Senior Photo Fun with Natalie on the Beach at Normandy Park

I was contacted by Natalie’s mom Karen in late September.  She and Natalie were going to be traveling to the Seattle area in late October from their home in the Napa area in California.  Karen had found some of my senior photo sessions online, and wondered if I might be available to do Natalie’s senior photos while they were here.  We compared calendars and it looked like the dates would work.  So we agreed to talk as the date got closer and we had a little better idea what the weather looked like.  Not much fun having a senior photo session in the rain!

Natalie is passionate about Marine Biology, and hoped to capture some of this love in her photo session.  I grew up in a family that spent a LOT of time either on the water in boats or spending time near the water, and I know many of the Puget Sound beaches in the Seattle area very well.  So Karen and I traded lots of emails regarding possible locations for the session, as well as the best time of day to give us good beach access.  After some discussions about the best beaches we decided on the Cove at Normandy Park, which has a large tide flat area when the tide is low.  When I looked at the tide tables for the time frame that Natalie would be in town it was clear that the lowest tides would be soon after sunrise.  Karen and Natalie thought that sounded good so we were ready to go.

Lots of Fog!

As the day approached the Seattle area experienced an unusual amount of foggy conditions, with visibility at SeaTac airport being less than 1/4 mile some mornings.  Thick fog would not be conducive to a great photo session, so I was a little concerned.  Natalie would only be in town for a few days for our window for photos was small.

The morning of the session, when I started the drive to Normandy Park it was still quite dark and there was also a lot of fog.  As I approached SeaTac airport (a couple of miles from the Cove) the fog was so thick that traffic on the freeway was only traveling at ~40MPH.  Not what I was hoping for!  But as I drove the final mile down the hill to the beach at the Cove, the fog began to lift.  Still very heavy overcast and visibility over the water was only a mile or two, but not so foggy as to be a problem.

When I pulled into the parking lot Karen was waiting there at her car.  Natalie was already out on the tide flats doing some exploring, and seeing what kinds of marine life she could locate in the tide pools.

The Photo Session

As I walked down to the water Natalie was at least a hundred yards out on the tide flat.  She was well equipped with knee-high waterproof boots and a warm jacket.  In addition to the fog it was quite cold, with temps in the low 40s.  I took a few photos of Natalie while she was wading through the tide pools, you’ll see some of those photos below.   Karen waved her in to the beach, and we talked a bit about the kind of photos that Natalie wanted during her session.  And then we were off, exploring the beach and the surrounding area of the Cove while looking for fun places to take photos.

There is a lot of wonderful driftwood of all sizes all along the beach, and we started by walking over and around the logs while looking for good backdrops.  Natalie was ready to have some fun and displayed a wide range of expressions throughout the session, some of which you’ll see below.

The clouds looked like they might lift for a short time, and we even had a brief glimpse of the sun.  But that didn’t last long, and while the fog continued to give us enough visibility to take photos it kept things very cold and damp.  We walked all over the grounds of the Cove, shooting photos whenever we spotted something that looked good.

The Final Surprise

As we approached the end of our session, I found out that one of Natalie’s hopes was to take some photos more or less submersed in Puget Sound.  LOL!  It was still very cold outside, and the temp of Puget Sound is in the low 50s.  But as a practical matter, for Natalie to be able to get completely into the water she would have to wade out a hundred yards or more from shore, walking over rocks and barnacles.  Not exactly a fun walk!

But there are a couple of nice ponds at the Cove, and I suggested that having Natalie in the water in a pond might be a better alternative.  She and Karen quickly agreed, and Natalie changed into her swim suit and cover up.  The she walked (rather slowly) into the pond, which was definitely not warm water!  But Natalie was tough, and she had a clear vision of what she wanted to do with these photos.  She started off with the water depth at her knees, and slowly moved out into deeper water.  She finished by dropping down so the water came up above her waist, varying between laughing at what she was doing and trying to keep from  screaming due to the cold!

It was a great session, and I’m so happy that Karen located me and that I was able to work with Natalie.  Go ahead and scroll down now to see some of the photos from the session.