WIndy sessions

Have you ever had everything go so terribly wrong that you think - there is no possible way that it will turn out okay? That happened to me with a maternity session I did for a wonderful couple expecting their first child.

I all started out like a normal session. The couple requested to work with me while they were visiting 30A, FL for their baby moon. It is the perfect time to get maternity photos because if you have seen the beaches of the Emerald Coast - very little compares. The stunning white sand, the deepest blue waters, and the majestic sunsets are a beauty that even Henry David Thoreau would struggle to describe in enough detail.

To make it even better, a dress rental company reached out to me offering to send me a free dress for a session of my choosing - as long as they could use some of the photos for their website. I reached out to the maternity couple, and the wife found a dress she loved. It was all lining up to be a perfect evening.

I was also especially excited for this session because I had just found I was pregnant with my second child. I felt a certain connection with the mama-to-be, and it just made maternity sessions extra special to me.

The day of the session came and we decided to meet at Grayton Beach State Park. It is one of my favorite spots in 30A,FL because it provides a wider range of beach landscapes (linked below). As I was driving out I noticed that the wind was slowly picking up. Common on the beach, so I did not think much of it. We walked to the first spot and started our session. Then out of nowhere - a 35 mph gust of wind hit us. As someone who practically lives on the Weather app, these wind gusts came as a total surprise. Thankfully we were mostly covered by the wooded area, but this was short lived as we had to head down to the beach for the final set of shots.

As you can see in the shots below, we were mostly protected from the wind due to the surrounding trees. The gusts were intense but we were able to get in good positions to keep them from affecting us too much.

https://www.floridastateparks.org/graytonbeach

As we began walking down to the beach my foot caught the back of her long flowing in the wind dress, and I fell flat on my face. The camera was saved - my ego was not. I stood back up and laughed away the incredible awkwardness I felt burning in my soul.

We made our way down to the beach and the wind was unreal. We no longer had the protection of trees and brush. It was us against the wind roaring across the waters. This really tested me as a photographer. I had to protect my camera from the sand that was flying in the air. I had to make sure that the clients hair was not covering her beautiful face. And I had to make sure that the sun was not casting harsh light in their faces. Finding good angles and poses with all of that to factor in left me feeling less than confident walking away from the session.

Oh and did I mention that I tripped not once but twice more? Yeah. To say I left that session feeling like I was an absolute failure was an understatement. That’s the tough part of working with clients in a vacation destination - you rarely have time to make it up if something goes wrong. It is difficult to change the session to a night that will have more favorable weather when the client is only in town for 48 hours and there are only 2 sunsets during that time. Learning to work with the weather circumstances you are given is a must in a destination beach location.

I got home, contacted my OB doctor about the fall, and immediately uploaded the session to my hard drive. I could not go to sleep without knowing if any of the shots turned out. My baby was okay and to my humble surprise - so were the photos! I jokingly told my clients that a small miracle happened sometime between the session and when I got these photos loaded and edited.

It was a really tough session but I learned so much about what I was capable of and how to adapt to different circumstances. Now as for my clumsiness, I am not sure if anything can help with that.

The photos below show just how relentless the wind was on the beach.