As we prepared to leave for our flight at 4:30 am, I closed my bag and double checked the photography equipment one last time. After another long winter in Illinois, we were more than ready for the Florida sunshine and beaches!
When I have a session coming up, another thing I always check is the weather. But for some reason, that slipped my mind this time. I must only picture sunshine when I think of Florida, even though I know that is definitely not always the case. As we arrived off the plane in Orlando, the warm, moist air drew us out of our winter slump. We breathed in deep with BIG SMILES on our faces. My brother, who we were also visiting for the week, picked us up and we were off to New Smyrna Beach for my anticipated photo shoot with Hailey Nolin.
The trip was going great, until rain drops started falling on the car. Sure enough, we arrived in New Smyrna, and the STORMS came rolling in. We checked the radar all day long, and saw there was only a small 45 minute window of no rain, right before sunset. This put our session over an hour late but today was the only day the shoot could happen. We had no choice, it was NOW OR NEVER. After some long and anxious waiting, the rain finally stopped when the radar said it would and the sun glowed even, soft light behind the clouds. This light is the MOST GORGEOUS for photographing because you do not need to avoid harsh shadows or bright spots. I can't believe how lucky we got, with so many gorgeous photos as well. We even had the company of two dolphins splashing along near the shoreline.

Location: Smyrna Dunes Park, New Smyrna Beach, FL
Photographer: Ashley Susan Photography
Model: Hailey Nolin (Instagram: @haileynolin)
Wedding Dress: Lulu's