Summer has flown by as it does every year. Our days have been full of boat rides, turtle catching, boogie boarding, boredom, flashlight tag, a newfound enjoyment of golf (my oldest), a full-blown fishing obsession (my youngest), fresh mountain air, a new kitten, losing teeth and perfecting cartwheels (my middle), more fishing - like, so much fishing, Lego projects, late nights and lazy mornings. We continue to pick fresh vegetables from a neglected garden and have savored our time with cousins and old friends.

My own personal summer highlight has been the discovery and gift of my late grandfather's manual Nikon film camera which I believe he bought in the early 80s. He had a variety of cameras over the years and even developed his own film in the darkroom of his Raleigh home. He was our devoted family documentarian for most of his life, always the one with a camera around his neck making pictures at gatherings, holidays and on trips. Until I picked up his old camera earlier this summer, it had been college since I last experimented with film. Fumbling with the settings, remembering how to properly load and unload, and waiting weeks for the roll to be lab processed are the worst and best parts of the whole thing. Grainy, nostalgic color-rich images with uneven light-leaked borders are the others. It has been a breath of fresh air during a very hot summer.

I hope you have found some fresh air this summer too. Today, I will be fluffing the backpacks and wiping out lunchboxes for my kids' first day of school tomorrow. If your kids (big or small) are growing and changing as much as mine and your heart needs some special photographs to freeze them in place a bit longer, please get in touch with me - it's what I love most. Branding work and a smattering of weddings are also on tap and I'm here for it all.