The Summer Season of Life | Sunset Maternity Photos on Lake Ontario

I tell people when I am booking their shoots that I understand the importance of these moments - because I'm living these seasons too. I mean it quite literally that capturing these unique slices of your life is wildly important.

When Katrina and I planned this impromptu maternity session to kick off her third trimester, we picked a spot on Lake Ontario in Irondequoit without much debate. It's the same corner of shoreline where we took our own pregnancy announcement photos. I didn't just choose it because it photographs well. I chose it because I already know what that stretch of beach means to a family in this exact chapter.

That's the part that's hard to explain to someone booking a session for the first time. My own life is moving through the same year, the same waiting, the same strange mix of impatience and disbelief that comes with an expecting chapter. When I'm photographing someone else living it, I want to ensure they are getting photos that will make them feel like they are in that moment again.

When the forecast called for clouds and I almost pushed this back - but I'm so glad we decided to 'trust the process' - as I also recommend for clients. We camped out on the beach that evening waiting for the clouds to part just enough during sunset and got one of the most magical skies over Lake Ontario.

The clouds broke anyway. The sky went warm right as the sun dropped, and Katrina walked straight into the lake in her floral dress without hesitating, because the water's warm enough this time of year to feel like a warm blanket.

A passerby offered to take a photo of the two of us together, unplanned, but much appreciated! I shot all of it on film, Portra 400 in 120 and Fujifilm 400 in 35mm, standing in the lake with both cameras - only slightly terrified of a rogue wave washing away a pricey bag of my favorite Cameras. While I shoot a mix of digital and film for most client shoots - I absolutely love being able to focus on the moment with a shoot fully on film - all just through the viewfinder.

I'll be back at that same corner of the beach again before long. We love living in this place that touches one of the most beautiful bodies of water in NY State (possibly the world). Seeing both the sunrise and sunset from one lake is such a treat that we often take for granted.

If you're in a exciting chapter of your life, like this one, wanting it documented by someone who isn't just watching it from the outside, I'd love to talk!

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About Nostalgia Nomad

Nostalgia Nomad Photography is run by Darren McGee, a film and digital photographer based in Rochester, NY. Darren photographed his own proposal on film, and loves capturing these moments for couples and families across NYS. He shoots proposals, engagements, elopements, intimate weddings, and portrait sessions across Rochester, the Finger Lakes, and NYC, always with real film in the mix, never just a preset.