HAPPY HOLIDAYS
FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS!
A Truly Florida Christmas!
Nothing screams Christmas in Florida like sand, surf, and a potted Christmas tree surrounded by gifts, starfish, and shells. I mean, all we’re missing at this point is a flamingo (which if we found one that was teal, I’m sure it would have been included)! This session with my family was one part chaos, 2 parts windblown, and 5 parts laughter. I couldn’t have asked for much else! So I thought I’d share it with you all, so you can see a little more about me and these fun, crazy people I call family.
The Big Guy & I
This gentle giant and I have been sharing this wild journey called life for a decade now, and I couldn’t imagine being a total goober with anyone else! We met at our at the time day jobs, but it was his love of music and my love of photography that brought us together! For the first time in my life, I found myself surrounded by fellow creatives; musicians, singers, painters, and more. I had finally found my tribe, and from there my art exploded into growth! Now, ten years later, I am achieving goals I had only ever dreamed about. Thank you, my love, for always encouraging me to never give up on my passion of photography, no matter how tough things were.
And, for those wondering, I’m 5’2 and he’s 6’5!
My Mama Bear
This beautiful woman right here is where I get some of my best qualities! She’s caring, giving, selfless, and loves her family and friends with an immense fierceness. She has always been my best friend, my biggest fan, and glue that holds us all together. With all of this year’s craziness, pandemic and otherwise, I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to pull off this Family Holiday Session. But this lady right here goes above and beyond for everyone all year round, she deserved to have her family portraits! So we crammed a few weeks worth of planning into a few days, loaded up 3 cars worth of gear, props, and family, and headed to the beach. Once there, we quickly realized the winds, roughly 15mph or more, were going to require us to get creative with our set up! Luckily I brought about 100lbs of sand bags, which we used to keep the light, gifts, and tree stand from blowing down the beach. The tree itself, however, needed to be held in place so we made sure to style each photo with at least one person holding onto it! Kudos to some Hobby Lobby and Amazon ornaments, because they held fast to their branches pretty well.
How windy was it?
It was so windy…
…that even with my hair pulled back, it still managed to give my hubby a fun and crazy new beard. Look at that perfect burgundy mustache in the middle picture! I think he had the right idea with the hat (and he’s too cool for school, hence the shades haha). Mama’s hair was being blown about, but she was reminiscent of Scarlett O’Hara as she tried to get it to blow in a flattering direction. It may have been crazy, and it was far from perfect, but it’s us being entirely true to ourselves and having a blast enjoying this time of being with one another.
Here’s to 2021!
I hope that you all have enjoyed this little journey through my very own Family Holiday Portraits. I am so excited for what 2021 has in store for ShutterBee, and for all of us! I hope that you have a safe and happy New Year!