I’m so lucky that my parents live in Dennisport year round, and it’s so special to get to visit for a few weeks every summer. The kids love visiting the different beaches, floating in Scargo Lake, crabbing, searching the tide pools at low tide, collecting shells, building sand castles and digging trenches in the sand. As any photographer who is also a mom will tell you, I always find it so hard to take photos of my own kids. But the night we captured these new Cape Cod portraits, they let their personalities shine and just loved on each other and we captured the most adorable sibling portraits.

Both Grayson and Adelaide were 100% agreeable and excited about taking photos at the beach one evening at sunset, and knowing that they would be rewarded with a cookie afterwards certainly helped with the cooperation. ;o) We finally found a night with good weather at Corporation Beach in Dennis and I’m so happy that we were able to freeze time together.

I’ve been doing beach portraits of Grayson since he was 1 year old, and it’s bittersweet watching him grow up a little more every summer. He looked at this portrait of him and he said, “That’s not me! That’s a 10-year-old!” because I had told him during our little session that that pose was for really big kids. And it’s true – he looks like he’s ready to grab the keys and go for a drive! It makes my mama heart stop for a beat just seeing how quickly it goes by. It’s one of the reasons that I love capturing these portraits in Cape Cod every summer. My babies won’t stop growing (though I so wish they would!).

six year old sits on sand dune on Corporation Beach in Dennisport MA photographed by Cape Cod family photographer Nicole Starr Photography

Fun little fact about our session on Corporation Beach – I ended up with a gallery of 34 favorite portraits, and we took them in less than 12 minutes. You don’t need a lot of time to capture great portraits of your kids – just someone who knows all the tricks to get them to hug & smile. ;o) After doing this for the last 10 years, I’ve got plenty of tricks that even work on my own kids!

My goal was one good one to hang on the gallery wall in our dining room, but with so many that I love like this, I don’t know how I’m going to choose which one to print & frame! I hope you enjoy this little peek into our family’s summer tradition!