I ♥ LOVE ♥ My Clients!! And Amber's Homecoming Preview

I just want to say thank you to all my customers. I really do love what I'm doing and I hope it shows! Cocoa Bean Photography Customers are the best! I wanted to post Amber's comments(My client while shooting the Iwo Jima's Homecoming).

She was so sweet to send such lovely remarks! Love it!

"So, It's almost midnight & I happened to think, hey I should check out the Cocoa Bean sight. I happened to stumble across this blog & wanted to let everyone here know how amazing you are! Words can not express the appreciation I have for you & what you did for my family that day. I never expected to see you stay past the first delay, let alone tough it out with all of us crazy, soaked Navy families. It means the world to me to have those images forever in my heart and to be able to share them with my daughter and family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything. And thank you to your friend as well! I can not wait to see the photos. I know the will great!ps... My husband says thank you too!" ~Amber

Amber- Thank you and here is your preview!



Amber and her daughter waiting anxiously for her Daddy to come in! She was so ready to see her favorite guy, and so sweet dressed in an adorable little sailor dress. Amber and all her family waited it out patiently.


...but as you can see waiting is not easy. If you happened to catch the previous blog explaining how long we had to wait you would already know- 6 extra hours is tough!

Even tougher in the cold, drizzley rain!


It is always a grand moment to watch the ships come in, but to be a sideliner watching the crowd of wives, children, and friends wait it out is heart wrenching!

Even with all that wait there is nothing that beats the happy ending! For me to get to record these happy endings is truely a pleasure and honor! Congratulations on your sailor coming home Amber and the rest of the families on the Iwo Jima.

Homecoming In Action! It's what I do!

As I arrived to shoot the homecoming of the Iwo Jima I found out it was going to be a long day! The word being passed around was a three hour delay due to the fog. As you can see in my first image, you can barely make out the top of the ships. I was waiting along side Amber, the wife of one of the sailors, their daughter, parents and grandparents. The fog was thick and rolling in quickly to become even more so.

It was chilly, and I am sooo thankful I stole my husbands gloves a few days back for some reason or another and left them in the car. Shhh! I think he still doesn't know! ;o)

When we could no longer see the docked ships we knew it was not going to be any time soon that the Iwo Jima was going to roll in. I kept thinking of Jurassic Park II at the end of the movie where the big ship carrying the T-Rex came busting through the night in to the docking area. I had wondered if we would see a huge ship all of a sudden upon us. In the end it did not come until about 6 1/2 hours later. Not a wait I would normally wait out. Not that I don't enjoy my job, but I do have to thank my girlfriend Tami. You are a Godsend for helping me out that day. Thank You! And, Thank you Zachary! I am thankful for your help as well.

During the wait I met up with two other photographers. All of us holding our babies and I just know they were doing the same as me, taking a few pictures here and there just for fun. This is Breezy, on the left; Lillie; in the middle; and of course me, on the right. But if you notice, it was clearing up. Unfortunately, it was not long before one last gust of fog came in and left before the ship did come in. As the moment did finally approach, what was left of the crowd had started gathering to watch the Ship come in. I've got to say that as I watched those families gather and their nerves and relief building to this final moment I had to minimize my few hours of waiting as I realized how long they had been waiting for their loved one. I realize it's day in day out, going on with their daily tasks, praying for the safety of their loved ones, trying to keep kids on task and in line and just plain missing them.

Not only am I thankful of those serving their country but the families who serve in their own way.

By the way, I will post the actual preview of this session soon. This was just the fun part - waiting!

If you haven't yet signed up to recieve the emailed updates do so now! Don't miss seeing Amber's Reunion with her husband.