What's In Her Imagination? ~ Part I ~
Heidi and I are constantly dreaming up ways to show you how amazing and beautiful you are. We feel blessed that this is our work ~ innovating ways in which to reflect back to our clients their inner and outer magnificence. In an industry full of photographers chasing after the next hot trend {side note: boudoir has become "boredoir" around here because *yawn* everyone is doing it} ~ we are always trying to think outside the box and offer you something unique and transformative.
In Her Imagination is the next stage in the evolutionary development of our business. We were dreaming up ways to satisfy our clients who had already had 2-3 sessions with us . . . Where do we go from here? And rather than just do something a little more fantasy-based and "out there" {which any photographer can do}, we delved deeper into really wanting to tell a woman's story. We want to show her innermost self ~ bring to life the archetype inside of her. We aimed to create a self-exploratory journey for a woman that resulted in a beautiful piece of art to remind her who she is, at her very core. When brainstorming about this new session, we jotted down: Who do you want to be? Where do you want to be? When do you want to be? In Her Element. In Her Era. In Her Imagination . . .
When we would talk about this new project with close friends, they would get chills and immediately, they would begin imagining what their art would look like. So we thought maybe we were onto something . . .
The next step was to show some examples of what this session might look like and result in. This is where I saw Heidi reveal her superpowers and create something from nothing in no time! Somehow, she had gathered 11 models, 3 hair and makeup artists, a jewelry designer, a boutique that generously lent us gorgeous dresses, 2 wardrobe stylists, 3 assistants, the marvelously talented Swoon Films, and the most beautiful venue in Sonoma County . . . Oh, and a horse. The BEST horse.
The models, who are all clients we've photographed previously, weren't told what they were in for, but they all agreed to show up at the crack of dawn on a very chilly Fall morning. Unfortunately, we had to keep all of this hush-hush {we've been burned before, so while we hate keeping secrets, we felt it necessary to ask for confidentiality from all participants}. There would be no selfies from the day and no talk of this top secret project until after it launched. It goes to show how amazing our Goddess Army is ~ everyone played along and respected our wishes to keep it under lock and key.
We picked ONE DAY to photograph these 11 models, which in hindsight, was entirely batty. We took a site tour the day before the shoot. Julie Atwood of Atwood Ranch sped us around acres and acres of gorgeous scenery on a golf cart. Wendi {from Swoon Films} and I cracked up while white-knuckling it from the back seat, as Julie pointed out to Heidi all the beautiful areas on the property we would be able to create in. It was the best day at work, ever, for all of us. We felt so blessed and invigorated. We will be forever grateful to Julie for allowing us to photograph and film at the ranch.
So the next day, we were up at 4AM and headed to Glen Ellen. Our first model, Lara, was to be there at 6AM to meet our team for hair and makeup. Honestly, it was a beautiful blur after that . . . Women kept showing up throughout the day and jumping right in to help. All kinds of women from the beloved little community of Mendocino traveled down to be a part of this day for us. I can't tell you how incredibly blessed we feel to know and be able to collaborate with these Goddesses. Danielle {assisted by Athena} from Bloom Skincare and Makeup, Cristina and Rasean from Hook & Loop Jewelry, Amy from Mendocino Beauty, Meaghan, our talented stylist, Amanda & Sam to model . . . And that's just the North Coast women!
Locally, the beautiful and generous, Janis, from Bella Vita of Sonoma came with a garment rack full of amazing dresses. Brittney, of Makeup by Brittney Lee, our key hair and makeup Goddess rocked all of her looks like she always does, my dear friend Tina, my cousin Emma {who was also modeling}, and the delightful team at Atwood Ranch, all chipped in to make magic happen! I have never seen 25 women so seamlessly, and with such radiant positivity, work so hard to create together. While the golf cart site tour the afternoon before was an absolute delight, THIS day became the best day at work, ever.
Wendi was all over the place filming all kinds of video deliciousness. She would speed off with one of the models in a golf cart and return 20 minutes later for more . . . I can't fathom how she created the amazing promo video that she did for us.To watch the finished product was beyond our wildest imagination! There is no one else in the world who could have told the story of this new session {and of that day} like she did. We are so grateful to call her our friend. She is a visionary artist in the truest sense.
Heidi & I ran around in a flurry. At one point, women were handing us plates of food to eat, knowing there would be no pausing for us . . . Time flew by and before we knew it, the sun dipped and we lost light. What came of that day would be revealed by our camera's CF cards at another time . . . It was time to toast and take it all in. There was still so much more work to be done to bring this new dream into fruition . . .
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Part II coming soon.
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