As the golden hour approached, casting its ethereal glow on Okaloosa Island, C and F stepped onto the sandy shores hand in hand. With the ocean breeze tousling their hair and the waves whispering sweet melodies, they were enveloped in an atmosphere that seemed to exist only for them.

As the fall breeze finally swept through, C, A + I spent time on the quiet beaches of Destin running around and exploring. Their journey began when they encountered each other at an out-of-state church weekend some years ago.

My very first session of 2022 was with these two on January 3 on the beach.

Let me tell you the Florida panhandle is not as warm as some my think in the early months of the year. It was cold and windy, but these two braved it! B + N met at N’s work a few years back and the rest is history. We bonded over our love of sushi and trying new food. It was such a fun time exploring and hanging out on the beach when no one else was out there!

I was ecstatic when K reached out to me about doing photos for her and R. See K and I have known each other since college as we were sorority sisters at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. After graduation K moved to Atlanta where R plays baseball. It has been so fun keeping up with their travels over social media, but it was even sweeter to catch up in person.

It always makes me so happy with couples are down for sunrise sessions, especially during the summer months when the beach is always so crowded during the day and specifically at sunset! Sunrise on the panhandle is the only time that you can truly get the beach mostly to yourself with the other few that decide to get up when the sun does!

S + C were up for it though. We met on the beach right before sunrise and dang it was a beautiful one!