12/15/2025
She handed me her cell phone and asked, "could you take some photos of my family?'
And I lit up like a Christmas tree.
You see, we were in Panama Beach, Fl in our travels this past fall. We had finally wandered out to the actual beach, my partner was sick and I had been diagnosed with pneumonia 4 days prior. While we were within walking distance of the beach, well, lets just say we didn't feel like going for much of a walk. But I finally said, lets just go down and put our feet in the sand at least...we can just sit there and at least be able to say we were at the beach.
When this lady approached me out of the blue, I quickly calculated that I had 4 days of prescription meds in me and was probably not contagious anymore before I reached for the phone. Ten minutes earlier I was wondering if I could even make it to the beach, but with that phone camera in my hands and the possibility of capturing family portraits for them, well ... my partner said I just lit up. He had never seen this in me before.
I did a full session with them in about 10 minutes...full family, mom and dad alone, kids alone, mom with daughter, dad with son, etc, etc.... and reluctantly handed back the phone. I realized then that I didn't have the ability to actually edit the images for them. Couldn't complete the session with post processing. :(
But my partner was amazed in the change in me. I was so excited to create family memories again.
Which is why I have decided to come out of retirement. Creating family portraits is in my DNA, I think. I really love creating a moment in time for families to cherish.
I will be here in the local Clearwater Beach area through spring and would love to create a family portrait for you and your loved ones. Visit my website for all the info. Professional Beach sessions for $350 including the images. Check it out.
www.kathleenhallphotography.com