You may remember Christian and Marc from their chilly, rainy, and a little snowy engagement session last fall... now they're expecting an addition to their family in December!
Christian reached out to me to do a maternity session in Gloucester, and I suggested adventuring to Half Moon Beach and Hammond Castle for some spectacular sunrise spots. We decided to hit the beach first, arriving just before sunrise. As we're officially cursed with some sort of weather when working together, we fought some pretty strong winds coming off the harbor, which chilled us all a little bit. We actually stopped at Cressy Beach first to capture some rocky photos, where the wind was hurricane-force (it wasn't, but Christian's hair definitely felt like it was!), and then hiked over to Half Moon Beach.
Marc was the most incredible supporter for his future wife and baby! I asked them to pose belly button to belly button for a photo, and Marc graciously complied!
We got the most gorgeous sunrise once we trekked over to Half Moon - I highly recommend Half Moon beach at either low or high tide (we went at high tide)! It's protected from most directions' wind gusts, and is perfectly positioned to capture the sun!
This might be one of my favorites - the sun came up to a perfect height and the wind died down for a moment!
This is my absolute favorite photo from our session. I asked Marc to get on one knee and whisper to his baby girl, and he whispered a few words and gave Christian's belly a kiss!
So, after that shot, we pretty much called it a wrap for the beach and water photos. We took one fun shot with the lifeguard chair before we set out for the castle.
When we arrived at Hammond Castle, Christian and March changed into their second outfits, and we were so excited to explore the grounds. We were there before opening time, and were the only people on the property (but so many chipmunks and bunnies!), so we had the run of the public areas.
We had a fun time balancing on the stone archway/wall (that dress drama!!!), and Christian was such a trooper being brave up on the wall!
Also, did I forget to mention we got to play on a drawbridge!? No big deal.
We almost decided not to venture down the steps to the ocean viewing/castle backyard area, but said, "Why not?" and headed down. We went from medieval castle to french countryside in about 25 steps! How incredible is this shift with the warm sunny glow and the ivy on the window?
If anyone asks how we went from castle to french countryside, we can vaguely murmur something about our private jet that takes us around the world, right?
Christian and Marc, I cannot wait to meet your baby girl and take a million photos of all 3 of you (but let's face it, mainly her)!