Salvation Mountain with Lazaro Floral

I met up with Natalie of Lazaro Floral the other weekend and we charged out of San Diego to the desert. Hit up Salvation Mountain first and it was hot AF out there. It felt like the heat was coming up from the ground. Salvation Mountain is a really rad spot. We came upon it and all of it’s beautiful colorful glory and the photos I’ve always seen online do not do this place enough justice. There was a row of cars from out of state parked and people were scattered on the mountain. I found a spot off to the side and we began to unload the gear. It was a scorcher day and there was a local lady chilling under an awning yelling up at people who were not being respectful of the rules that were clearly posted around everywhere. She happened to catch us walking up and noticed Natalie in her white stiletto boots. “Ma’am, you can’t wait your boots up there. We don’t want ya to chip the paint. I love your boots but ya just can’t wear ‘em up!”

So we walked back to the car to grab Natalie’s Doc Martens. Got back to the mountain- again- and thanked the lady for giving us the heads up. We SO appreciated her letting us know. We weren’t trying to disrespect this awesome space nor the locals. Totally LNT was on my mind. (Leave No Trace) The lady said we were “fine” and then shared a story with us of a time when Martha Stewart came out with a big crew to photograph a bride on the mountain. The wedding dress train went down the staircase and it took a entire crew to carry it up. I later found the article and am posting the link here for you to see. If you go up to Salvation Mountain be respectful of the signs, stay on the path, bring a can of paint and a cash donation.

Here are some of my favourite shots from Salvation Mountain… We continued onto other parts of Niland and will share those in another blog post.

FLORALS : Lazaro Floral

Dress:

Shoes: Doc Martens

Wolf Honey Farm

Wolf Honey Farm is seriously one of my favorite venues in Southern California. It is located somewhere off in Temecula Wine Country and it boho eclectic style speaks to so many couples and is one of the coolest hippest locations to have a wedding. I was invited to second shoot for my amazing friend Rachael Bernstein with Uriel Photography- the soon to be MRS. JONES! Rachael was recently engaged so I’m super pumped for her.

This wedding the King Wedding and the afternoon ceremony took place out in the open under this frame of a teepee. There were old church pews and cool old Persian rugs running all of the aisles. The bride pulled up in this cool old blue truck and it was perfection. There reception took place under the stars and after the first dance the Groom stole the show when he grabbed the microphone and sang, “Sweet Caroline” to his doting bride. I’ve second shot several weddings and this one will always stay with me. Congrats Mr. & Mrs. King!

Reclamation Design Co.'s Traveling Dress Project

Reclamation Design Co.'s Traveling Dress Project

I have had the pleasure and honor of getting to know and work with Trista, the Owner and Designer of Reclamation Design Co.  She is an incredibly talented friend who creates beautiful  bridal couture with amazing vintage lace. I really love the versatility of her work and the flexibility of her designs. She even makes these gorgeous dress in maternity sizes!! How can you not feel like an earth goddess wearing one of her dresses!!  So back to the story, Trista approached me and ask if I would be interested in joining her team of photographers for this dress project and I was so honored and excited by it and nervous too! After learning of the names on her team I felt like there was ALOT to live up to. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and she asked me to be apart it! My heart was soaring with excitement. 

So when I opened up the package with this gorgeous, larger than life, dress I could hardly contain myself. The beautiful vintage filet lace made your jaw drop! I had my daughter stand on our piano bench and hold up the dress so I could take a photo of it... In that moment, I got all sappy mama seeing my oldest daughter holding up the wedding dress... thinking someday will be the day she will  be all grown up and we will be doing this again but for REALITY's sake..hopefully not for a LONG TIME..LOL .

Excuse the poor photo... Cell phone photo of Daughter holding up Reclamation Dress.

I had a week with the dress and it was time to hustle. Every day during that week here in San Diego the weather was just so uncooperative. I was hoping to get some golden hour or sunrise shots and that didn't happen for me. I had to work with what mother nature dished me.  I text my girlfriend and we just made it happen. 

I chose the cliffs as a backdrop because that terrain is just so unique for Southern California's coast and I just love the strength and beauty of the ocean, which to me are just wonderful traits to have.  The day of the shoot, the morning seemed like gray skies, I figured, "ok cool, nature's softbox. We will work with it"  And what do you know, As soon as we started the shoot, the clouds burned off and I got this super bright harsh midday sun. Well I guess you can't win for trying but we made it work. The light was changing as the sun dipped behind the residual cloud cover so it was interesting to see the change in light in my shots during post processing. Which made it flexible for me to decide if I wanted to edit with a moody preset or a lighter, airy preset.  

My girlfriend had suffered some heavy heartache prior to this session so this was sort of her own way to release herself from the past and look forward to her future. She cried. I cried. It was awesome. She looked so carefree and stunning out there. Our time together that day reminded me of how beautiful the human heart is when you set yourself free from anything that holds you back and allow yourself to be happy again. How free and alive you are when you can see the best in the worst of times and not let those bad times define you. It was a day of gratitude and growth for both of us on so many different levels. The sun breaking free out of the clouds felt like a metaphor to something bigger, something greater.. Who knows. We just know we both just wanted to received all of that good energy we were feeling.  I enjoyed seeing her pure stoke and beautiful open heart in these shots. Thank you Trista and Leilani for the sisterhood and friendship always. It is so nice to have such rad supportive human beings as friends and I adore you both so much! You believed in me when not many did. For that I have an abundance of love and gratitude.  Without further ado. Please have a look at my Reclamation Traveling Dress Gallery . Please comment below on your thoughts on the series !! I'd love to hear what you think!!