“This may sound weird, but, can I please take your picture?”

Matthew encounters a lot of ‘interesting’ people when he travels.  But, as he told me about one particular person he had met on a recent flight, I quickly became very intrigued with this man’s occupation…

He was a blogger.  (Which was already way-cool.)
But, he blogged his drawings.  (Even cooler.)
But, the people in his drawings were unaware that they were his subjects.  (If this is starting to sound creepy, let me assure you… at this point, his job just hit the awesome-mark in my opinion.) 

Sooooo, he’d go to a public place, find something or someone interesting, draw them and blog about it.

As Matthew pulled-up his blog and drawings for me to see myself, I thought, “If I could just replace the pencil for a camera, THAT would be MY dream job!”

So as a natural observer and someone who EATS, SLEEPS, BREATHS and is, somewhat OBSESSED with ‘ENJOYS’ documenting real moments, you wouldn’t even believe how OFTEN I find myself watching other people or families, typically doing ‘normal‘ activities- just wishing I had the courage to ask them if I could photograph THEIR moments where they’d have them forever.

But unfortunately, I normally let insecurity (“What if they hate my photos?”), fear (“What if they think I’m a CRAZY-person?”) or shyness (“I hate being such an Introvert!”) keep me from pulling my camera out.

BUT, this morning was different…

I had been sitting on the beach watching my own kids play when I saw a family approach the chilly water.

They were all laughing…
Their little boy squealed and smiled as his mom playfully ran out into the water with him..

No posing.
No make-up.
No fancy outfits.
Just a family TRULY enjoying one another.

So I asked.

(And the sweet family said yes.)

So excited to send these pictures to Shannon tonight!

Even though it only took a second to get a few pictures of her family, I hope it always reminds her of that gorgeous, crisp morning on the beach when life felt just-about perfect.