Saturday found me trekking to Figure 8 Island for my fourth annual Haley beach portrait session. Sharon is the kind of person I could really hate if I didn’t like her so much. First, she doesn’t look a day older than she did when I met her 20+ years ago. And, one of her children graces her with a granddaughter about every two years. If that’s not enough, she lives on the Inland Waterway in one of the loveliest areas I’ve ever seen. But, Sharon is a beautiful, gracious, considerate friend, so I really can’t hate her. But is it OK to be a little jealous – not of her looks or her home, but of those precious grandchildren?

I was a little nervous photographing three little girls four and under. I have learned that as long as you are patient and go with the flow, everything will turn out fine. It’s so much easier being patient with someone else’s children than it is with your own. The girls’ parents kept apologizing – but the girls simply did exactly what little girls do on the beach. They ran, and played, and headed toward the ocean, then ran some more. For the first part of the session, I tried to do some posed shots. Then I stood back and photographed whatever they were doing. Personally, I love the pictures of the girls at play.

When I told Sharon that I would have the blog posted tonight, she commented, “That’s where you’ll talk about how sweet they were, right?” I’m afraid her tone was a tad sarcastic But to me, both Haley and Mary were sweet. They were just normal, active, little girls having fun on the beach. It’s so hard to believe that by this time next year, Grey will be running right along behind them. I may have to take more vitamins!