This one is personal. This one is about my girl, Frankie.
My girl, who will turn 5 next month, but today, I’m throwing it back to when she turned 3. Back to one of my most favorite sessions I’ve ever done!

Our little family, this sweet, blue-eyed girl, her daddy and I, took a special birthday trip to Carolina Beach, North Carolina. It was our first time visiting that area and we absolutely loved it!

Every year, I try to decide on a new idea for Frankie’s birthday pictures. This time I knew we had to do a beach session since usually we’re in the mountains of Western North Carolina and don’t get to have beach pictures very often. I started looking online for styling inspiration and fell in love with the idea of a simple, yet elegant dress and, of course, a tiara! Because what 3-year-old little girl doesn’t want to wear a tiara on the beach, in the car, in the house, in the bath, to the grocery story, and well, you get the idea.

I found this gorgeous dress and tiara on good ol’ Amazon. Shocking, I know. As soon as I saw the dress, I knew it would be absolutely perfect! Now came the decision on what time of day to shoot this special session. On the beach sunset or sunrise are ideal. Please hear me when I say, We. Are. Not. Morning. People. I was blessed with a child who loves her sleep just like her Mama and I’m never going to complain about that because when all of you other mamas were over there waking up with your babies at 6am, I was sleeping until 8 or 9 with my 3-month-old. Yes, I’m bragging, and no, I’m not ashamed. But this does prove to be a problem on the rare occasion that we must force ourselves to be early-risers. Enter the dilemma. Sunset on Carolina Beach in June is probably somewhere around 8pm (i.e. bedtime). Sunrise at the beach in June is approximately 5:45am. Anyone with a toddler knows you aren’t getting good pictures of your child at bedtime. Anyone with my child (ahem, me) knows I’m not getting good pictures of her at 5:45am. Thankfully, I also know that my child is easily excited. She loves life and everything about it! This trait becomes very beneficial at times such as these. I hyped her up the night before by telling her how fun it was going to be to walk down to the beach before the sun came up. And she believed me. Phew!

This time at Carolina Beach during this sunrise session with my little girl was so magical! What incredible memories we made during that little bit of early morning together. I remember the chill hitting our faces. How cool the water was on our feet. The excitement that we were up before anyone else, including the sun! And I just watched her through my lens, her wonder as she watched the waves turn to foam on her feet. Her laughs and smiles. Even her cries, because let’s be real, she was 3, there were gonna be some tears. As I watched her, I was just in awe of this beautiful creation. This gift that was given to me and her Daddy after so many years of hoping and praying for her. After so many years of having her name picked out and never giving up the hope that she would join us one day. This beautiful girl was no longer a baby, yet still she was my baby.

I am so grateful for the gift of photography. That I discovered a passion for it so many years ago and that I’m now able to create these beautiful memories of my family. It’s been a while since I’ve looked through the pictures from this session, but they are so meaningful to me and they are tied to so many memories that I hope will never leave.

If you’re dreaming of a sunrise beach session—whether for your family or a special milestone—I’d love to help you capture it.
Carolina Beach and beyond, I’m always up for early morning magic. And yes, I love to travel!