Motion & Sound at the Beach | A Family Film with Photos

Motion and sound. Two things that a photograph can suggest, but never show.

This dawn session at Rodeo Beach was unique in so many ways. For one, it was a combined family session. Mom, Dad, and their two young kids met up with Dad’s cousin — 36 weeks pregnant — and her partner. Six people, one morning, one stretch of dark sand at the edge of the Marin Headlands.

This was no attempt to squeeze a maternity session into a family session. It was an honest Saturday morning for this crew. They are close, a unit. Kids happily held or picked up after a fall by any one of the four adults. Community parenting. The kind that’s getting harder to find.

And that’s what we were looking to capture.

The other thing that made this session different: Sean was there. This was the first time I’d had a videographer alongside me for a family session — working in tandem, crafting a film and a photo gallery that feel cut from the same cloth.

From petting crabs to eating sand to quiet moments connecting with the third child soon to be added to this crew — we were after a feeling. Lots of them. Love and softness and adventure and family.