Beach Photos of a large family of 20!

The Ackerman Family warned me they were a large and boisterous group! Ten adults and ten kids ranging from 16 yo to 6mos. And they were wonderfully boisterous and we all had great fun during their double sessions, one in the morning at Waialae Beach Park and another that evening at Magic Island near Waikiki on Oahu.

I loved working with the Ackerman's because they were open to playing, happy to try new things and yet they were also relaxed and didn't stress out when a kid didn't want to cooperate. I've noticed that quite often when you simply let the kid have his temper tantrum and move on to something else, it takes all the fight out of them. And if they see every one else is having a good time, they soon can't resist being a part of it too! 

After the sun had long set and the session would normally be over, I asked the kids if they'd like to try their hand at "light painting." Naturally, they had no idea what that meant! Quite simply, it's using a VERY slow shutter speed of anywhere from 6 to 20 seconds to let in as much ambient light as possible. The flashes go off briefly at the end and illuminate the adults. Meanwhile, while the shutter is open letting in what meager ambient light is still left in the sky, the kids get to run thru the scene waving their parents cell phones. As long as the kids keep moving they will not show up in the scene, but the light from the phones will. As bonus, I had everyone download a different color image from Google so each kid was "painting" with a different color. Naturally, the kids loved the chance to put their own mark on the family photos!