Santa Rosa Beach Photography: Family Friends

I am so excited to share this session with you all. Renee and Ryan have been featured on my blog a few times (here, and here.) Renee just so happens to be one of my best friends. She lives in Ohio with her awesome husband Ryan, but we both try to visit each other as much as we can. Last year was a big year for us both as we both welcomed a beautiful baby into the world. For myself it was my 5th child (4th birth) and for Renee and Ryan it was their first. They named their beautiful little girl Aria (you can see her debut here.) For this session Renee and I wanted to incorporate a little bit of the same feel from her maternity session. I brought out my underwater housing for her maternity shoot so I thought this session needed it as well. The weather and light were absolutely perfect. I really couldn’t have asked for better weather. The clouds were so puffy and perfectly placed, it just felt like a dream. It was pretty ideal. :) Aria loved the sand and the water. This was her first beach trip so it was a pretty big deal. She played with her doting Daddy and Momma, and they hung on her every smile and coo. I know I say this all the time, but this session felt like I was watching a fairytale. Instead of the typical ‘Happy Ending’ I get to watch the ‘Happy Beginning.’ I couldn’t ask for a better job.

I’ve been asked a few times about what underwater housing I use when doing beach photography, so I wanted to share that info with you all here too. My housing is actually discontinued now (sad I know!), but you can see the model here. I only use my Canon 5d MkII for my underwater photography as it isn’t my main camera body. I use a 28mm lens for my underwater housing gear. I bought that specifically for underwater photography thinking that I wouldn’t care too much if it were to get ruined in the water, but I absolutely love that lens. For the on land shots I used my Canon 5d MkIII with a combination of my 45mm Tilt shift, my 35mm 1.4, and my 70-200 2.8.