Isn’t it great when families celebrate together? Every. Single. Time. I’m honored to be included in it— whether a family reunion, a first birthday, an engagement, a 21st birthday, a 30th anniversary, and so many more— well I count it a privilege to capture this part of your story. Really, truly. So the lovely B. famly from Arizona was no exception. Like, I would have gone and hung out with them after our shoot if I didn’t need to pick up my own kids.  The parents, the kids– so so nice and enjoyable.  And by the way, their stunning daughter could play the sister of Gail Gadot in “Wonder Woman.” Right?!

And this shoot, well we had CRAZY big waves (the biggest I’ve seen at this spot in Makena, near Wailea) and so much chaos on the beach with 6 different photographers and so many people on a much smaller beach. Usually, it is tight, but with the higher tide and huge surf and all the weddings and families, it was a little crazy. Thankfully, with adult children, I wasn’t worried about the safety of little ones. And thankfully, since I shoot natural light, I didn’t have to worry about extra lighting equipment getting ruined— I even saw one photographer get taken out with all his gear from a wave that aggressively swept on shore. And then when the client jumped to the rescue and grabbed the camera, the client dropped the photographer’s camera in the water and really wet sand. Oy vey, we felt so bad.

But, and this is the BUT, you won’t see any mayhem in these photos. Yes, I am like a photoshop hitman and I “took out” a few people in the background on a few portraits, but you won’t see chaos— you will see beauty. And the B. fam didn’t feel that chaos throughout the shoot, because we made it fun, and it was still a beautiful night on the beach with a gorgeous sunset.  Thank you Lord!  And that is the thing— chaos happens, but so does beauty.

So enjoy a peek into this mini session. They may not have told me the secret to 30 years of marriage and still loving one another, but I’ll venture to say it has something to do with enjoying the time you have together, not because of perfection but because you are doing all of life together. And celebrating one another— like this landmark anniversary, and 2 big birthdays. And I’m so grateful they invited me in.

(First pic is to show a quick glimpse of the crowds on the beach this night).