Portraits | Last Florida Beach Installment

Ok, friends and readers! The final installment of the Florida Beach Shoot is here! I wanted to snap a few carefree photos of both Aimee and Emily together, before we left the beach, and I think these captured some of the fun we were all having together. :)

Ahh, the ocean wind strikes again! Gotta love the hair flying everywhere. :)

Again I ask, aren't they just beautiul?

After I finished photos of them, Aimee snapped a few of me. So, while it's not normal for me to post a photoshoot of myself on my own blog, I figured it wouldn't quite be rounding out this shoot properly if I didn't share these, too. Plus, I enjoy getting to change it up and be in front of the camera now and then. Thanks for playing photographer for a bit, Aimee!

She was saying ridiculous things and mocking me as she took these. :P

My hair was definitely crazy. Having bangs doesn't work out super well in high winds...

Probably my favorite shot. It's just happy and expresses "me" so well.

And the wind/hair combination strikes again! But I like it.

So, there you go! You have now experienced our beautiful sunset shoot at Sanibel Island. I wish I could be transported back there, right now, as Richmond has been struggling to figure out that it's Spring these last couple of weeks... But here's hoping it'll have nicer temperatures in store this week!

Next post to come (soon!) will be an update on my March goals and my list of goals for April. Stay tuned!

Portraits | Emily on the Beach

Ok, I just can't wait any longer. I'm simply too excited about all of the photos from this shoot to spread out the 3 installments too far. So, if you didn't get a chance to look at the previous post just below this, please take a few minutes and scroll through the beautiful shots of my gorgeous sister. Isn't she stunning? (I may be biased, but it seems like a lot of people agree with me, so....)

Now that you've seen those, allow me to introduce my equally gorgeous cousin, Emily. She's been one of my best and dearest friends for, well, ever. Technically not quite ever, since I'm a year and a half older than her, but lets just say for as long as I can remember. I have the best memories of childhood summers at my grandparent's house playing dress-ups and Barbies, singing randomly and loudly, and fighting with both Aimee and Emily about which Disney Princesses we each got to be....

Yeah, so, our childhood was pretty girly. But we also shot BB guns, played with gross creepy-crawler rubbery toys and awesome dinosaur figurines, took golf lessons (at our Grandpa's insistence), and spent countless hours swimming, rollerblading and generally running around outside. It was a pretty great childhood, let me tell you. And the summers were always the best, because that's when we got the most time with Emily (and the other cousins). The fact that I still get quality time with my sister and cousin after getting married and moving several states away is truly priceless to me. I hope those opportunities never end, even if they get fewer and farther between as life goes on. But no matter what, I know I'll always cherish the memories we share, and the new ones that are able to be made.

Enough of the trip down memory lane, though. I'm sure that's much more interesting to me than any of you. So, why don't I go ahead and just show you how gorgeous she is, now?

(I love that her beach attire was very different from Aimee's, and that their personalities are totally different, too. It allowed for different types of shoots, while still being at the same location. And both with equally good results, if you ask me.)

I also love how she can pull off this "model stare", like few can.

But smiles and laughter are much more true to her personality. :)

I've ALWAYS been jealous of her amazing, long eyelashes.

I think the combination of her, the fabulous light, and beautiful ocean is just lovely in every way.

I love the bird that perfectly accents this photo. Thanks, O'Reilly. ;)

One of my favorites....just look at those beautiful eyes!

Her hair just flows perfectly in beachy winds. I love it.

Absolutely one of my top favorites.

So you see? I wasn't exaggerating in the least. My cousin and sister are two seriously gorgeous people, and I had a seriously wonderful time getting to take beautiful photos of them.

Stay tuned for one final beach installment...a few photos of them together and some snapshots of your's truly that Aimee took. Coming soon!