Eugene, Lorene, Aaron, Brandon & Connor

With their two elder boys getting ready to leave home, it was important to Lorene and Eugene that they captured their last summer all together. They chose Cooper's Island because they had so many fond memories of spending time together there as a family, raising their three boys. We started off the shoot by including the beloved family dog, Dakota, in the photos. He is the glue to the family and will be a great companion to everyone left behind when the two older boys leave this fall. Luckily, he behaved just long enough for me to capture everyone together before he decided that his face would look much better completely covered in sand.

While Lorene and Eugene nipped home to drop off Dakota, I went off with the three boys to continue the shoot. I have to say, I was blown away by what polite, interesting and interested young men they were. They were eager to incorporate things that were important to their lives and to capture the essence of their family. Given they are teenage boys, this was a first time for me as usually I am met with HUGE amounts of resistance. And it just goes to show it is possible - not sure what Lorene and Eugene have been doing right, but I definitely want some tips for when my littles hit their teen years.

Aaron is 18 and off to university in the UK this autumn for the first time. He plans on studying business but I know he will do a lot more than that for he had a very creative and artsy way about him.. He loves music, cooking, entertaining and his friends.

Fourteen year old Brandon is the athlete of the family and is such an accomplished footballer, he has gone off to Spain to further his studies and play his favourite sport competitively. His parents tell me he is "Mr Cool Guy" and likes to laugh a lot and not take anything too seriously, though he is a loyal friend and a great listener.

Sweet Connor is still at school in Bermuda at only twelve years old. He is the baby of the family and is going to get loads of love now that he is an only child at home for the first time. Will make up for being a third child as a baby I bet! He also loves football and has an amazing memory with statistics about anything to do with football and cars. His mum jokes that he can be forgetful at times but sounds to me like it just needs to be a subject that fascinates him. He adores hanging with his brothers and a good meal so the holidays will be extra special from him in the future.

  

Thank you Lorene for giving me the opportunity to capture your beautiful family before the two older boys disappeared off to follow their dreams overseas. It was wonderful to meet you all and a joy to photograph such a loving family. Best of luck to you all in this new and changing year. xxx

Kenneth, Sharon, Aaron & Adrian

This was the first ever photo shoot for this family and they felt it was long overdue. Sharon turned forty a few months earlier and decided they might as well do it now before she and Kenneth turned into legitimately "old" people, though my feeling is that will not be happening any time in the near future! It took a lot of convincing the three boys in her life to come out and pose for photos for they felt it was such a "girl" thing to do, but I think once on the shoot, they realised it was more about capturing some real moments and having fun as a family. Apparently Kenneth felt awkward during the shoot, and Sharon was praying this did not translate in the photos, but I felt none of that and just think he looks gorgeous! The boys were a little shy at first too, but by the end, they all were pros at being themselves and hopefully it was a fun enough experience to do again!

These two have a great relationship with each other. They spend all of their free time together playing make believe games or video games. Aaron is a fierce defender of his little brother in the school yard and very protective and nurturing. Adrian looks up to Aaron, who can do no wrong in his eyes and the brothers have a lovely way together.

Aaron's life ambition is to be a professional footballer and play for Real Madrid and he and his little brother are often found kicking the ball around outside together.

Adrian is most happy on days when there is no school, when he can sleep in and when he does get up, spend the day playing video games and eating chocolate!

The family chose Cooper's Island for the shoot location as it is their favourite beach location and they have spent many a happy time out there in the remote paradise.

Thank you all for such a gorgeous shoot - the weather was delicious, the setting exquisite and all of you just such fun and open to all my ideas - I think it paid off and Sharon, I can't believe that if you want to do another shoot, that your boys will give you such a hard time next session given how great they all look in these photos. All the best to you xxx