I’ve been dreaming up this shot for over a year.

I was inspired by a photo I saw a while back of a little girl floating on a raft. It was so beautiful that I knew I wanted to create my own version with my children. I do a lot of family photography for my clients, but not enough my of my own family. I talked it over with my husband and he agreed to build me the raft of my dreams.

He worked countless hours building and refining the boat. He’s all about the details and it comes through when you see the beatuty in the craftsmanship of this vessel. One of the details he was most concerned with and what saved us in the end was the assembly and disassembly when on site. We needed to be able to put it in our car, drive it to the beach, assemble it there, and launch it by ourselves. It worked flawlessly.

After a few test drives in our friend’s pool, we set a date to make it happen. We woke up at 6am on a weekend to catch the sunrise, got the kids ready, packed the car and set out to the beach. On our way over the causeway, I noticed the colors in the sky where I had originally planned to shoot were grey and that they were more beatiful at another location. We made a last minute adjustment to our location and parked our car.

The beach was deserted at this time as it was still before 7am. The assembly went smoothly and the kids were happy to be out on this beautiful morning. We launch the boat just before the sun came up and I started shooting. My husband was never far from the raft as you’ll see from the photos. We were only a few feet from shore and my husband was within steps of the raft at all times. There was a bit of wind and we were surprised that the sail caught wind and made the raft drift quickly. I chased the raft along the shoreline while my husband chased it in the water.

By the time the sun was up we worked out all the kinks, my camera settings were just how I wanted it, and my kids fel comfortable on the raft. I got the shot I had been dreaming up and we wrapped it up by 7:30am. I took a few more photos on the beach including the “happy dance” shot of my son when it was all over.

Everthing came together for this shot better then I could ever have execpted. I’m so thankful to my husnad for building the raft and my kids for knowing how much it meant to me and cooperating to get it right. Now I’m just waiting for my giant canvas to arrive so I can display it proudly in my home.

I encourage all other photographers out there to step outside their comfort zone and do something for yourself creatively not just for your clients. I promise you won’t regret it and will probably create art that you will cherish forever.