Catching Up: Sara's Senior Shoot

You know how the cobbler's children always go barefoot? It's pretty much true. My wonderful daughter graduates in a week and we finally made a plan to take some senior photos. I guess if nothing else they really capture the moment, as in almost the exact moment of her graduation, uh-huh. Is this where that old chestnut "Better late than never" will make me feel better? Why yes, it does, actually. And frankly, I was beyond thrilled and honored that she would even want me, her own mother, to do something so important and personal. I hadn't assumed she would and I thought about hiring one of my many talented pals, but then she asked me!

So, last Friday, because there was nothing else going on (just kidding-that was the day EVERYTHING was going on) Sara and I decided to run away to the coast of Delaware to take said senior photos. It was an original location, she loves the beach as much as I do, and it just felt like a good idea. The drive was an easy and fun 2 hours and we ended up in Lewes, DE in hopes that we would be able to get some west-ish facing coastline on that beautiful peninsula surrounded by both ocean and bay and thereby catch the sunset behind us. We were rewarded on that score. We were also rewarded with a fantastically perfect sky and the sight of kite-boarders all along the little cove where we ended up (that should have been a clue). We got there around 5pm, just as anyone who was enjoying a day at the beach was leaving, so we had the place mostly to ourselves.

We took a few shots with the sun still high in the sky and discovered that the kite-boarders had ideal conditions for what they wanted to do, but for us, one thing was not so spot-on: the HUGE winds that were whipping along the beach. Oh my goodness. I would estimate it was a constant 20 mile an hour situation.  Maybe more. (I'm right-I just checked. Sustained winds of 22 mph were recorded that day.) The ONLY saving grace is that the winds were blowing toward the west so when Sara stood with the sun at her back, the wind was nice enough to blow her hair back off her face. So, we did figure out how to get some nice shots.

Once we got our bearings, we decided to go get some DQ and a couple of sweatshirts while we waited for the sun to get a little lower and so had some lovely fast-food and shopping time together. We laughed at the great sundries available in beachy shops and enjoyed our Blizzards to the fullest. We ended up with snazzy new matching Lewes Delaware sweatshirts to remember the day by and keep us from freezing to death as the sun sank toward the sea and the winds continued strong.

About an hour before sunset, we headed back to the beach and went into full photo-shoot mode, complete with outfit changes, a curling iron plugged into the power converter in the car and trying to look warm and relaxed when you're actually freezing. It was fabulous. Then, because I had another photo shoot scheduled at 8 the next morning, we turned around and DROVE HOME. Yes. It really was that kind of day.

But really, even if we hadn't gotten a single decent shot, or we'd had to drive 8 hours to and from, I will always remember this day with my girl. We had FUN together, complete with laughter, easy conversations and even some comfortable silences. This has not always been so for she and I, so it matters that this was a sweet memory from start to finish. She handled the issue of the wind with good humor, a sense of adventure and patience. We were in perfect harmony about poses and hair and how to work the shots. At the end, as the sun was going down, I stopped and took a whole sequence of shots and then turned around to see her capturing the same beauty on her camera. That made me so happy.  We spent 8 hours together and every minute of it was pleasant and companionable. I'm not sure you can really imagine what a beautiful thing it is for me to write those words.

I'm so glad she's not leaving just yet for a far-away university. It feels just right to have her home with me for a little while longer.

by the dunes we had some relief from the wind. 

Sunset over the Delaware Bay