Here it is! The most important blog post I'll write all year! Anna's senior pictures...or at least the ones we took on Cumberland Island. I decided to do an entire post just from that weekend because there are so many other times we ended up taking pictures - in Atlanta and while on vacation on 30A - that a post that included all of those things would have been entirely too long! As it is, this one will be particularly image heavy because we had so many incredible pictures from the trip so it was difficult to narrow down which images to include but these are my personal favorites.
When we first started planning her session I knew I wanted to do at least one "over-the-top" outfit: a huge dress in an epic and unique location. I showed her about half a dozen options for dresses and asked her to pick her favorite. She chose this amazing green dress from designer Selkie which we bought from Free People. I knew immediately it would be an unforgettable experience to take her pictures on Cumberland Island at the Dungeness Ruins with the wild horses! It was once a mansion owned by the Carnegie family and family members are the people who run the only inn on the island and are the most amazing hosts who care well for every single person staying on the property. We stayed at Greyfield Inn two nights and she and I still can hardly believe what a perfect trip it was! We met such wonderful people and it was an experience I'll never forget!
I knew we wanted to stay overnight because this is a very popular tourist attraction and the only way to have the place to ourselves was to wait until after the last ferry left to take visitors back to St. Mary's. We also didn't want to risk the chance of rain ruining our plans so we needed to have a couple days to play with and it did end up raining very hard the second day we were there. We absolutely had to get this dress done with the ruins on the first day since it was the whole reason we came to the island. We knew if we got rained out for the other outfits it would be alright because they could be done another time at another location if necessary. But there's no other spot quite like this and now she has the most epic senior pictures ever! There were so many wild horses around the ruins and at the hotel the first day and I'm so thankful we were able to have this experience.
100% Real Images - Not AI - I Promise!
The first night it rained heavily and then steady rain in the morning on our last full day. We didn't stress about whether we would be able to take any more pictures; we just enjoyed the hotel grounds and laid in the swings on the front porch and watched hummingbirds arguing for space at the feeder over our heads. We knew we'd gotten the most important outfit done and we just wanted to enjoy our time together!
Later in the day, we could see that the weather might cooperate enough for us to be able to sneak in another quick session. So we decided to work in this two piece outfit. It was incredibly windy on the beach but we had the beach entirely to ourselves and the sky was absolutely breathtaking! We were able to take pictures for about half an hour and headed back to the hotel just as it started to rain again.
When we got these images back we were shocked how incredible the clouds look! Anna showed them to a friend who asked her, "Is that AI?!" They don't look real but I have the film negatives to prove they were! It was just THAT spectacular! It looks like a painting! I love film so much!
Senior Portraits at Sunrise on the Beach
Besides the ruins and the two piece outfit, one other thing Anna was hoping to do for her senior pictures was to take some at sunrise on the beach. She's an adventurous young woman who takes every opportunity to experience life to the fullest! (and here come the tears!) I don't know anyone else like her! She's kind and open-hearted. She selflessly gives her time to others and listens lovingly when someone is struggling in any way. She's empathetic and enthusiastic and she's curious, creative, and fun to be around. I tell people often that she's the kind of woman I wish most women could be like. I'm proud to be her mom and so excited for all the amazing things she's going to do and experience in the future!
At the end of the week, I'll be moving this beautiful young woman into her dorm and I'm not ready even though I know she's more than capable.
I love you, baby girl!
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