Moments of the Month | August 2014

I can’t say I take it for granted, because I don’t.

The fact that the beach is right there – morning, noon and night.  And that during many of those times (well, the morning and night times), we can have it pretty much all to ourselves.  It’s a short walk — or an even shorter bike ride — away.

But by the end of the summer, — I’ll be honest — I’m pretty much done.  The truth is that I like structure.  Schedules.  Making lists.  Doing things.  Crossing things off lists.  Being organized and productive.  Being ALONE.  (Summer gives me lots of great things and experiences, but almost NO alone time.  Hence my love for morning walks on the beach!)  So by late August, I’m usually ready for summer to end.  I like to say that summer couldn’t be lived the way we live it if it was any longer than it is.

The change from summer mode to fall mode is always exciting and chaotic and FAST.  I’m surprised every year that when I look back at photos of August just a few weeks into September, it feels like AGES ago that we lived such a carefree life.

Of course, we don’t spend the entire summer playing in the waves.  We go places.  Into Rockaway for tacos, for example.  Or on the ferry over to the city for dinner near Wall Street.  But mostly, whether at the beach or on each other’s decks, summer is about spending time with family and friends and doing pretty much nothing.   (More random moments HERE, HERE and HERE).

I love these photos of a typical moment after breakfast on our back deck and I’m choosing not to be disturbed by the fact that they’re all laughing hysterically at an 8 second video of Paul falling off the ladder to the boys’ triple bunk bed.  Not disturbed.  See?

The end of summer festivities were as amazing as ever this year.  The theme for our walk’s bungalow crawl was TV shows, and we chose “Fantasy Island.”  Matt and Paul were great as Mr. Rourke and Tattoo.  “Boss!  De plane!”

It’s become (an awesome) tradition for all our Breezy friends to take a break from packing up our bungalows on the day we move back to real life to take a big group “good bye” photo.

The WEATHER this summer was the best it’s ever been.  The first hot, humid days didn’t show up until AFTER we moved home, away from the beach.  Killer.  The kids made the best of it, though, making a water/mud park in the backyard and having a ball.

I’ve been meaning to mention my new camera.  Many of these August photos are brought to you by a new member of the LYYP camera gear family.  I bought a little Fuji mirrorless camera in June, with the idea that I’d ruin my back if I insisted on carrying my big mama DSLR for two weeks through Ireland.  Knowing that I wouldn’t settle for my iPhone or a little point and shoot to capture this trip-of-a-lifetime (you saw it HERE, right?), I had decided it was time to try out one of these reputedly great little cameras that, they say, pack all the punch of a DSLR in a much smaller package.  The end of that particular chapter of the story is that, well, MOST of my Ireland pictures were taken with the 50 pound DSLR and pro lens kit (really — I think it might be that heavy), and my back did get totally messed up.  I found that taking photos with the little Fuji just wasn’t intuitive yet, and I wasn’t willing to waste the moments necessary to fiddle with the unfamiliar buttons and dials while these amazing sights were going by and incredible moments were happening.    After the trip, though, I kept the little baby Fuji in my beach bag.  And ended up catching some amazing shots during August that just wouldn’t have been the same with my iPhone.  Having it there forced me to get more familiar.  And while I can’t say I love it like I love my big mama camera, we’re definitely warming up to each other.  If you’re interested in hearing more, but sure to leave a comment or drop me a line and we can chat.

I’m still taking plenty of photos on my iPhone, of course, and posting them on my personal “diary” over at Instagram (I’m jayemcl over there — who are you?)

AND if you like what you see in my personal Moments of the Month posts, remember that I can do this for YOU!  I’m not about posing and saying cheese during my family lifestyle photo sessions.  I want to freeze the real moments of your life — the real ones —  so that you can look back on them for years to come and remember how it felt to live them.  That’s what I’m doing for myself, and that’s how this whole thing got started.

Now, enough babbling — thanks for looking!

~Jaye (NY Lifestyle Photographer)