BRADY...BRETT...ETHAN (BEACH)

One of my oldest and dearest friends was recently in town for a short stay. She asked me to take some photos of her kids at the beach before they returned to the cold snowy 40º weather at their home in Minnesota. I immediately said yes. I always feel so honored when good friends ask me to photograph their kids...honored and nervous. This past week my nerves were quickly calmed by the smiles and laughter of three beautiful little boys. Melissa and her husband Jeff are the proud parents of Brady, Brett and Ethan.

I must say it is very difficult to get three kids to all stay in one place. It is even more difficult to get them all to look at the camera at the same time. ha.ha. But we still had a blast. Here is one of my favorites...


This was the first time the twins were at the beach and got to put their hands and feet into the sand. I believe they confused it with the snow up north..this was kinda evident as they tried to put it in their mouths. However, the boys quickly realized that the sand was different and began playing in it. I love this picture. I snapped it as Mel was showing the twins what the sand felt like. Brady has been to the beach before, so he was not as intrigued...he was happier in the background dancing and acting silly.


Brady did quit dancing long enough to enjoy the sand himself. I think he wanted to soak it all up before returning home to the snow.


Brady is an accomplished climber and this really big piece of driftwood was no challenge for him.



This is Brett...


And this is the other twin, Ethan...


As you can see from Brett's hair, it was very windy on this day. We cut our day short because sand was blowing horribly and getting into the kid's eyes. I knew it was not an ideal beach day, although the kids never once complained. You can see by Brett's expression he was quite happy, even clapping for me here.


Ethan was very comfortable with the beach scene.


Here we were getting very close to a photo with all three...almost.


We worked around the kid's sleeping & eating schedule, which put us at the beach mid-afternoon. The sun was up high in the sky and as you can see, it was a clear day with no clouds. I had to shoot most everything in the direct sunlight which made for alot of squinting. With the wind blowing, the shaded areas where just too chilly for the boys. Although it was very bright out, the boys didn't seem to care and were great sports in smiling for my camera.


Mel and I spent many hours on this beach...talking about life, laughing, hanging out with other friends and simply working on our tans. It was kinda weird, but so amazing to watch her as she walked with her kids along the beach that once was our playground. WOW, how time has passed...


Jeff is very athletic, but I think Brady definitely gave him a workout.



You can see in this photo how proud Brady was that his Dad could not catch him. I just love the expression on his face.


This is actually a photo I played around with and tried some creative toning. I like to do this once and awhile to see what people think. Its got a touch of a sepia look with a little velvet smoothing.


We cut our beach shoot short due to crazy sahara desert-like winds, so we made a stop by Fort Pulaski on the way home. I snapped a few photos there and will be posting those later in the week.

Have a blessed day~©