Family Session at Terrapin Nature Park

Danger Will Robinson! Our walls have been breached! I repeat, our sand castle walls have been breached. The ocean water has destroyed the outer walls and has plans to to invade the inner structure. Fall back!! Oh wait, no. That's the toddler insider threat trying to take residence in the sand castle - or what appears to be an attempt at one.

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We had a lot of fun at the Terrapin Nature Park. My daughter finds it amusing when I personify things like the sun or ocean waves and water. When the sun is bright and blinding her eyes, I tell her the sun is giving her hugs and kisses. Lots of kisses. When we're driving on the road with a mix of shade and sun, I say the sun is playing hide and seek. She giggles and makes it a game. So, when we were engineering our sand castle (aka giant ant mound), I thought it fitting to pretend the water had full malicious intent to disassemble our hard work. We did end up having to move our “sand castle” higher up the shore since I wasn't wearing a bathing suit and a particularly enthusiastic wave got my shorts wet.

This wasn't our first family trip to Terrapin Nature Park. We went the previous summer for professional photos, wearing the blues and ivories to match the scenery. At the time, we had a cute 15lb dachshund-jack russell terrier mix and Terrapin Nature Park is one of those rare dog friendly public beaches. The beach being smaller and a longer walk from the parking lot makes it less popular than Sandy Point State Park. The parking lot is also relatively small, so the beach at Terrapin remains less crowded. To top it off, Terrapin is a Nature Park. There are lovely backdrops throughout the park. For our family, we had recently lost our lovely lap dog and went back to Terrapin this round in fond memory of our dog. 

The people were incredibly friendly and ultra patient with our daughter. There's something about toddlers in the heart of their terrible 2s and 3s that make people smile fondly as a toddler proceeds to cause chaos and stumble through life. The moment we see those chubby cheeks, our brain turns to mush and we have impulses to be kind, empathetic, and understanding of the parents’ lives. It truly takes a village to raise a child. I, myself, take pictures with abandon as if the chubby cheeks will disappear overnight and my daughter will be all grown up and I will only have pictures to remember her by. I can see myself being the old lady who pours over faded pictures thinking Father Time moved too fast. 

Perhaps not so subtle is how many pictures I post of my daughter. Even with that, I only get perhaps 10-30 good photos with each outing, which could last 2+ hours. I try to take photos when she's distracted and spend the rest of my time spending it with her. These moments are so precious and time passes by so fast like the grains of sand falling through our hands at the beach. 

I'm clearly on team family photos and am passionate about preserving the family moments and want to do just that for others. People deserve to have a good photo on their desk at work. To gush over that photo, recharge looking at it, and smile telling stories to coworkers… doting parents unite with their family photos! 

Let's circle back to the beach, though. The sand at Terrapin Nature Park is like a nice creme color, but I always feel like professional beach photos up the exposure or make sand look paler than it is. My memory of a white sand beach at Boracay in the Philippines was filled with constant paranoia that I'd be roasted. I have a slight tan and don't sunburn easily, and that white beach was like a natural foil oven. Beautiful for sure, but I was getting direct sun, reflected sun off the sand (because white reflects light), heat from the sand, and reflections off the water. I smeared on 100 spf sunscreen and just prayed I didn't miss a spot. I think I spent 5 min in the water before retreating back to the shade. 

So, when I went to edit the Terrapin beach photos, I wanted to bring out more of the browns and warm notes in the sand. It’s not a white sand beach and I, for one, was glad about that (the sand further up the shore was still worthy of playing “the floor is lava”). I also wanted an ever so slight matte look to give it a nostalgic feel. Our family heritage stems from various islands and beaches have a special place in our hearts. The beach brings many sensations. The smell of the ocean, the salty taste in the air, the cool soft breeze over the shore, the feel of the sand between our toes, and the immense love for the ocean. It's so far reaching and is home to so much life. I didn't do the beach full justice in my photos, but I hope I get an A for effort. 

These images are a toast to our old dog, Suzu, and a toast to the ocean.