The Anzalone Family | Beach Family Photo Shoot | South Haven, MI

This life we all get to live to truly amazing. But if we aren’t careful, the things that make our lives beautiful and unique become boring or uninteresting to us. We’d rather look at our neighbor’s lives or our friends in another state, as we scroll on our phones watching everyone live “the dream” except for us. The irony is that there is a strong chance that others are doing the exact same thing as us, which begs the question: what if we began taking notice of the unique things in our lives and started being thankful for those?

A perfect example is the town of South Haven, Michigan. From the final weeks of May through the first week of September, this coastal town comes to life as tourists from all over the world flock to experience all that South Haven has to offer. The beaches are always full and the various coffee shops and restaurants have a steady flow of patrons from sunrise to sunset. But in the midst of it all, you might find two photographers, sitting at a coffee shop, looking out the window and wondering to themselves, “South Haven? Really? You came all this way just for South Haven?” And that’s the point, we have grown “used to” this beautiful gem we are blessed to live near, all because we have forgotten how to be thankful for it. It’s normal, it’s “the same,” and although thousands of people find joy in it every year, we struggle with the simple act of understanding why.

Thankfully, we’ve grown a lot since those first thoughts of boredom towards South Haven, and it has renewed a passion in us to not take our lives and what they contain for granted. We become so used to our lives and the people in them that we forget what gifts they are. This is why we adore family sessions in South Haven during the summer months. It’s the perfect moment, as we are able to capture portraits which hopefully direct people’s eyes away from all the “what if’s” and back to their family and the beauty they have in their lives.

All photos are property of Josh and Andrea Photography LLC.