we had so much fun with the twirling shots, we decided to try and do it one last time with more ‘hair flair’ in the ‘sun flare’ (i may try to trademark that… )

always a fun time shooting with this girl… so full of life and even brings up her own ideas for shots. hope to see you in another year or so, lexi!

i usually allow myself one or two photos from a wedding to play with… to just get a little outside of the box… this was that shot…

and here is one from the beach in front of their reception hotel location:

while we waited for the grand entrance time, we got to play a little more in this fantastic room:

and what bride doesn’t love a little audrey?

the sand castle candles were such a great touch for this beach wedding…

during the father/daughter and son/mother dances they had a photos slideshow playing. it coerced some strong emotions from the dance floor participants.

they had so many people serenading them throughout the night. it was another testament to the couple as to how much people love and wanted to honor them.

and even david got into the act. a surprising and uber-romantic performance of a song he had written for stephanie. yes, even us male wedding photographers can well up while shooting a wedding. or… at least… this one does   :)

as a former break-dancer (hey… i could do some crazy legs and an egg spin on the cardboard in my living room!), i give it up for the bride’s brother:

as i said in my previous post, the sense of family and love from this entire day was just something that washed over you. it was refreshing to see how two families just completely embraced one another, from every extension of it.

thanks again for inviting me to be a part of your amazing day, stephanie and david. it really was an honor and i wish you both and all of your family the best of what life has to offer.

one more shot of the passion between these two love birds in parting   :)

seeing the girls so loving and friendly with each other was fun. so let’s throw mom into the mix and see how that dynamic changes things.

the vulnerability and connection with her youngest was quite something.

and the difference with the elder was tangible… but the love was still just so easily seen.

we let the girls play on their own on the beach for a little bit after they had done their part.

i asked heather if she wanted to do any shots on her own at all. we had kind of kicked that idea around a little when we first talked. i was glad that she was still up for it.

as the day was almost over, we started chatting about some ideas i wanted to shoot at some point. heather caught me off-guard and said she would be up for even getting wet before she left. i hadn’t really prepared for it, but how could i pass up her offer. so we took a few minutes to shoot and when the waves started dousing her, she was a total and complete champ about it.

i just love the complete and pure joy on her face here. another reminder that adults can still have spontaneous fun too!

i sat here and thought about this one for a moment. allowing my mind to float back to that day for a full re-collection. and words could not fully describe the almost spirituality this shoot evolved through. a whole lot of individual, yet strong, adjectives come to mind as i try to describe the relationship between heather and her girls. it is the kind of love that is so fully formed and respectful (in a way). if i were a mother, i think i would have just sat there and simply sighed… and nodded my head ever so slightly. knowing that this is what i would strive for. any semblance of this bond and relationship. i am not a mother, nor even a woman… but as a fairly new parent, i walked away with close to that same desire… to build something like the bond and (dare i say) communion that i could see in existence between these three over just a few hours with them.

i hope to do this again, some day, heather. and now that i really soak in everything that brought those words above out of me, i can maybe even say: the pleasure was all mine.