No See-Ums and other bad beach bugs

This past Monday was a gorgeous evening for a photo session, no rain, finally!, few clouds - warm, but not too warm. I had the pleasure of meeting this great family (Laurie booked this as a gift for her parents) at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, love that beach! It was going to be a picture perfect evening or so I thought, until we wandered onto the beach. The only thing we really needed this night was just a bit of wind to blow away the unbelievable force of bugs that were out, hungry, ready to eat my clients and me. Ok, so if no wind then we'll take the next best thing - bug spray, only what we had was not powerful enough! I don't think any amount of any spray was going to help! UGH - nothing better to ruin a session than to be eaten by nasty no see-ums and other flying little gnats. Here you can see everyone is miserable - there was a 5 month old baby boy who really didn't want any part of this session. I felt so badly for all of them. But they were troopers and tried to smile and pose for as long as they could and then we all broke for an itch fest! Everybody - scratch!!!!


All was not lost though as they gave it their best shot! We were able to get some wonderful images that I've put here for a sneak peek. Laurie and family are still on vacation - her Mom, Ann told me they have been coming to Eastham for many years during the July 4th week. So, it was important to preserve this precious time together.
I had hoped to do some candids of the boys playing, walking in the sand but the bugs chased everyone back to their cars as soon as the groupings were complete. However Ann has viewed many sunsets at First Encounter Beach and thought it a shame to waste not capturing it - I totally agreed!

So, Ann and Jerry braved the bugs once more and walked down to the water where this glorious sun was setting and making magic colors on the water behind them. Aren't they adorable? All in all it was a great evening - one that will be remembered by all! Thanks everyone for laughing, sitting still and hanging in to capture this special one and only moment.

p.s. keep fingers crossed for tonight as I'll be on the beach again - although I feel a breeze and I'm happy!