Stover Family - Outer Banks Family Photography at Avalon Pier

When you vacation on the Outer Banks, sometimes Mother Nature has her own plans.

The Stover family of four was scheduled for a beach portrait session, but a line of rain showers was making its way toward us. Rather than take our chances later in the day, we decided to move the session up to 2:00 in the afternoon and make the best of the changing weather.

Normally I recommend photographing families during the hour before sunset, but one of the advantages of the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills is that it provides beautiful shade throughout the day. We began underneath the pier where the light was soft and even, creating a perfect setting for their standing family portraits without anyone having to squint in the afternoon sun.

As the clouds continued to build, we moved beside the pier for the seated portraits in the sand. The overcast sky actually gave us a beautiful, soft light that worked wonderfully for those relaxed family photographs.

The Stovers were a family of four with Mom, Dad, a senior daughter, and a freshman son. Since their daughter is entering her senior year, we also spent some extra time creating a collection of senior portraits while we were there. The pier offered incredible leading lines and beautiful backgrounds, giving her images a completely different feel from the family photographs. Her younger brother wasn't about to be left out either, so we captured a few portraits of him as well.

One of my favorite parts of this session is that it shows there is almost always a way to work with the weather instead of against it. By adjusting our start time and using the shelter of the pier, we were able to create a full gallery of portraits before the rain arrived.

Congratulations to your senior as she begins an exciting new chapter! Thank you, Stover family, for trusting me to capture this season together. I hope these photographs become treasured memories for many years to come.

If you're planning a vacation and looking for an Outer Banks family photographer, I'd love to help you create beautiful beach portraits whether you're staying in Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Duck, Corolla, or anywhere along the OBX. Sometimes a little flexibility with the weather leads to some of the most memorable photographs of all.