Since moving to Colorado I have spent a ton of time connecting with other small and local businesses. One local shop I came across during my pregnancy was Foxy Roxy Bows. AJ is the owner of Foxy Roxy Bows, which is her small business where she handmakes beautiful baby bows. She was running a giveaway on Instagram that I won and since then, we have been following each other on socials.


AJ reached out to me when she saw that I was looking for models for the Floral Top Photoshoot #styledphotoshoot. Not only was she interested, but she was 8 months pregnant! Immediately I knew I wanted her to be one of my models. We spent some time discussing what she could wear in addition to the flowers to help make her feel comfortable during the shoot. But the part that really made planning this specific styled photoshoot special is when she told me she was having a baby girl and naming her Rosalie "Rosie". I knew at that moment I was going to find beautiful, light pink roses with little baby's breath to use for her bouquet.


"Thank you for making me look and feel pretty!!" - AJ

Braving the Weather

Literally! If you read Pt. 1 of this blog then you already know that the weather was an issue this day. Although typical for springtime in Colorado, we faced afternoon storms, winds, and lightning. There was a small window that we had blocked out for this photoshoot and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I texted AJ and first made sure she was comfortable continuing with the photoshoot knowing the weather conditions were going to be unpredictable. I was also keeping an eye on the lightning. If there was lightning detected in the area in that time, it would have been immediate grounds to postpone the photoshoot. Luckily, we had the perfect window of opportunity to continue with the photo shoot without any immediate risk.


The wind was a bitter-sweet addition to the weather woes. On one hand, I love the movement in which wind-blown hair makes in a portrait. It reminds anyone looking at this photo that this is a real moment that happened. The mess of the hair makes the photo more relatable almost. On the other hand, wind on top of a mountain on a chilly day just makes it that much chillier. Especially for the beautiful model who is willing to brave the cold.

The Magic of Mini's

Part of the reason I wanted to do this styled photo shoot was to have the ability to schedule it in a way that highlights some of the values of scheduling a mini-session vs a full session. I had two models scheduled in what would normally be a full session: 1 hour. Since I had already scouted the area at Mount Falcon I wanted to shoot at, I knew how much time I needed to build into walking from the parking lot to the location. I also needed to consider the time to change, do a quick brief with the models to recap how the hour was going to flow, and a recap on the next steps once the photo shoots were completed. All that to say, I built in 30 minutes per model - approximately 20 minutes of actual shooting time. Each model received 10 photos for their time and participation in the styled shoot.


One of the other goals of setting up this shoot was I wanted to mimic the total time and client experience a future client would have if they chose to book a mini-session with me. So, although this was a styled shoot, I was very intentional about treating the models as if they were paying clients.


I am excited to say that I will be continuing to set up these styled shoots in the future. So if you are ever interested to hear about upcoming opportunities to work on one of these photo shoots, make sure to follow me on Instagram and watch for my stories!


Until next time...