When Mama initially contacted me about having her family portraits done I instantly knew I wanted to take them to my special beach spot at sunrise. Here in St. Augustine, sunrise happens on the water since we're on the east coast, so you get that dynamic contrast with bright colors, and a light and airy vibe. I prefer my work to have a minimal tone to the images, so sunrise on the beach is the perfect way to achieve that!

And, when I read through their questionnaire, I got even more excited to make these beach portraits extra magical for them! Like me, they had missed out on professional photos for some big milestones throughout their new family's life, like wedding and newborn portraits. This sunrise beach portrait session they booked with me was the first time they had professional photos created for their family. I didn't have the opportunity for a lot of that earlier in my family either, so it was very important to me to make their first-ever family beach portraits extra special. 

One of my favorite things about this portrait session was Mama's choice in dress! I usually opt for light colors in a more neutral palette, but that dress set the tone for images that were personal and special to them, and I'm here for it! This beautiful couple is from the Caribbean so I think it was perfect for them to put together a colorful and lively color palette for their family photos. And the sunrise we had on the beach that morning paired perfectly with Mama's paprika-toned dress. I loved it. 

I also loved the neutral tulle dress from AMAZON of all places baby girl wore. She played in the surf and just loved the ocean waves. At one point, a wave literally came over her and she just laughed. Definitely an island girl through and through!