Topsail Island Vacation Tips, Photo Sessions, Inspiration, and other Fun Stuff.
This sweet family is just delightful! They live in Maryland, and Mama has been traveling to Topsail Island since she was a kid. We are so fortunate to have so many dedicated families visiting our beaches year after year!
They are due with another little girl this fall, and wanted to get maternity and family portraits done before their older daughter started back to school.
We had so much fun capturing this precious time in their lives together.
Read MoreWe love Beach Babies! We were thrilled to offer baby milestone packages on the beach this year, and each portrait session came with our wooden heritage wall art.
This little guy also got to use our new castaway raft, made in a petite size just for our littlest clients. He was 10 months old, and because of Covid, his family was eager to get a milestone portrait session for him before his 1st birthday.
Read MoreWe’ve been so busy wrapping up summer vacation season and moving right along to fall that I realized we really haven’t spent enough time sharing all the beautiful families we’ve had the honor to document.
This amazing crew came to Topsail in August from Maryland, and we’re so glad they did. The two older brothers were home from college, and little sister was about to start 2nd grade when she returned home.
The weather was perfect that evening, and the light was absolutely glorious.
Read MoreTis the season!
Well, almost anyway! It is the season for photographers to begin offering their holiday sessions though!
This year we will again offer our Driftwood Christmas Tree with our family sessions. These will be included with all our fall family beach sessions upon request. The driftwood was all pulled from the beach in Topsail after Hurricane Florence…
Read MoreThere are so many gorgeous locations for photographs on Topsail Island—we put together a list of our favorites to share with all the visitors we get here. We are lucky to have such a variety of public owned spaces to choose from here. So, here you go— the BEST places to take photographs or have your photos taken at:
Read MoreWe had the sweetest family reach out to us last month. Mom wanted family beach sessions while they were on vacation at St. Regis in North Topsail Beach. They had vacationed here for the last 2 years and she wanted portraits made at the northernmost point of the island. She contacted a few days before they left and was so excited we could accommodate her that Monday. The great thing about vacation beach photography is that usually, you have WEEKDAYS available, which makes it a lot easier to work with during a busy summer when weekends are often booked up far in advance. She was so excited, and we had so much fun!
Read MoreThis past spring, we created a fancy little tea party for our 3 year old. We dressed her up, got out our favorite tea set, bought a strawberry cake, and set up a sweet little soiree for her to enjoy outside. We told her that if she could enjoy playing with her tea set, Mommy would take pictures, and when she saw the finished portraits later on something magical might happen!
We invited a few fairies to her little tea party! She was soooo excited.
Not only did our little one have fun “playing” (and take a few directions lol) while I captured the moment, but then she got to go inside and have cake too. Win - Win!
Read MoreI’m no food blogger, and definitely no sophisticated foodie, but we have surely enjoyed some local sweets and have put together list of dessert and sweet shops in Surf City and Topsail Beach. This list is based almost completely on the opinions of our four children, so take that as a solid recommendation (or not, because: kids 🤣🤣).
Second disclaimer: I don’t like chocolate much at all, so don’t look to me for the best chocolate desserts in town! Flavors I like are usually fruity or vanilla, I also love tropical flavors and I’m here for anything salty-sweet. My husband and kids like chocolate though, so we’re not actively avoiding the world’s favorite flavor, I promise!
Read MoreINTRODUCING: Outdoor First Birthday Cake Smash Sessions (that are of course, properly socially-distanced)
We know how important this milestone is, and we know how much you want to document it professionally! We purchased a vintage wooden high chair from an antique dealer in Kinston, NC just for these sessions (there’s no direct route to Kinston from Surf City btw…and somehow we keep finding antique treasures there!). We also have a large wooden number 1 and a stand for it, as well as several cake toppers and ribbon banners —for both boys and girls.
Read MoreWhat do we WEAR?!? We get asked this all the time!!
We created a style guide not too long ago, and all the information there still applies, but we wanted to give everyone a few specific color palette ideas to work with. Ideally, we want every individual to stand out while still looking cohesive with the group so generally we discourage having everyone match exactly. The goal is to have everyone coordinate but still look like they belong together.
Read MoreSome of you may have been wondering why photographers keep dragging families out so late in the day—especially in the summertime when we tell you 7pm is best! (Sorry!) I know it’s late for littles, and husbands can get hangry (just mine?🤣), but there really is a method to our madness...
LIGHT.
Well we skipped right over spring somehow (2020 has been a YEAR, hasn’t it?)—and our summer beach vacation sessions are in full swing. Topsail Island has opened up and is ready to go, and what better place to practice proper social distancing than the beach!
Our first extended family session this season came in May, as the stay-at-home restrictions began to ease up. This beautiful group travels from Ohio most every year to vacation here with us. They had portraits taken under the Surf City Ocean Pier years ago, and now that the family has grown, they needed updated memories with all the new family members.
Read MoreIt is no secret that as a busy mom of 4 on top of running a photography business around the clock, something often has to slide—like blog posts! (and putting away the laundry hahaa). But I love sharing all my beautiful clients’ faces, as well as giving everyone a peek into what we do here at Beach Photo.
Read MoreOh my! Our unicorn sessions were simply magical!!
The sessions were held at Fowler’s Farm in Burgaw, NC, and we were so fortunate to have TWO gorgeous unicorns model with us. Bug, a miniature white pony, and Buttons and Bowties, a gorgeous caramel halflinger mare.
Read MoreWe’ve been hard at work prepping for this year’s busy season—it’s already here!—but this year, we decided we really needed a shiny, new website to show off all our clients’ beautiful faces. We are still keeping all our client galleries with our old web host, however, so you will find those here .
Read MoreBeach Vacation? Check! Family Photo Session while you're there? Booked! Now--What do we wear?!!? This is a question we get asked A LOT. Well, honestly--like any art form there are some general rules about what looks good for the camera, and what works out on the beach. However, like any art form, rules can be broken! That being said, there are some general guidelines that we offer to our clients, and they tweak those guidelines to their personal style accordingly. Beach Portraits are timeless, and those memories need to reflect both your good time AND your new golden glow!
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