Inspiration comes from the craziest of places, but I have had this particular piece of inspiration in my head for over 12 years now and we finally made it happen last August. When I flew to Los Angeles I had the intent in my head that this was the main shoot we would be doing and I knew we had to make it happen although it was seeming almost impossible leading up to the shoot. We drove over 9 hours in Los Angeles one day desperately trying to find THE perfect fabric in just the right length and we didn’t find it until our very last stop. At the very last fabric store option on our list we thankfully found 40ft of chiffon red fabric that would be light enough to flow freely in the wind and long enough to make the image I had in my head come to life. It was perfect.
If anyone knows me, they know I am a HUGE nerd at heart. So it will probably come as no surprise to most of you that Sailor Moon was my inspiration for this shoot. If you are familiar with this show (WHICH MOST OF YOU SHOULD BE HELLO IT’S AMAZING), then you will most likely know the particular scene in one of her movies that I am referring to for inspiration. This particular scene (below) has held onto me for so long and the idea wouldn’t go away until I made it come to life. I picked Lacey for this shoot because I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and I needed a model that would be willing to push themselves just as hard I was. I didn’t want to have to feel like I was taking care of anyone in that moment and I never feel like that with Lacey, she’s always ready to do anything and does not need help doing it. Also, her look for this was perfect. The short brown hair was subtle enough, her jawline stood out even when I was far from her, and her sultry stare gave off the mood I wanted in these images.
SO much work and dedication came into this shoot and we are so happy with the results. We drove hours outside of Los Angeles, walked miles in sand while trekking through intense wind, and had to stay out in what felt like the desert for hours until we got all the shots we needed. Upon releasing some of the images to social media since then I have had some people ask me, “Did you photo shop the fabric to make it longer?” And let me just tell everyone now, the answer is a hard, “No.” I do not like to re-create what isn’t there and I like to keep all of my editing natural and true to the image that it was originally.
After months of tweaking and working on these images, I am happy to now release my favorite photo shoot that I have ever done.
model | Lacey Rogers
makeup artist | Jessica Humerick
