Reghan and I stood at beach 10 building with excitement to do our first beach session of the season, waiting for the Shaffer family. After getting coordinated we spotted our clients coming onto the uniquely secluded beach. Tawnya, the obvious matriarch, led the crew of two teenage boys and her husband.

They were all soft toned but full of life. After everyone introduced themselves, we started the session thrilled for the beautiful weather. Phil clearly loved his family and is incredibly in love with his wife the way he watched over them, kept spirits high the entire time.

We swapped dad jokes to try to get the boys to laugh but it can be hard to make teenage boys laugh. My joke: “where do you take someone that’s had a peekaboo accident? The ICU!” Phils joke: “Why couldn’t the toilet paper cross the road? He was stuck in a crack.” Reghan and I burst out laughing while Trevor and Carter skipped stones proverbially ignoring their dad’s bad puns.

My biggest surprise of the session was when I was posing the family and Tawnya suggested a pose that turned out to be one of my favorite photos from the entire session.

They asked the best place to eat in Erie because they had traveled all the way from Meadville to capture these beautiful moments. They moved to Meadville to follow Phil’s work as a State Trooper. Which made the session even more special knowing we were capturing this occasion for a Pennsylvania hero.

As the sun began to sink lower in the sky, the light turned soft and golden, wrapping the family in the kind of glow photographers dream about. Trevor and Carter gradually warmed up to the camera, and between the playful teasing, stone skipping, and quiet moments together, their personalities started to shine through. Watching the four of them interact made it clear that they genuinely enjoyed being together. By the end of the session, it felt less like photographing strangers and more like spending an evening with friends. As Reghan and I packed up our gear and headed back toward the parking lot, we couldn’t stop talking about how lucky we had been not just with the weather, but with the opportunity to capture such a kind, loving family.