If you have followed me for any length of time, you may have noticed that I mention Swan’s Island, Maine as one of my absolute favorite places to visit. My Dad grew up on this island, so it’s such a special place to visit family. Not to mention that it’s absolutely beautiful there, like most of the coastal Maine islands. There’s something so irreplaceable about small communities like this one, and I was honored to photograph some casual family portraits for this brand new family of three as the sun sank low over the island coast during my last visit.

I don’t normally photograph newborns outdoors or at the beach- there’s really been only a handful of times over the years that it has worked out. (and if you have experienced those foggy first few weeks of motherhood, you completely understand why!) Since Leah & Eric lived just minutes down the road, and it was a warm summer evening, we planned to do the session on the beach that held meaningful family memories for her.

Here are just a few of my favorite black and white images, photographed with a combination of both digital and medium format film.