Embracing the storm

This year’s family session was a continuous metaphor for our times.

NEVER did I expect that this year’s family session would take place at the beach. But beauty emerged from the storm… literally.

When my husband and I had both been vaccinated, we were seeing little impact from Covid on children, and infection numbers were nonexistent, we took a leap and booked a theme waterpark/hotel for the last week of vacation before school. Because most schools were starting before ours, we assumed a light crowd.

Then the numbers skyrocketed, and we were seeing a tear of infections in our neighborhood in children. Including a hospitalization. I tried reaching our booking via email and received no response. I tried calling, and was passed from system to system. Finally, the Friday afternoon before we were scheduled to leave on Sunday morning, I reached a human, who reported they were booked to capacity, totally slammed.

I postponed the reservation.

The twist? We had already rented out our own home for while we were away! Determined to give my children a safer vacation, I jumped on Airbnb and booked a condo for Panama City Beach… for 36 hours later.

Fresh air, sand and salt.

We hauled my photography equipment, optimistic.

Then, the night we had planned to shoot, with best window of time for sunset being 7:00-7:30, the weather did this:

I made everyone just stand at the door and wait.

I said, either this means we're going to run for it, have 5 minutes to nail it, and the sunset will be SPECTACULAR... Or we will have absolutely nothing.

This entire vacation AND the result of this photoshoot, all of it, was about a leap in faith. Being spontaneous and wild and jumping into chaos, and hoping for beauty.

In the ocean, my children learned they could battle the waves or embrace them. They could get slapped in the face and choke on the salt, or they could put on their goggles, take a deep breath, and dive into them. Even moreso, they could submerge, and relax beneath the turbulence. The choice is ours.

What fun would it be without an outtake?

I plan to print as a gallery wrap for our living room.