What photographer in her right mind would plan a session for midday with harsh light? Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

I walked the beach at noon the day before this shoot. There were the most amazing (and unusual for Vero Beach) tidal pools, just begging for a photography session.  The idea germinated. I absolutely had to have children running, playing, and moving within the tidal pools.  Of course there were no guarantees the ocean would actually provide these pools the next day, but in an optimistic approach, I did check the tides and plan the shoot for the appropriate time.

But children in bathing suits at the beach? Pretty ordinary. Fun, yes, but ordinary.

Why not take these precious little girls and dress them up? Why not a swirling, flowing dress at the beach?  I became excited.

Luckily, the mom in question was happy to accommodate me.  Katie, the older of the two, was delighted. Dress up and twirling are right up her alley. I had to do a little convincing with Anna. She doesn’t really enjoy wearing frills for any occasion, so why would I take away the joy of the beach and make it a dress up event? She wasn’t really onboard, but with some gentle persuasion, she agreed to give it a try for just a few minutes. I think from her expressions in the photos she had quite a good time. But she did insist on bringing a wetsuit “just in case.”

I find when I can envision a photo before the shoot, it usually turns out really well.

And now I had a plan. The gorgeous environment, two beautiful little girls in party dresses, hmmm… let’s see. Props, we needed props.  No one who really knows me will be surprised that I came up with flowers.  But they couldn’t just be beachy, tropical, Florida flowers. No hibiscus allowed!  Too predictable.  So I grabbed a bunch of multicolored roses, popped the thorns off, and gave each child three roses to play with as she saw fit. 

Nothing is quite so much fun as dancing in the tidal pools with twirling skirts and roses!

Nothing is quite so much fun as drowning a rose in your submerged party dress.

And no sand castle is quite the same as one topped with a rose.

Oh, and about the “inappropriate light?” I got quite lucky. A nice cloud cover gave me the soft, muted light that was just perfect for this project.