The Little Mermaid of Destin, Florida

Caitie Beth Nelson

Destin + Santa Rosa Beach Family Photographer

"Do we have time for an outfit change?" Mom asked me when booking her family's portrait session.  She was excited, and shared with me the outfit she had someone make for her daughter.  It sounded precious, and as a Little Mermaid Fan, I was excited at the idea!

Mallory had booked a full session for her family while they were vacationing in Destin, Florida.  I worked through the basic family poses with the help of my baby-loving assistant (my son, Jack. He's a hoot!) and as soon as we were through we got little miss into her mermaid attire.  We had plenty of time for more beach portraits since we flowed through the beginning of the session so seamlessly. 

We were blessed with the most gorgeous evening.  It really was AMAZING.  Every sunset is breathtaking over the Gulf of Mexico, and that's just the truth.  But, every now and then you have an evening that you can recall years later.  This was one of them.  During the summer we frequently have storms and heavy rain clouds that come through from the gulf. They make for amazing back drops for our portraits, soften and filter the bright sunlight, and put amazing colors on display for those lucky enough to be witnessing the end of the day out by the water.

You can view my favorites from their gallery below!  Notice how we have a soft warm glow from one angle, and then a cooler light and pastel colored clouds from the other angle.  I love the variety!  After we collection I'll share my tips and tricks for finding cute outfits and working with children on the beach for special themed portraits.  

Enjoy all this beachy cuteness!

Notice the difference in the lighting?!  That's all in-camera, captured right there at the session.  I just did our usual editing, but absolutely no sky enhancements.  Sometimes that's necessary, but this was our natural Destin sunset on this evening.

Something I do often clean up and make more lovely is the sand.  Yes, Destin and our surrounding areas in Santa Rosa Beach, etc all have the prettiest white sand.  Why would I want to touch that??  I mainly want to preserve the pristine image of our sand.  Sometimes we have seaweed wash up, or sometimes there are just too many foot prints in the sand.  As we were arranging our Little Mermaid in the wet sand at the shoreline there were deep foot prints that were too distracting.  I always aim to create portraits that will printed either in keepsake albums or large displays as wall art in the home.  While taking out every last imperfection in the sand is completely unrealistic, I do the work necessary to keep the focus on the subject and take away distractions.

The light was so awesome this evening, we had time for another quick collection to add to the family's gallery.  Mom did an excellent job of planning out what she wanted.  

But first… here's our beach bum ;)

These next portraits just take my breath away!

My absolute favorite place to begin shopping for items for a themed shoot is Etsy!  I love supporting other small businesses, and I find that the handmade items are typically made better and it really shows.  From flower crowns, to crocheted apparel, or handmade dresses - you can find anything there and I can almost promise you'll fall in love with whatever you find.

Plan on being patient and letting art happen while at the session.  We can't predict exactly how a baby will act or move, but we can expect cuteness to be a big part of it!  Sometimes candy, or someone willing to be silly, is necessary, but we can make it happen.  I have some handy tips on working with kids at any portrait session HERE.

Choosing your beach photographer is always important.  We serve clients in the Seaside, South Walton, Seagrove Beach, Destin, 30A, Santa Rosa Beach, Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach and surrounding areas and this means we mainly work with people who are not local.  Your vacation and family time is precious and you need an experienced beach photographer you can trust.  Contact us for more information so we can plan your perfect beach portrait session.

With love,

Caitie
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