Firsts of Many....Fort Walton Beach Photography

We took our youngest daughter to the beach for the first time this past weekend.  There's something about watching your child experience something for the very first time; just something about "firsts" in general, knowing that there never was that thing or experience there before. At all. It's a crazy deep concept if you think about it.  Anyway, she loved it.  The sand was soft and cool, the water shimmering, sparkling and just the right amount of splashing.  The lapping waves intrigued her and the little, pattering seagulls amused her.  The sun kissed our noses and the wind played with our hair and..... it was the most perfect 30 minutes ever. 

'twinkling in my eyes the way that you do' - fort walton beach photography

All I did was laugh at this session.  And in a good way, I mean.  This family, the wife in particular, has always brought such joy into my life and even through tremendeous pain and tribulations, she has always pressed on and fought the good fight, keeping the faith and letting joy overwhelm her.  Quite frankly, it's contagious.  I'm honored to share these beautiful photos of her and just part of her sweet family with you tonight!

the anatomy of a baby sneeze - fort walton beach baby photography

My favorite shots of my children are the ones I capture of them doing everyday, normal things.  Like sneezing.  Baby sneezes are the cutest things, are they not?  Lydia's response to a sneeze used to be that cute little baby thing where their arms & legs fly out in some sort of awkward superman stance and sheer terror spreads over their face.  Cute.  But I suppose terrifying for them.  However, now, she kind of just laughs it off and carries on - sneezes are no biggie for a 5 month old.  *tearing up* 5 months?  We're halfway through the first year.....I'm going to be TOTALLY cliche right now and just say it - time flies by way too fast when you're having fun!

'fly me to the moon' - fort walton beach photographer

I 'heart' this family - they were one of the very very first people I ever photographed outside of my own family (when I used to accept Starbucks giftcards as form of payment, haha).  And my how they've grown!  My favorite thing about this family is how much I laugh when I'm around them - their kids think I'm crazy because they're not trying to be funny on purpose, they just crack me up at how hard they try not to smile!  Their parents get a kick out of it too - I love how easy going they are and how they just interacted as a family and basically forgot that I was there - those, to me, produce the best shots ever!  And, yes, we did get a few little grins in there eventually....

Imperfectly Perfect - fort walton beach photographer

Sometimes I don't get the best photos of my own kids - and by that I mean, it's not like our house is set up like a professional photographer's studio 24/7.  Lately, I've become quite the good iphoneographer (more on that later..) since a camera phone is a lot easier than a big ole fat camera to lug around in a diaper bag!  I took the following photos of Lydia of her first "bath-in-a-sink" with my "big ole fat camera".  Let me tell you - it's extremely hard to take photos with a 5lb camera with an extremely close prime lense while holding onto a slippery not-quite-sitting-up-yet baby in the most horrid-lit kitchen ever!  I don't even KNOW what settings my camera was set to and I switched my lens to auto-focus (because just try trying to focus a lens with your toes...).  I quickly uploaded them and edited them sloppily in photoshop with these instagram photoshop actions - no fancy schmancy touchups here.... But you know what - I love them.  Imperfectly Perfect.  I'll cherish them forever....that's all that matters in the end...

Wrinkled prune toes and all....

'there was a little girl...' - fort walton beach photographer

....who had a little curl

right in the middle of her forehead.

when she was good, she was very, very good

and when she was bad she was horrid!

yep, that about sums it up....

'heaven help us, if he's anything like me....' - fort walton beach newborn photography

There's something that makes me all melty and gooey inside when I see the contrast of a fresh, dewy newborn up against the grizzly, tattoed exterior of his daddy.  *Sigh*  Welcome to the world Baby Sal!  You're going to be one little heartbreaker!