I started getting into photography once I was in the 10th and 11th grade. I loved it when my mother would let me use her camera, and there was a delicious anxiety that overcame me when I had to wait for my film to develop. How would they turn out? As a child, I loved the covers of National Geographic that my grandmother had. The covers were beautiful and richly colored and always made me want to go wherever they were. It fed that wanderlusty part of me.
When I entered high school, especially when I started driving, I started to love shopping and the big thing at that time was Abercrombie and Fitch. I remember walking into the store for the first time and though I loved the clothing, the thing that stuck out to me was the oversized photographs throughout the store. I loved how natural the models looked. The girls looked like they didn't have on a stitch of makeup, and they always looked so fresh. I would walk around the entire store to every section, just to see all the photos. I remember buying my first catalog and pouring over the photographs while laying on my bedroom floor. Natural, candid. I was heartbroken a couple years later when the catalogs became more about showcasing nude models, rather than models in their clothes. But those good years I had with them made me think of photography in a different way. Instead of the way that you used to get photos taken with your family: matching outfits in an awkward position with a crazy background, I fell in love with the idea of having things feel a bit more relaxed, and as creepy as it sounds, let people just do their thing and just be there with my camera to document it. I have been a photographer longer than I have been a teacher, starting shooting professionally in college. And while teaching largely takes up my time, photography will be a large part of who I am. The only sad thing is in college is I always had someone to photograph and people largely filled my schedule. Now, my life is grading and putting together the yearbook.
I met Liv and Baylee last school year when they signed up to travel with me to Europe last March. These two are such lovely girls and so easy to adore. I unfortunately didn't ever get to teach them, but traveling sort of bonds you to people because you share experiences, and I am so happy we have that.
Normally I do a lot of cutesie types of shoots and while those are great, I really love to have shoots that have some creativity involved. While these photos aren't super creative, they are unconventional, and we all know I thrive on it. I was inspired by Free People and wanted to have a sort of boho/70's/FP/Americana type shoot and lucky for me, the girls were down for it. They were a dream to work with, and I am so proud of the work. Enjoy!
And my favorite photos straight from my camera (and there were many but I just chose a few). Non-edited and just awesome:
Thanks, Baylee and Liv for such a fun afternoon. You two are to die for! xoxo
