Family Photography at the Whalehead Club in Corolla, NC

Yesterday I photographed a family at the Currituck Heritage Park in Corolla, NC. While most of the family portrait sessions that I do are on the beach, this family chose this location as something different. This gave me a myriad of options for backgrounds, and in fact we did end up doing six different poses with the entire group of fourteen.

The options include the restored historic Whalehead Club which is a “Jewel by the Sea”. It was built in 1922 as a vacation home and hunt club for wealthy industrialists from Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Edward and Marie Louise Knight. The rumor goes that since other hunt clubs did not allow women to be members or even to enter the club, Mr. Knight built the club for his wife, who enjoyed hunting and horseback riding, among other outdoor activities. They called their home Corolla Island and entertained friends and vacationed here.

Other options for the family portrait locations include the boathouse, the Currituck Lighthouse, the beautiful bridge, and the sunset views that are all over the 39 acres of Heritage Park.

We started under one of the giant old oak trees next to the Whalehead Club building. This angle allows a view of the Currituck lighthouse in the background. We then went onto the back porch that overlooks the Currituck Sound. There is a lovely row of white rocking chairs there, which we took full advantage of.

After that we strolled to one of the very large trees on the northeast side of the Whalehead Club building and sat in the grass for yet another family portrait. This perspective allowed a beautiful view of the back side of the building that faces the wate as well as the setting sun.

Asking the group if they were up to it, we walked down to the water’s edge where rocks were piled all along the shoreline. After getting everybody in place I captured several more wonderful family portraits.

We weren’t done yet! We strolled across the lane that crosses in front of the Whalehead Club building to the trees along the water where the boat house is, and I told all the little monkeys to get up into the tree for a fun portrait of the grandchildren. This was more work than I expected, but well worth the effort. This view also allowed a view of the Currituck lighthouse.

One more time I arranged the family along the boardwalk with the Currituck lighthouse and the boat house in the background. THen grabbed a few shots of the grandparents with all of their grandbabies gathered around them.

We finished off with some lovely reflection shots, first the children of the matriarch and patriarch of the group, then all the grandchildren sat and dangled their feet towards the water. That was fun, but I think they enjoyed climbing in the tree much more!

Many of the families I meet choose to have their family portrait on the beach, and while that is a beautiful and memorable location, some families who have already had that done like to do something different. This family chose this location so that when their greeting cards go out this holiday season, it won’t be the typical beach portrait. They chose to go for the unexpected. However, if you have not yeat had a family beach portrait done by us, there are miles and miles of beaches along the Outer Banks starting from Carova at the far noth end of the Banks, traveling southward you have Corolla, Ocean Sands, Pine Island, Sanderling, Duck, SOuthern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Oregon Inlet, Pea Island has miles and miles of unspoiled beaches and is a bird sanctuary, Rodanthe, Avon, Waves, Salvo, Buxton, Frisco, and Ocracoke Island. All along these miles of beaches are also a number of fishing piers that offer beautiful photography opportunities.

Come on down to the Outer Banks, call me…I’ll come out and create beautiful images of your family at the location of your choice!

See you next year Elken family!!