shooting). For a beach shoot, this was an amazing choice. (Yea Lisa…bravo…high-five…perfection!) Lisa’s cotton summer dress was a creme color, Jesi’s dress had the browns, blues, cremes & burnt orange colors, just like a little island girl…awesome. Chesley & Reece alternated with the dark brown & light browns for their shirts and shorts. The girls wore gem-stone flip flops and the guys were in brown leather flips. Footwear is always important too.

We were getting ready to finish up & I wanted to grab a quick shot of just Chesley with Reece, but I saw Lisa standing in the background holding Jesi and I had to add their silhouettes in.

Two things about this photo that caught my attention were : #1 was the way Lisa was looking at Chesley and #2 was the way he was gently touching Jesi to comfort her. Kids playing at the beach all day can really wear them out.

One last shot…

Thank You Chesley, Lisa, Reece & Jesi for a great time at the beach!