This was our forth time to Anna Maria island with the Fothergill family. The second trip with Grayson and my first one with a wedding on either side of it. It was so much fun and like always, it passed way too quickly. Every year we try something new and this year it was having a rented golf cart to take us all over the island. I think we decided it was a keeper for years to come ha! Especially with ALL the things you need to carry to the beach with a little man. While we were there I got to take maternity pictures of Danay and Bryant. It was so special because in just a short two months, they will be welcoming Braylee Mae to their family. We are so excited for them and I am totally honored to capture some maternity photos to remember forever. Every year that we take this family beach trip, we always take family photos. I usually bring my tripod, put my camera on self timer and hop in the big group shots. But with the craziness of Amanda May Photos this June, I totally forgot my tripod. So all the photos that you see with everyone in them, I have balanced my camera on top of two metal stools from the rental house we were in, then a cooler on top of that and my strap meticulously folded up to balance the lens just perfectly. I have to say, it did a pretty good job all things considered! Also, another really crazy thing that happened with these pictures… when I got back from this trip (a day earlier than everyone else and with Grayson), I unloaded my camera bag, put all the memory cards on my desk and made sure I had enough for the next day’s wedding. After coming home from that wedding, my memory cards were completely full. I then had to travel two Nashville for two days that week and was prepping for a double header weekend the following weekend. Needless to say, I waited too long to sort through and format my cards for the double header. The morning of the wedding I was clearing cards off and as I scrolled through the pictures making sure it was good to format, I thought vacation pictures… oh yeah, downloaded those already, I can delete these two cards no problem… Then come Sunday morning, I’m looking on my computer for the Anna Maria images and they’re gone. Next thought oh no worries, I shot with dual cards so I have a .jpg copy on my SD cards sitting on my desk. Got back home and checked said SD cards and nothing. Apparently I deleted the SD card too. I went into panic mode. Started crying on Dustin… naming specific photos that were just SO good and I can’t believe I did something so stupid. He proceeds to be the amazing husband that he is and tell me that it’s fine! We still had the formal pictures (because I downloaded those to my laptop while we were still in FL and had a copy of them there) and that’s all we needed. But I was still so distraught. While I was getting ready that morning, it dawns on me that I had a data recovery software that Apple gave me a few years ago when they accidentally erased some files from my computer while they were working on it. So I dig that software out and start running deep scans on all my cards. You guys. God is so good, because I recovered every single one of them. So so so thankful I have these memories. Grayson’s Year 2 book would NOT be the same without our fabulous Anna Maria vacation!
Clients, don’t worry. I download every single one of my sessions/weddings as soon as I get home so this is impossible to happen. It’s just my personal pictures that I’m a little more careless with. Until now. Now I treat them like they are weddings and moments that only happen ONCE and they can’t be redone… because that’s exactly what they are. Grayson’s first FULL interaction with the beach… could never replace that.
I love this little shy grin he does.
There is no sense in trying to get him to smile for family photos anymore lol. I call it a win if he simply just looks in the general direction of the camera!
heart eyes, heart eyes, heart eyes all day.
That glow.
Aunt Nay and Uncle Bry Bry got the best smile out of him all evening!
A historical favorite with my person. 
Maternity pictures!!!!!!
Last day on the beach and him in those sunglasses is quite possibly my favorite thing on earth right now.
He loves shovels. 
Recreated this from an old picture of Mark and Dylana in the same exact kid chair! We would have had the same adult chair too but literally on this vacation it finally gave out and we had to trash it.
He’s watching daddy get him more water for his sand castles. 
This adventurous boy sat in this chair for a solid 5 minutes letting the waves come tickle his feet. 
Watching the fishing boats.
Home made peach and pedialite popsicle because this boy got SUPER sick just days before this vacation. 
Oh this face. I will never get tired of it.
Stud.
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