A gorgeous sunrise on Folly Beach with The Kruegers

I have been friends with this family since before they were actually a family, Jen was a neighbor of our for years. Our neighborhood is a pretty tight clan, with cookouts and pool meetups, all the things, especially during covid. We've shared some amazing memories with her and Matt as they dated and got married. I had the honor of capturing their maternity session, Ainsley's first birthday in which she screamed at her cake, LOL, and a few other family sessions through out the seasons. The moved just up the road but I'm still happy every time I run into them or when I catch Jen's instagram stories to see Ainsley twirling, playing with bubbles, etc. There's something so special to me about watching a family grow, it's really my WHY in photography, too. I love creating meaning relationships, I love hearing about your kids milestones, I love celebrating your promotions and big life accomplishments! So, to capture their family again for sunrise on Folly had my leaping out of bed well before the sun came up. 

Jen did an amazing job planning her outfits for this session, she actually started with herself (which is the best recommendation I can give!) and from there actually found a link for "mommy and me" matching dresses based on the color she selected. The internet and Pinterest are truly wonderful resources, I've also found Google Lens to be pretty amazing as of lately too. By starting with herself, she was able to find an off the shoulder style dress in the perfect color and fit, something that she knows she'll wear again, and was both super comfortable and flattering. The off the shoulder look is awesome for sunrise when we have some calmer winds, but had we been doing sunset I probably would have brought some double sided tape because I swear, when it's windy it's impossible to keep these tops in place. Ainsley's dress was actually a smidge too big, but with some artful safety pinning in the back she was able to bring it up just enough so it wasn't a tripping hazard. But that floral print and color, so perfect on her! And I don't want to leave out Matt, as you can see, he's looking pretty stud like in his light pink button down and khakis. Men can always rock pink!

Jen told me this silhouette is definitely a contender as one of her absolute favorites from the session. Sunrise is actually the only time I'm really able to accomplish an awesome silhouette since we're on the east coast. That's not to say that there aren't some locations in Charleston where it's doable, but our beaches here always have lots of houses and high dunes so when the sun sets to the west it makes it super hard to actually get a silhouette. 

We met at my favorite spot on the East Side of Folly Beach, SC. This spot at low-ish tide is the most amazing place for both sunrise and sunset portraits and I highly recommend it for all my clients who want something quiet, and love the textures. We had a super hazy sunrise which worked in our benefit to capture some amazing color in the sky as they danced, ran back and forth to the water, and watched the pelicans fly over the ocean. I always start my clients off with the more posed, smiling, prompted portraits because even when kids are in a great mood they will inevitably get distracted by the ocean and want to play. And while that is totally fine by me, I want to accomplish your wall-worthy portraits FIRST while I have everyone's attention. Towards the end, Ainsley was having an absolute blast entertaining herself throwing sand back into the ocean so it allowed us grown ups to even catch up a little bit. 

And as always, if you're joining me for a sunrise session there is no better excuse to also have an amazing breakfast to follow! Jen, Matt and Ainsley enjoyed a breakfast at Lost Dog after there session but in season there are lots restaurants open for breakfast like Rita's, Taco Boy and Center Street Coffee.