For the Beauty of it All | Pensacola Beach Photography

Like many people, my love of photography was about photographing things and places long before it was about photographing people.  If you were to go back through the many folders on my computer, under each year, you would find a folder titled "Scenery."  Every year, I created that folder to hold the photos I took JUST for me, the pictures from the days where I just got up, picked up my camera and my car keys, and didn't come back for hours.  Once you got tired of looking through folders on my computer, you could go through my old photo albums and find pictures from as far back as middle school where I did the same thing (minus the car keys).
As a teen and college student, photography was a way to express myself.  As a young adult working 60-80 hours a week in the real world, it was a hobby for my days off and an inexpensive way to decorate my walls.  And when I went through my divorce in 2010, going for a walk with my camera was a way to escape my head.  Trust me, there's nothing like laying perfectly still, belly down, in the sand waiting out a nervous bird to clear your head of the noise of every day life.  Now, as a 33 year old mom, step-mom, wife, and wahm/photographer, being able to "run away" for a couple of hours to commune with nature and take some pictures is a much needed reminder of what got me into this business in the first place.
So why am I telling you this?  I want you to understand how much I love photography as an art.  While uploading Halloween snapshots into my 2014 folder, I realized there was no "Scenery" folder.  
It had been over a year since I'd gone out and shot just-for-me.  
I teared up.  
Don't judge me.  
2014 was a busy year, it began with me super pregnant, then I became a new mom, and then it was just the day-to-day life of motherhood, and I have NO regrets about it!  But, when my husband asked me last week what I wanted to do for my birthday, I didn't hesitate with my request.  
I asked him if I could go down to the beach for a few hours around sunset and take pictures - alone.  God love that man, he didn't take that the wrong way.  He said of course, cleaned out his truck (he'd need my car for the 3 kids), and at 3pm the next day, sent me on my way.
It. Was. Glorious.
One of my best "finding beauty" days ever.  And now there's a "Scenery" folder in 2015!

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And, for nostalgia's sake, here's a few from "finding beauty" days past.