It was a birthday celebration. Diana and all 6 of their children decided to surprise their father John and throw a bash for his 70th! They have a beautiful home on the North end of Anna Maria Island and decided to use that stretch of the beach as the back drop for their family portrait. And what a back drop mother nature provided that night. We thought we may get rained out, but the buckets held off and the sky was spectacular.

Diana and John have 6 wonderful kids. All of them were there along with their spouses, fiance`s and kids. All of them were a pleasure to work with, not to mention kind and helpful. When you are 8 months pregnant and trapsing around the beach, it’s nice to have a little bit of help. There were so many moments where the sky was beautiful. We had moments of blues and purples, moments of dramatic light and a period of time where sky looked as if it were made of gold. I think my favorite shot though was of all the girls. Not a boring look on one of them. They are all so beautiful and their mom, Diana was setting the bar.

Pleasure to meet them all and I wish them all the very best. I hope to shoot John’s 80th birthday family photo.