One of my final beach sessions of last year really touched my heart.  I was contacted by a sweet woman who wanted to have a beach session with her parents.  She told me that her dear mother, a breast cancer survivor, had discovered that the cancer had returned.  She felt the need to capture her parents together, along with her.   As breast cancer has touched so many lives, mine included, I immediately said yes!

We met at their beach house on the Isle of Palms and I was introduced to this family and immediately felt a connection.  They were so warm and inviting.  The mother had a laugh that was so sweet and gentle.  When she laughed, which was often, you couldn’t help but laugh too.

This family informed me that having their photographs taken wasn’t the most comfortable thing for them.  I completely understood, that’s why I’m the one behind the camera!  🙂  So, instead of starting the session off with formal poses and such, we sat and talked.  I asked them questions about their lives and oh the stories I heard!  Just a snippet: her husband sold her beloved sports car when she was pregnant with their daughter, without her knowledge!  He said she was too big to sit behind the wheel anymore!  We all gave him plenty of grief about that!  We all got laughing and as a result, beautiful images came from the candid moments.  Sure, we did some formal posing after awhile, but my favorite are those images with the laughter I can still hear in my head.

I felt truly honored to spend time with this family.  To hear their stories, to hear the love and hope in their voices.  I left the session feeling thankful for many things, time, family, love and happiness.  It was a blessing to have met these sweet people and to say I once knew a woman with a laugh that could make anyone laugh with her.

Thank you to the Carson family!

:: Mo