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Client Raves
"Thank you for my beautiful pictures!" - Stephanie
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"Andrew you made my day!!! Thank you so much. Phil and I love all of them." - Angie
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"Thank you so much. I am so, so happy to have had you as our photographer, and these shots are really beautiful. Thanks again for your time and your obvious concern for capturing our day beautifully. " - Katie
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"The pictures are amazing!!! You did such a great job! I love how you 'captured the moment!' We really enjoyed working with you." - Darah
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"WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE PICTURES!!! Everyone thinks the sunset pictures are a backdrop because they are so beautiful!! We happily reassured them it was a TRUE Panama City Sunset!!!" - Lisa
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"You did a phenomenal job on our pictures! Thank you so much for your time and making us feel very comfortable and important during our special time." - Casey
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"If you want to have fun taking pictures hire Andrew! I've hired him on several occasions and he's a true professional. He's sensitive, kind, considerate, and enjoys life. He cares about his work and his clients." - Shirstie
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"You're the masterpiece man." - Kendra
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"I cannot tell you enough how great a photographer you are. Thank you for taking my pictures for SUP Wheels. They turned out Amazing!" - Colette
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"Thank you so much for our photos!! They turned out beautifully! We will definitely recommend you to our friends :-)" - Maria
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"Our wedding photography session with Andrew was easy and fun...with fantastic results! We are still getting compliments on how absolutely beautiful and unique the pictures are. Andrew has a great work ethic and creative eye. We would definitely recommend him for any event!" - Kenya & Kyle
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"I have spent a significant amount of time looking at web pages and seem to find myself back at your page. Your pictures have an artistic flair and just seem to be a bit different and stand out from the rest." - Mendy
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"I’ve known Andrew for well over fifteen years, and he’s always pushed the limits with his photography. It’s so easy to work with him and he consistently brings depth, stories, and character to whatever he’s shooting. His photos appear as art to me; strategically-arranged compositions. When I look at his photographs, I always feel like I’m a part of the story; not just a bystander. It’s that talent he sees through the lens that has established Andrew Wardlow’s style." - Brian
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"Andrew did our wedding photos and they turned out great! He's professional and very creative. He truly has an artistic eye and found some unique locations for our pre-wedding pictures, and was also able to capture the moments candidly during the ceremony and reception. I'd definitely recommend him for any event. Always great work!" - Jessica & Drew
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"I have known Andrew more than 20 years. Since we were kids I could see his visual talent. You could say I was one of his first guinea pigs. He would take wonderful pictures at an early age. I can honestly say when he started photography it was before digital. He captured the beauty of images and worked in a dark room whereas most photographers of recent days only know digital. He is a very good person and very dependable and his work gets better each day because he is humble and always studies his craft - his work proves it." - Mike
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Tag Archives: panama city beach portraits
Stephanie’s Senior Portraits – Panama City Beach Photographer
We had a beautiful sunrise for our beach photo session.
There is something about a morning photo session that is better than a sunset session. I don’t know if it’s the freshness of a new day, seeing the deer out for breakfast or the fact that most everyone else is asleep while I’m making art, but I love morning photo sessions.
I recently had a great sunrise senior portrait session with a wonderful young lady named Stephanie. We decided to have our photo session at St. Andrews State Park on the east end of Panama City Beach. I love that place for many reasons and it is a great place for photography.
We timed the morning just right. We got there, unloaded the car, got the lighting dialed in and here comes the sun. What a perfect sunrise it was! We couldn’t have asked for a better one.
One of the best things about getting there early was that we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. There were a few fishermen scattered on the jetties and a couple walkers along the beach, but it was like we had our own private island for the most part.
To start out, we did a few poses near the kiddie pool. Then it was time for a wardrobe change and on the jetty area. After photographing a few different areas of the jetty, we went over to the new surfer’s boardwalk and then moseyed on over to the fishing pier.
At the pier, Stephanie found a decent sized jellyfish washed up along the shoreline. She said that she had caught some small ones a few nights before. We took some photos of the jellyfish and then wrapped up our Panama City Beach photo session by taking some photographs by the water in the shadow of the pier.
Morning photo sessions have a distinctness about them that is hard to pinpoint. All I know is that I can’t wait for my next one!
See you on the beach!
Abby and Peyton – Panama City Wedding Proposal Photographer
This life preserver made a perfect frame for engagement photos for Abby and Peyton at St. Andrew’s State Park in Panama City Beach. (© Andrew Wardlow Photography)
When Peyton contacted me some weeks ago about photographing his wedding proposal to his girlfriend Abby, I was immediately excited about the photo session. In the photojournalist side of my photo career, I am always trying to catch an unscripted moment with my camera. No setups, no guidance. Just letting things happen naturally. This was going to be a great mash up of photojournalism and portraiture.
Peyton and I were in contact a few times ironing out the details of the Panama City Beach photo session. They were coming down from Tennessee (where I am also from) for their Spring Break and his plan was to propose while taking a morning stroll down the beach at St. Andrews State Park. After a couple conversations with Peyton we worked out a great spot for me to be “casually taking beach photos” while I waited for the couple to walk past me and get into position.We planned on the couple being in my photo vicinity at 9:00 a.m. Let me tell, ya…..Peyton is good. He had Abby there at exactly 9:00 a.m. and was down on one knee. Pretty darn impressive.
The proposal went beautifully. Abby’s facial expression was priceless and I could feel the joy emanating from their hearts from twenty feet away. An older couple who had been strolling along the beach stopped and started clapping as Peyton and Abby had their first kiss as an engaged couple. It was truly an awesome moment in time.
Abby finally noticed me taking photos of them and I went over to give my congratulations to them both. We then hung around for a little while longer and took a few posed photos of the happy couple.
I feel privileged to be a small part of peoples’ important life moments and I take my job as official historian of these moments very seriously.
Thanks and congrats to Peyton and Abby!
I was happy to be the official historian of Peyton and Abby’s wedding proposal at St. Andrew’s State Park in Panama City Beach. (© Andrew Wardlow Photography)
I had a great time photographing Abby and Peyton’s wedding proposal in Panama City Beach. (© Andrew Wardlow Photography)
Angie & Phil | Panama City Engagement Photographer
I recently had the opportunity to photograph Phil and Angie’s engagement photographs at Camp Helen State Park on the West End of Panama City Beach. I’ve known Phil for a while now and I can honestly say he is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. There is a thoughtful, gentle kindness about him that sets him apart from the crowd. You wouldn’t expect that from a drummer (everyone knows how crazy drummers are), but it’s true. Obviously, Angie must see these traits as well because she’s decided to spend the rest of her life with him. 
Speaking of Angie…..what a sweetheart! She was gracious and up for doing what it took to get the photograph just right. Thanks for that, Angie.
Now to the photographs….I think we got some doozies during their beach engagement session. Phil asked if they should bring any props to the session and he mentioned bringing beach cruisers. This turned out to be an awesome idea! (I think I may have to incorporate bikes more often in upcoming sessions. Sorry…thinking out loud there.) You should have seen them as they came strolling across the beach with their matching bicycles. It was a really cute sight. I love when couples match. My wife hates when I match what she is wearing for the day. I get a big kick out of it because on one hand it’s super cheesy, but also kind of sweet at the same time. I think it shows a bond and a closeness when you’re confident enough to be seen in matching attire. Seeing Phil and Angie with their matching bikes was not cheesy, though. It was just plain cool. The bikes were as cool as the couple and putting it all together really made for some nice photographs.
We got a few photographs with the bikes and then moved down the beach a little to get some sunset photos. I was a little scared that the sunset was not going to majestic, but it turned out to be beautiful. When I showed Phil a preview of one of the photos he said it “looked like a volcano was erupting” in the background. Yeah….I planned that.
Congrats to Phil and Angie. I know you’re going to have a beautiful life together!
Betty and Chad – Panama City Beach Wedding Photographer
Chad and Betty were great to work with. They were open to trying some more experimental-type wedding photographs like this one.
I photographed Betty & Chad’s Panama City Beach wedding back in the summer and it was one of my favorite weddings of the year.
For starters, the weather was incredible. We had the perfect blend of clouds and sunshine and it really wasn’t even too hot. When you think about being a wedding photographer in Panama City Beach in the summertime you think of sweating through your suit, right? Not this time.
Betty and Chad were staying in a high-rise condo, but found a really quaint location behind a smaller, two-story condo a short walk away. This was a genius location! The condo was uninhabited and made for a perfect little beach wedding spot. It was fenced in with the classic beach fence and the sand was hardly touched. It was probably the coolest place on the beach that I have ever photographed a wedding. Whoever owns this place should rent out the back yard for intimate beach weddings — that’s how great of a place it was. But….there were quite a few sand spurs…the owners should probably do something about that.
See...I told you this was a cool place for a Panama City Beach wedding.
The ceremony was short and beautiful. The rose petals strewn carefully across the untouched sand really added to the ambiance. (What am I even saying right now?) After the ceremony we headed down to the water for group photos and photos of the bride and groom.
The sunset we had to work with was perfect. The scattered clouds were painterly and Betty and Chad were great subjects. When the sunlight was almost totally gone we attempted to light paper lanterns and send them into the sky, but the wind was not our friend that night. I did wind up getting a nicely-lit photo of the two of them using only the light from the lantern, so I guess the idea was not a total bust.
That’s how great Panama City Beach wedding photographs happen sometimes…by experimentation. It is a good thing to be fluid when taking wedding photographs or just about any type of photographs. When you are letting moments happen naturally better pictures will happen.
I hope to photograph another Panama City Beach wedding like this one real soon. Congrats again Betty and Chad!
I loved the painterly sky we were blessed with during Betty and Chad's beach wedding photography session.
Robyn’s Portrait Session | Panama City Senior Portrait Photographer
We were blessed with beautiful colors during our Panama City Beach senior portrait session last weekend.
One of my first jobs in the photography world was as a senior portrait photographer. I had just graduated from the University of North Alabama with a degree in art/photography and was lucky enough to get a gig photographing with a local studio. We did school photos (not fun), but we also did a lot of senior portraits. I was the official outdoors studio senior portrait guy. (I also shot a ton of indoor stuff as well, but my main beat was in the outdoor realm.) Being the outdoor guy fit me pretty well. I love being outside in the Alabama heat sweating and shooting photos! I actually had a really cool setup. My boss, Danny Mitchell, put a screen over the top of the outdoor studio which made for really good diffused light. We had a bridge, swing, grassy area, fences and a really neat little waterfall. It was a nice contained environment.
This street in Panama City was a great location for our portrait session.
Fast forward eleven years. I am still outdoors, but my locations are now a bit more spread out. This weekend I had a really cool senior to photograph. Her name is Robyn….and she doesn’t like lizards. She saw a couple lizards during our photo session and told me stories about the freakishly big lizards that live outside her home. Thankfully the lizards kept a low-profile in Panama City this weekend and we were able to survive our Panama City senior portrait photo session.
There is a really colorful green wall in an alleyway downtown Panama City. That’s where we started out for the day. I brought a freshly-bloomed, vibrant-red gerber daisy for her to hold in a few of the photos to really make the color pop. It just so happened that she was wearing a touch of red, so it worked out perfectly.
From there we moved on to Oaks by the Bay Park in the historic St. Andrews part of Panama City. I have shot here a few times and there is always a new little nook or cranny to photograph there. There was a really nice afternoon shaft of light hitting between some Spanish moss, so we had to get a few photographs there. The background was going a little dark in this setup, so I positioned a light behind a nearby tree to give a little definition to the photo. We then found some little flowers along the fountain that made for a classic senior portrait.
A magnificent sunset ended of our senior portrait photo session at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach.
Robyn and her mom found a street on their journeys that they thought would make a nice place for photos….and boy were they right! We drove over there and got some more natural/less-posed photos of Robyn walking along the street. These are some of my favorite shots from our senior portrait photo session.
Now….to the beach! No Panama City Beach senior portrait photo session would be complete without a trip to the beach, right? We went over to one of my favorite spots to photograph….St. Andrews State Park. After getting a few shots of the pier, we went over to the jetty area. The light was spectacular! Robyn picked an awesome night for her session. The sunset was really incredible and we wound up with a nice set of images documenting her departure from high school.
I get to photograph a lot of things and a lot of people and it never gets old. I am one of the lucky ones who have found a career that also happens to be my passion. Contact me any time to discuss your photo session.
Water + Gymnastics = Fun | Panama City Sports Portrait Photographer
Steve and Sue are a couple that I befriended while surfing the waves of the Gulf of Mexico in Panama City Beach. They coach at Gymnastics Plus in Lynn Haven and are kind of my surf mentors. I used to watch them surf in my learning days and hope to be half as good as them. Nowadays I can sit with them in the lineup and catch a wave or two. (they are still waaaay better than me, though) Knowing that I am a photographer, Sue mentioned a photo shoot that Brigham Young University had done for a gymnastics calendar. It involved gymnasts jumping in water. She wondered if I would be interested in photographing their gym students in a similar way. I immediately agreed. Sounded like a really cool thing to photograph!
There were a LOT of things that went into making this Panama City Beach sports portrait session happen. Steve was able to locate a beach house that would let us run extension cords for our photo shoot. The homeowners also let us use their water. (Thanks guys! This shoot would have been much different if not for your generosity.) We needed a dark background, so a night photo shoot was in order. Being that is was going to be pitch black, I brought every light that I own down to the beach. We set four of the lights up. Two in the back and two in the front. My wife and Steve dug a small pit and placed a tarp in it so that it would hold water and give the girls a pool-like area to jump in. Someone (Steve & Sue probably) brought buckets for throwing the water on the girls. Oh yeah…and my in-laws were kind enough to watch our son so that my wife & I could be free for this undertaking.
There was no way to predict the outcome of these photos. That's one reason this Panama City Beach portrait session was so fun!
When all the setup was done, it was time for pictures. We took a few group photos of the gymnasts and then it was time for the fun stuff. It was kind of a trial-and-error type photo session at first. When should the water be thrown? Before the jump? During the jump? How much water should be used? Should their hair be wet before the jump or not? We powered through all of the questions and went for it.
I spent my time belly down in the sand trying to get as low as I could get so that only the dark sky, water and the gymnast would show up in the final image. Parents and others gladly filled up buckets with water and threw bucket after bucket onto the girls as they did some pretty awesome jumps. Time quickly passed by as the gymnasts and water flew through the night sky.
It was a ton of work, but I had a great time photographing the gymnasts on Panama City Beach. Photo shoots like this are a big undertaking and very stressful, but the end result is well worth it. I hope to be able to do another epic Panama City Beach photo session like this one real soon.
Sue and Steve join in on the fun after our Panama City Beach sports photography portrait session.
SUP Wheels – Panama City Commercial Photographer
I got a bit sandy on this Panama City commercial photography shoot, but that comes with the territory.
Being a Panama City photographer is a funny thing. One day I am wearing my wedding photographer hat and the next I’m running up and down the beach on a beautiful Saturday morning photographing Colette for SUP Wheels. I love the diversity of this job!
When Colette asked me to photograph her for SUP Wheels I jumped at the opportunity. I photograph Panama City portraits and surfing all the time, but this was an opportunity to blend the two together in a fun way. When I was thinking of the perfect place for the photo shoot, I immediately thought of St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach. There are boardwalks, rocks, dunes, sea oats, and a nice beach. I wanted to get out there early in the morning before the crowds showed up, so we started our photo shoot around 7:30 in the morning.
It was a perfect day! Hardly a cloud in the sky, not too hot and a deserted beach. We started the photo session at one of the boardwalks as I wanted to get a nice, clean horizontal shot with Colette showing how easy it was to use the SUP Wheels product with her board. That shot proved to be fairly easy to get and we moved on down to another part of the boardwalk. As I stood precariously balanced on the railing, Colette made a couple passes by and we nailed another cool shot. This one was vertical and had some strong leading lines. I would not recommend standing on the railing, but for a photograph I think it’s OK. I did try and avoid being seen by the park rangers just in case. Haha! The last thing I wanted was to get a stern talking to by the rangers. (I’m sure they would understand, though.)
Standing on the railing isn't really the safest thing to do, but I do whatever it takes to get the shot.
Now to the beach we went. The water was beautiful! Words cannot express how nice of a day it was. We started off at the top of the dune and then I had the idea to try and get a silhouette. There is just something cool about silhouettes. Many photographers think they are cliché, but I disagree. I try not to do them all the time, but when I get a chance to get a cool one I always take it. I got a couple different angles and poses and then we were done with our Panama City Beach photo session.
Colette was great to work with. She was game for any idea that I came up with and her personality really added to the photos.
I can’t wait for my next Panama City commercial photographer shoot. I am always ready for the next photography challenge. It’s a lot of fun photographing different things all the time and it really helps to make me more of a well-rounded photographer. See you on the beach!
Colette is a great model and a joy to work with.
Renfro Family Beach Photos – Panama City Portrait Photographer
See, I told you this was a fun family! (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
In photojournalism I come across many people who do not wish to have their photo taken. It is refreshing to be able to take family beach portraits for people who actually want to be photographed and that care about quality photography.
As a Panama City Photographer I am privileged to meet so many families while they are on vacation and I recently had the honor of photographing the Renfro family at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach. I felt like they really place a high value on photography and I as a photographer appreciate that.
This crew was a wild one, I tell ya! They were up for just about anything. When I have photographic subjects that aren’t shy in front of the camera the photos always turn out nice. This is a prime example of that. Families that are loosened up and carefree always have great facial expressions and not as stiff of poses.
We shot photos all over the place! We photographed at the jetties, on top of the dune, by the sea oats and even managed to dodge some of the seaweed and get a few photographs by the water. (The seaweed is really thick right now thanks to a constant west wind pattern the past couple weeks. Hopefully the wind will shift around soon and get rid of all that yucky stuff)
The Renfro family was a blast to work with. Easy and fun. That’s the way a vacation should be and that’s the way I want all of my beach photo sessions to be. Maybe I’ll make that my new photographic motto. Thanks for the idea Renfro family!
I love photographing from this angle. The background is clean and makes it easy to focus on the Renfros. That's what it's all about right?....the family. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
The black shirts really give these photos a nice feeling. Not the typical color scheme. Variety is a good thing in my book! (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
This portion of the jetty is a great place to sit and make out during a beach photo sesion. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
Spicer Family – Panama City Senior Portrait Photographer
The weather turned out perfect for Chelsea's Panama City Beach senior portrait session. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
It weather was touch-and-go for a few days before my Panama City Beach family beach photo session with the Spicer family. Luckily, Tropical Storm Debby scooted out of the Panama City Beach area the day before our photo session allowing the sun and blue sky to finally come out for the first time in days. The weather was just about perfect. Not too hot and just a slight Gulf of Mexico breeze. The Spicers (and accompanying crew) were a fun and photogenic group and it was really hard to not get a good photograph of them.
The majority of our beach time was spent photographing high school senior portraits of Chelsea. We started off at one of the picnic pavilions at St. Andrews State Park. I had never photographed there (or seen anyone photograph there) and thought it would be a great opportunity to get a little different kind of beach photo. From there we headed over to the pier….and boy was it crowded! There were photographers and families scattered all over the area, but we still managed to get plenty of nice, clean senior portraits.
Now to the jetties. I don’t know what it is about the jetties, but I love shooting there. The combination of natural and man-made beauty really makes for a nice area for photography. After getting several angles at the jetties, Chelsea & I headed down to the water. She got ankle deep into the water and I instantly had an idea for what I wanted the photograph to look like. Now….could I pull it off? The only problem was the sun. It was still pretty high and on full-power. That was OK, though, because I had my trusty flashes paired with remote triggers that can help overpower the sun. It took a little tinkering, but I finally got the shot that I had envisioned in my head. After that victory, it was time for some family photos.
Despite the large crowd at the pier at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, we were able to get some nice, clean photographs. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
The rest of the family had been patiently waiting in the wings for a while now and now it was their turn. I grabbed my light meter and started balancing the light. After getting my readings, I lined them up and started photographing away. We got a few “standard” photographs and then moved onto the fun stuff. Jumping!
These guys and girls had some jumping skills. They jumped into the air a couple times and then jumped off the dune a couple times more. We nailed the perfect photo and then got a few more shots as the sun turned into a fireball on the horizon.
Walking back to the car I realized how lucky I am to be a photographer in Panama City. I get to meet nice families like the Spicers and photograph in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
The Spicer family catches air during a family photo session at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
McGee Family Portraits – Panama City Beach Family Photographer
The jetties are a cool spot for beach portraits in Panama City Beach. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
When I scheduled the McGee family’s Panama City Beach photo session, little did I know there would be a tropical storm heading right for us. (hooked yet?)
We started the photo session at Gator Lake at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, Florida. I wanted to try something different with the McGee’s. There were four of them which made a perfect “Abbey Road” album cover-type photo. This family was more than gracious enough to indulge my creative whim and we wound up getting a kinda cool photo of them walking across the boardwalk. Not your typical beach portriat I know, but I try to individualize my photo sessions as much as possible.
From there we moved on to the jetties. I love the jetties and always try to get a least a handful of photographs there during my beach photo sessions. A small group is perfect for layering so I put the kids up on the rocks and Mom and Dad down front. I got a few nice photographs there and then I looked to the north to see a line of impressive-looking clouds rolling our direction.
Tropical Storm Beryl provided us with a great background for our Panama City Beach portrait session. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
As a photographer there are lots of things you can control. Composition and light (to an extent) fall into that category. Weather does not. When you have big skies like we do at the beach, clouds can become a welcome addition to photographs. It gives the photo an added dimension that can really make the photograph look just a little bit cooler.
I decided to put the McGee’s up on top of the dune near the jetties and take advantage of the beautiful cloud formation that was to our north. It made a great natural backdrop and gave the photos a little “mood.” We were working against the clock, though. As I looked over toward Shell Island I noticed sheets of rain drenching the other side of the pass. Everything seemed to be a go on our side, though, and we kept on shooing beach pictures and having fun.
I got a few family group photos with the Gulf of Mexico in the background and then moved on to the “walking along the shoreline” photographs. The clouds just kept looking cooler and cooler and then it took a turn for the worse. It got a little dark….then a little darker….then the bottom fell out.
What was upon us was a band from Tropical Storm Beryl which made landfall on the east coast of Florida. This thin band was producing copious amounts of rain and there was no escape. Earlier in the day I had debated on whether or not to stop bringing my camera bag on beach shoots and I decided to keep bringing it. The inner Eagle Scout in me won out and I wound up being prepared for the torrential downpour that was drenching us. I shoved my lights and my trusty Nikon into my bag and quickly pulled the rain cover over it. The camera gear was safe. The McGee’s and I, on the other hand, were about 75 yards from the nearest shelter.
We didn’t even bother running. Fortunately there was no lightning so we somewhat leisurely made it up to shelter and waited the rain out. It was a thin band of showers that only lasted about 15 minutes. The McGee’s were great sports and getting soaking wet was no big deal to them.
This is why I love my job as a photographer in Panama City Beach. Good people, good clouds and good wet fun!
This is one of the last frames I shot before we all got soaking wet. (Andrew Wardlow Photography)
