Dancing In the Waves

This morning, I was was very fortunate to hang out with a family I've photographed a couple times before. I so look forward to seeing them, camera in hand or not. They are the kind of people who will always greet you with a warm cup of coffee or a glass of wine. And those are my kind of people.

In this family is a little girl by the name of Elizabeth. I've photographed Elizabeth before, and at times she's been a little unsure of the presence of my camera. But today, this little girl was on fire. We started off at her home and then moved to a beach not too far away. We were all running around but at one moment, I looked over and saw Elizabeth having the time of her life splashing alone in the water. It was as if she was dancing with the waves.

This series of photos kills me. I feel like this is what childhood looks like. Or should look like. It also kills me because as much as Elizabeth is a blond-haired, blue-eyed little 4-year-old girl, some of these photos (especially the third from the end) give a glimpse of the girl she's growing into. But boy, does she ever make me long for the days of being a 4-year-old dancing with the waves.