Destination Family Portraits – Lanikai Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

You gotta love it when a family is willing to miss the second half of the Super Bowl to drive to the beach for some photos. I, for one, didn’t even realize that I scheduled a session on Super Bowl Sunday until just a few days prior! Alison, Caleb, and family were visiting from California, and they only had a few days available to shoot. After looking at my calendar, Sunday afternoon was the only slot I had free. Fortunately, I missed the Super Bowl last year — for the first time since I can remember. So, I guess I’m getting used to missing it. lol

Alison happens to be Daphne’s cousin, and that kind of connection always helps to develop rapport when meeting a destination client, or any client for that matter. I never met this family before Sunday, and yet I felt like I already knew them.

Initially, I had another location in mind, but on Saturday I told Alison that Lanikai beach might work better. It turned out to be a great idea, because by then they had already seen the rest of the island.

When we hit the beach, the kids just started to play, and it never ended. Photographing children is an action sport, I tell you. When you look at the photos, I think you’ll have no doubt that they had fun.

A classic moment was when the little guy, for whatever reason, started to run for the hills. After a few hurried — and unbalanced — steps, however, he found his face buried an inch or more in sand. I actually put my camera down, thinking he’d be embarrassed. But when Alison prompted me, I just had to get a few shots. Fortunately, all it takes is a few Goldfish crackers to get a kid back on his feet.

All I can say is that this was one session worth missing the Super Bowl for. 🙂

P.S. I did watch the first half, and then watched it on DVR later that night.