New Smryna Beach Sunset Portraits | Meet the Van Zetten’s

AHHH FRIENDS!!!!  I have been dying to share this incredible New Smryna Beach Family session wtih ya’ll for quite some time now!  I think I fell in love with a new beach.  Is that ok to say since I grew up at a beach and should forever love that one?!  Say it isn’t so! If it is then I for sure found my heart a new beach to love that is filled with gorgeous scenery and light houses and the most dreamy sunset this girl has ever dared to dream of.  Anyway, let me tell you about how I came to know about this wonderful place.  My friend  Amy and I had been talking about setting up a family session for a long time!  When I happened to mention that I wouldn’t mind driving out to one of the beaches (because I just miss everything about being close to the beach and of course, shooting at the beach) we both knew it was the perfect fit!  The beach is where Simon is most at home!  Actually, it’s not truly the beach really, it’s in the ocean and surfing the waves!  Simon was kind of a big deal surfer back in his home town before moving here.  They suggested we make a little road trip out to NSB and the rest, well you will have to see for yourself in the images!

This family session is probably one of my favorites that I have been able to be a part of since moving here to Florida!  I saw this whole family light up in a way that I haven’t seen before and it became truly about the adventure and exploring together as a family which is exactly what I want these sessions to be.  I think for a spell of time, they even forgot that I was there to photograph them and we all just became swept up in the beauty of the evening!  It was true magic!

These girls love to be silly!  They love to explore and be adventurous!  They are brave and kind hearted and the best kind of spunky you could ever ask for!  They have a heart for the ocean just like their daddy;  and a love for the water that just calls them home!

Amy and Simon have instilled such a wanderlust in these little ones and such an incredible spirit and need for exploration and discovery. They are family who can laugh together and have true, genuine fun together. They have a real love and appreciation for things that are greater than themselves.

It was a brief moment, as it usually is with most kiddos, but it was something that truly touched my heart and I will always walk away a little changed by this one moment! Both of the girls stopped for a second, they were quiet and thoughtful, to just marvel and appreciate the beauty of the sun setting. They both at different times while we were walking the path on the way out of the park, just paused and took a breathe in. They would look up at the sky and all the different colors and close both of their eyes as if they were forming a picture in their minds so they wouldn’t forget! Then life would begin again and adventure would take up the space as if the moments of silence never took hold there! The girls were back to bouncing and twirling! They were back to the waters edge when we were on the beach, or back to running the wooden walkway seeing how fast they could go!
I hope one day that I can help Linc to see what they saw. I hope to instill the same values that they have. I hope that he too can stop and appreciate the beauty of things around him and not just to look but to truly see with his eyes and his heart just like A and L!