My Favorite Family Pictures in Myrtle Beach from Summer 2023

Once or twice a year, I like to make a blog post looking back at some of my favorite family, maternity, and senior portrait pictures from the past few months. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you can see these pictures and many more right after I finish working on them. The Spring and Summer of 2023 has been one of my busiest ever. It seems like Myrtle Beach keeps increasing in popularity.

My usual location for family pictures is the Huntington Beach State Park. Even in the busy summer, it’s less crowded than other areas on the beach. The beach there is also huge, so there are many ways to escape the crowds. The park’s many sheltered areas are also helpful on windy days. We had a lot of damage to the dunes from Hurricane Ian in 2022. So I’ve switched some of my “family sitting together in the sand” pictures from in front of the dunes to the greenery-covered beach path behind the Atalaya Castle. This is a beautiful spot and an excellent alternative to dunes pictures. I hope the dunes recover soon, and the sea oats return, but I will still use this spot when it’s not too crowded.

I also had many repeat clients, which I always love to see. One of my wedding couples from two years ago came for pictures with their cute new baby boy. Another of my previous wedding clients came to me for maternity portraits, and I’m sure I’ll see them again soon with their new baby. I did a lot of other maternity portrait sessions this year. I especially liked one at the Pelican Inn in Pawleys Island. This was a very sweet couple, and she proudly showed off her baby bump for the pictures. I like it when couples have the baby slippers, ultrasound images, or other things to hold together.

Of course, I had my usual struggles with grumpy two and three-year-old toddlers. You can’t force smiles at that age, so I just let them run around, make their families do silly things behind me, and try to keep everything fun and relaxed. I always get some excellent smiles no matter how long it takes, even if the parents are worn out by the time we are done. I got some new Sony cameras recently with more advanced AI autofocus to help track and keep the kids in focus as they run around on the beach.

I took a lot of senior portraits this year as well. I even had a group of 5 crazy teenage girls and their mothers for senior portraits all at once in the Myrtle Beach State Park. They had a great time, but I was worn out after that session. One of my senior portraits was for a family I’ve taken pictures of many times over the years. She was seven when I first did their family photographs, and now all grown up. It was making me feel really old. We took the pictures at the Conway Riverwalk, which turned out beautiful. I did several family sessions at the Conway Riverwalk this year as well. It’s an excellent alternative if a family wants to get away from the beach.

Of course, I took pictures at locations up and down the Grand Strand from Myrtle Beach to Pawleys Island and even Debordieu in Georgetown. I’m always happy to come to your location if you have a nice spot on the beach. I did a couple of sessions under the beautiful mossy oaks at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island. This is a great location, but I don’t recommend it in the summer because they close at 5pm, so we have to take pictures in the hot and sunny time of the day, and it can be pretty crowded. It’s beautiful for off season pictures and times when it’s a bit cooler.

I hope you enjoy the look back at some of my recent pictures. If you are planning family, maternity, or senior portraits in Myrtle Beach please get in touch.