I have photographed beaches all over the world during my short 21 year career as a photographer.  No beach presents more artistic options than Tybee Island, Georgia.  I know I am a little biased since I could have created this portrait from my veranda.   I love Tybee for many other reasons than that just happens to be the location of my “on location” bungalow.  This family must agree since they traveled from the beautiful beaches of Florida to Tybee for me to photograph them. 

God really shined down on them with perfect weather and a beautiful sunset.  The main image here is a large canvas gallery wrap portrait which will become the centerpiece of their beautiful home.  We are booking beach portraits now at Tybee or of course at the beach of choice that is most special to your family.

Look forward to seeing you at the beach soon!

We have had a great few days enjoying the beach and photographing clients.  We even had clients drive up from Florida to be photographed at Tybee - isn’t that wonderful?  The weather has been amazing.  The bugs late afternoon have been a little troublesome - but perfect sunsets and beautiful light have made it worth the agitation of the pesky bugs.

Today we were joined at the beach by twenty photographers all members of the Georgia Professional Photographers Association for an afternoon seminar on beach photography.  The seminar was taught by two highly sought after beach photographers - David Miller of Miller Photography located in St. Simons Island, and Steve Jeffords.  The meeting was put together by Sally Jackson of Carpe Diem studio in Savannah along with Vance Garnto our area director from Dublin. 

We had a great afternoon filled with food, fellowship and learning from two very talented photographers.  Edie Grace volunteered to help out as the child model for session on the beach.  She did so well!  DeWayne and I were very proud of her! 

It was a great day for photography on the beach apparently.  While we were shooting we encountered 10 other photographers shooting clients.  So that made 30 photographers on Tybee in one afternoon all in one spot.  There seems to be no shortage of photographers these days that is for sure!

I really haven’t thought about how neat it is to have TWO double neighbors.  But I do have two.  Here at the studio, on East Main Street, we are neighbors with the Strickland’s who own H&R Block across the street and with the Parker’s who own Parker Realty right next door.  In addition to them being East Main neighbors we are also neighbors at Tybee and we almost always go at the same time.  Pretty neat, huh?

This weekend was a very special weekend for Mrs. Strickland.  Forty five years ago she graduated from West Virginia University and was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.  At graduation these Alpha Phi’s made a pact to get together every five years.  This year they meet at Tybee, Island, Georgia at the Strickland’s condo.  What a great tradition!

I was honored to get to meet and photograph this wonderful group of girls this weekend.  They could not ask for better weather.  It was so hard to leave the beach to come back to reality today.

Included in the picture (not in order) is: Judy Auld Strickland - Statesboro, GA, Helen Brown Dotson - Lewisburg, WV, Bonnie Derr Landis - Front Royal, VA, Judy Fisher Montjoy - Winston-Salem, NC, Lee Hall Drowne Pearman - Pulaski, VA, Elinor Hamill Fries - Coppell, TX, Sandi Reed Mitchell - Kettering, OH, Sue Slaven Thomas - Stoughton, MA, Ann Wallace Strader - Mt. Lebanon, PA, and Nancy White - Canal Winchester, OH

  This weekend we enjoyed attending, as guests, the wedding of a beautiful young couple Rebecca Stone and Ryan Hooker.  It is so hard to see another our friends daughters growing up and getting married.  It certainly reminds us of how fast time is passing.  The wedding ceremony could not have been more beautiful and the reception was magical.  We have known Rebecca most of her life.  Ryan is a new addition to us.  He is a very special young man who probably has no clue how lucky he is to snag Rebecca.  This is certainly a couple we will have our eyes on.  God has blessed them and will continue to bless them in remarkable ways!

Our history with Rebecca’s parents, Kenny and Julie Stone, stretches most of my adult life.  Kenny and Julie have built a very successful law practice in Statesboro.  They have both been very active civically in our community.  Most of the industrial growth in Bulloch County has Kenny’s thumb print all over it.  Kenny served as chair of the development authority during its most successful years.  Always ready to step up to the next challenge in our community - Kenny is currently serving as a member of the local Board of Education.  I am certain one day, when he and Julie finally have a completely empty nest Kenny will step up to a higher civic calling.  Maybe the Senate or Congress - who knows?  Whatever path he chooses - we will all be better because of it.

(Edie Grace had a blast keeping the dance floor warm!  At six - dad had a tuff time keeping up with her.)

Kenny and Julie have nominated, encouraged and supported DeWayne and I in many community and civic ventures.  In fact, they nominated us for Leadership Georgia year after year until we finally made the cut.  For this we will be forever grateful! 

One of our most unforgettable experiences with Kenny and Julie was the night that we were given the responsibility to take them to dinner.  Little did they know how special this dinner would be.  That night our community named Kenny our “Citizen of the year!”  It was a very special night that we will never forget.

Kenny and Julie were one of the first people we called the night I was diagnosed with cervical cancer.  Julie cleared his calendar the following day and they spent an entire day with us making sure all of our legal documents were in order.  I can remember how numbing that news of the diagnosis was and how comforted I was to hear their voices of support.  I knew when we left their office that day - no matter what happened to me physically - my business, along with DeWayne and Edie Grace, would be taken care of thanks to Kenny’s guidance and legal wisdom.

At 32, things like wills, trusts, estates, executors, etc. can be more overwhelming and chilling than being diagnosed with cancer.  They guided us through this with ease and compassion.  In times like these it is so wonderful to know folks like them.

Our prayer tonight is that Rebecca and Ryan are showered with blessing from the seeds sown by their parents - doubled by their enthusiasm and contagiously positive outlook on life!

A few years ago we created some of my favorite beach portraits of their family.  I am sharing a few of these here.

By: Michelle Meyers Smeltzer - Savannah

Three summers ago, Lori created a beautiful beach portrait at Tybee that touched our families lives.  In this special portrait taken of us you see such a wonderful loving Mother and Father/Husband and Wife/Daughter and Son/Grandmother (MeMe) and Grandfather (Papa) .

Just last August, that same portrait that has brought so much joy to all of us was displayed at my Father’s funeral on August 12, 2007.  Dad’s death was a tragic loss which has devastated us but thanks to Lori we have an incredible portrait that reminds us daily of his special love for each of us.  The love, creativity and beauty captured by Lori in this portrait speaks for itself.  Upon Dad’s death, one of my first calls was to Lori who so kindly forwarded a gift size copy of our cherished portrait to be placed in his casket so that it would be sent to heaven with him.  I could not have ever asked for anything more special to me than the portrait of my Mom and Dad captured by Lori and the love that is shown. Thank you for Lori for allowing me to share how special this portrait is as words can’t even begin to describe how dear it is to me.

Thank You,
Michelle

This weekend we accepted the invitation to go “camping” with a long time client.  Last week their first daughter celebrated her fourth birthday and three days later their second daughter celebrated her first birthday.  Mom thought it would be fun to create their family portrait and their daughters one and four year portraits in a place that is very special to their family.  When creating legacy portraits I often challenge clients to think about selecting a location that is very special to them. Legacy portraits are created and designed to become the centerpiece of a room and in most cases the entire home.  These portraits also will certainly become a priceless heirloom passed down for generations to enjoy.   Of course clothing is important - but location can really add to the sentimental value of the portrait. 

This trip was just that.  We traveled to a very special spot to mom and dad.  The property has been in mom’s family since she was a little girl.  It is located on the coast of Georgia.  Mom has many, many wonderful memories growing up spending many fun filled weekends at the coast.  Mom and dad have been coming here since they were dating.

They have not built a home on the property and being somewhat adventurous they enjoy camping out. This spot is perfect for that.  So we loaded up their Airstream camper and headed to the coast.  The weather was perfect and this was indeed a different adventure for us.  Those of you who know me well understand that my idea of camping is staying in a hotel that does not have 24 hour room service.  In fact, I dream of the day that I can have a “whenever/whatever” button on my phone.  My favorite hotel group is the W-Hotel.  This hotel chain has created an experience so amazing that simply going to stay in the hotel is a destination in itself.  One of their many wonderful services is the “whatever/whenever” service.  They pride themselves in doing whatever it takes to make your stay memorable and enjoyable.  Believe me - they do a magnificent job with this.

  Since they have not viewed the portraits yet, I will not share them here at this time - but I will show you a few images so you can appreciate how far I will go to create the PERFECT portrait for you.

We traveled by boat to St. Catherine’s Island for some of the images.  Edie Grace, DeWayne and I had a wonderful time with this incredibly special family.  They really do have a little piece of heaven there.  We are grateful that we were allowed into their world for a few hours.

I don’t think I will be purchasing an Airstream any time soon - but I have to admit - it was much more comfortable than I imagined.

Stay tuned for some phenomenal portraits from this weekend.

Big Sister Grace Hannah really wanted her portrait on the beach. (See Sea Island Summer Fun post) The storm had moved in and the wind was raging - however Mom and I LOVED this fun image.  We knew with better weather we could really create a perfect portrait of her.  We went over on another day to grandma’s house at Tybee and captured this image again just before the storm moved in.  This family really needs to outsource their rain attraction abilities to local farmers.  As the rain, moved in and I was preparing to leave - Grace Hannah, Hudson and Malone settled in on grandma’s sofa to watch a little TV.  I captured this image as they enjoyed snuggling together watching TV at Grandma’s.  OK here it comes another rush of memories of days filled with fun at grandma’s.  I will spare you another walk down memory lane.  One other interesting point however, the sofa they are sitting on is the same sofa mom was on when I created her bridal portrait.  Isn’t life good?

I have been photographing these adorable boy’s family since their mom was in college.  As I was preparing to photograph their entire family on the beach (18 total) at Sea Island - Hudson and Malone simply could not wait to get on the beach.  There was a tremendous storm brewing and the light was shifting on me fast.  With 16 people patiently waiting for me - I captured these images of these two adorable little boys.  They were transformed watching the sea, inhaling the smell of the ocean and feeling the cool breeze of the incoming tide.  The emotion and memories of all my wonderful fun trips to the beach as a child come flooding back to me as I captured this image.  My family went to the beach every summer.  It always seemed like the drive took forever.  Now when I get together with my two younger step-brothers, somehow we always end up talking about a summer memory from the week we spent each summer at the beach.  My wish for each family that allows me to create beach portraits is that the portraits will become catalysts for expressing those same type memories over the years.  I wish we had hired a photographer to capture my Granny and Great Grandfather on the beach…Granny in her wheelchair, enjoying the beach like she was 10 again!  As a kid, I couldn’t fully appreciate what a blessing it was to have “great”-grandparents especially ones that were still healthy enough to go travel to the beach.  I also wish that I had portraits of the whole family.  By the time DeWayne and I got married, several of those family members had gone on to Heaven-so we missed out on them being in our wedding portraits. 

No matter where the summer has taken you and your family, I can bet your kids have packed a few special memories in their hearts.  Isn’t it fun to wonder about just what memories they will share with their kids someday?  I glad you are making sure they will have snapshots and portraits to “jog” their memories.  Life is good…enjoy the journey!