Rainy Rompers

Hello friends! I'm here to share some photos from an early evening spent with a lovely friend, playing around in a shiny parking lot near Bay Beach after the rain. We met up at a spot I've driven passed with the kids a million times this summer on our way to the pool, with a cute red staircase and the name of that much loved road in bold black. After taking our pictures we grabbed some dinner at the new Copper State Brewing Company. If you visit you MUST try the Smores dessert. 

I love that these pics feel so end of summer happy, as today the kids were all officially back at school and I'm just a little giddy about it. So there you have it!

Thank you Nichole for the photos. 💗 

Outfit: romper - Target, oxfords - Zara

Capturing Movement in Photography

Hello lovelies! 

I've been catching up on family time and a bit of reading this last week, so not had much to share with you over here. But today I'm back with something so wonderfully dreamy, a photo series that feels a little Alice in Wonderland meets Edward Scissorhands. Ha! I think it's the table that makes it a bit gothic, feeling both beautiful and creepy in the same breath. I loved having an opportunity to create art that was unique to my norm, and these are definitely so! 

I shot these photos last year with a dear friend and photographer, Nichole Garcia of Squid Photography. She had a vision to capture movement inspired by dance and we wanted to do something a little moodier with it, with an intention of incorporating as much of the movement of the clothes and fabrics into our shots as was possible. I have this stunning dress (wore it for this shoot as well!) with the most romantic construction, tulle that tucks and wraps around the bodice and then falls in panels to the floor. It's absolutely perfect for playing with when you're hoping for photographing texture and movement in fabric. We even used the dress as a sheer filter over the lens in a few of the shots.

We had the most gorgeous location here at Ebb and Flow Flowers, a floral studio with incredible vintage woodwork and open face brick walls, allowing us the chance to use elements of the design in the shots with the intention of enhancing the movement and the angles. It was fun using the decor in that way and trying some new things, eg: draping my skirt over the edge of a table and pretending that I was laying in a field of wildflowers and not a giant table. ;)

So here you have it, hope you love them!

As you can see, feeling like a complete idiot is part and parcel of the experience when modeling. Anybody can do it!

Side note: Nichole and I collabed in every way on this shoot. She took the photos and sent them to me for editing. 

Also! If you're local to Green Bay and don't already know, I have a dance studio called Celebration Dance and I would love to have you and your daughter join us for classes. Check out our website HERE. 

Totally in Love with Summer {a photo session with Squid Photography}

I had so much fun shooting with my dear friend Nichole Garcia who owns Squid Photography. We went down to my favorite little creek with a homemade fresh flower crown in hand and two cameras. We each had a mini session and it was so wonderful having a chance to just be comfortable and silly with a friend, but also to churn out some creativity from a lately deprived soul. I loved it! My main goal was to get in that water and as wet as possible and though I did not lay down completely as I had envisioned (yeah right), I did put my feet in all sorts of nasty, squishy places. And live to talk about it! So win win all around. 

There were bugs flying around our heads and biting our necks but we forgave them that indiscretion as they gave a sort of lighting bug effect to our photos. Just doing their peculiar part to make the world a more beautiful place. ;)

I love what Nichole did with these as they capture a real storybook fantasy feel that I'm crazy about. And these shots celebrate some of the things I truly love about this summer season. Glittering water, golden afternoons and enchanted forests all leave me slightly euphoric. 

Okay, let's get to it ... 

I recently joined an organization called The Rising Tide Society which has a motto that says "Educating and Empowering Creatives to Thrive in the spirit of Community over Competition." I loved that vision so much and have felt this way for so long now, so to be able to see that there are many, many creatives in this community and around the country (it's country-wide, if not global) who feel the same way is so awesome. Our first meeting had twenty-something in attendance and they were incredible artists. It really encompasses the entire realm of creativity, bringing in boutique owners, graphic designers, photographers, bloggers, writers, and entrepreneurs. So cool! 

I have to admit that though this concept is something I'm really passionate about, it is not common in the dance world, my first love. Studios tend to be incredibly competitive and afraid of collaboration and I get that. It's always the fear of losing business right? But that ballet photo shoot I did for YOU magazine really opened my eyes to a new side of dance in this city and an open-ness to share that passion together. It was amazing. Perhaps this idea can somehow blossom and grow into something magic here in the dance community. We shall see. 

If you'd like more info on The Rising Tide Society and would like to come to our next meeting, visit their Facebook page to get all the info (for this area). Hope to see you there! 

When you collaborate with another creative and share your loveliness with all of us, hashtag it #communityovercompetition to spread the word and begin to empower others to share their talents/experiences/genius/passions in a way that can produce art that is that much more spectacular. 

Thank you to Nichole with Squid Photography for these gorgeous pictures. I'll post my photos of her later this week.