Thanks for stopping by to check out my page! 

I truly love what I do. I am in my 18th year of being able to capture your vacation memories and what better way to do so then portraits on the beach.
I have seen many photographers come and go over the years so you are probably wondering what sets me apart?
I believe my love and passion for what I do goes a long way, but beyond that I try to create a very personalized photo session based on each families needs and personalities. I do have several proven techniques I have found to pretty much apply to all sessions to help our time together go as smoothly as possible.  
At the same time, I am also flexible enough to be able to deviate from the normal way when the need arises. Most often this will come up with smaller children. Some may need to ease into the photo session so I bring several props to use to help them warm up. I have also found over the years that if we go straight by the water too early children will become a bit too distracted. The main spot I go to in North Myrtle Beach has some of the most beautiful sea oats and sand dunes in the entire area so I will start our session closer to them. This really seems to help most kids keep their attention long enough to get most of the posed shots out of the way. I know most of you also love candid's so this will be the main concentration as we head closer to the water. This way everyone is satisfied with a good mix of both posed and candid shots.  After our session is booked I will also send you tips to prepare for the session. Please make sure everyone in your group has seen this prior to our session.  

I am excited to now also be able to add Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beaches in NC to my locations!

How long before I see my images and what is the next step?

Typically I have the images available to view 3-7 days of your session. Why so long? I carefully go through the images and color and exposure correct them. This is the equivalant to what most photographers market as "edited" images. 
You will have two weeks from the time you get home to place your order. You will be able to view most all the images from the session. Which one's won't you be able to see? Most of these are the one's that may be too blurry due to sudden movement. I like for you to view all the presentable images I have taken because your taste may not be the same as my taste. 
I do not reduce the viewable images down to say 50-75 just because it's easier for me to manage the editing on these. I do typically have 200-500 viewable images. Why so many? One of the main reasons is because here on the coast we normally have to factor in the wind. I do my best to pose you creatively, but sometimes I feel like I do need to over shoot a bit to factor this in. This gives us much better options on the back end to be able to edit images in case of less then perfect conditions. When I post your viewable images the majority of them will all be adjusted to the best exposure and color.  I know you are excited to see your images as soon as possible, so I try to get this part of the process as soon as possible. 
I know many of you love to check out images on Pinterest before our session to get ideas. Please feel free to show me specific poses you may have saved. Keep in mind the images you view on Pinterest have already been edited and in many cases special effects and filters applied.

Now I realize many of you become stressed at the idea of family pictures. I do everything in my power to take away the stress. On your larger group shots I allow you a free major edit. What is a major edit? This includes things like head swaps, fixing hair, taking weight off. Anything we need to do to get one good picture of everyone in your group. I will help guide you on the best way to make this selection. Most people look at the image that has the most smiles all in the same picture but I prefer to find the one you like of everyone from the neck down. 
I also offer editing packages to cover things like: minimizing facial lines, facial glare, glass glare, reducing redness to faces, brace removal, cirlces under eyes, removing blemishes and age spot, teeth whiten, removing background objects. 

I also take the stress away by being able to make your selections in the comfort and convenience of your own home or office. If you have a place to get on the Internet you will be able to see your images anytime, anyplace. No coming back to a studio to order and taking away precious vacation time!!!
 

Have your Session in the early AM or PM closer to Sunset & Weather Policies.

Beach Sessions are typically done an hour or two prior to sunset. This can change a little depending on the sky and weather the day of your session. I make every opportunity to get the session in and sometimes this means adjusting the time a little. I closely monitor the radar each day. Please don't put too much stock in the forecast you may see for your time here. Our typical summer weather usually includes some pop up scattered storms during the day. More often then not these are widely scattered and seldom effect your session date. I do have to adjust times in the summer months, but rarely have to totally cancel. Decisions to cancel will be made by the photographer due to weather.  During the day of your scheduled session I will stay in close contact with you and give you as much notice as I possibly can about any changes in time. I can usually tell by about 2PM if we may need to adjust. This is my 18th year and I have gotten pretty good at forecasting the weather over the years!!LOL I want you to enjoy your vacation and let me worry about the weather. Just in case we get totally rained out on your session day I always try to leave Friday open as a make up night. Please keep in mind I rely on Radar and not the forecast. If you go by the hourly forecast it will make it sound like we have rain 24/7. This is not the case and why monitoring the radar gives a more accurate detail to what we can expect to actually happen.  
I also do morning sessions. In the prime summer months these are done about 6:30-7:00am. Because of how early it would be most people do opt for the evening sessions.
 

Contact me for discounts for large groups or Family Reunions. Please check out the Beach Sessions icon by hovering over Vacationer Beach Portraits to get most of the prices for sessions.