I have been waiting to meet Sue of Roots to Willow Photography! I met her thru Unraveled Academy so I was excited to finally meet my internet buddy in person. She hosted a really amazing creative photography workshop for other San Diego members of Unraveled and let me tell ya..to say this was nothing short of amazing would be an understatement.

So I loaded up the car and took the 45 minute drive up to the location Sue text to me. I pulled up to this empty dirt lot and across the street you could see this amazing windmill and just off in the center was an old schoolhouse. The whole ambience was the perfect setting to get the creative juices going. The old dusty antique school desks, the dated wallpaper falling apart off the walls. Little skeletons of rodents.. I mean creepy eerie sh*t but I loved every minute of it!! I got to see Sue work her magic, hang out with Coleen Hodges, Founder of Unraveled , and make some new friends. Super rad day! I look forward to these again! I have really loved hanging out with more photographers this year. These relationships are impactful to me on my journey in photography. Here is the series I took from that day. Some really inspiring sh*t. XO

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!!