Fran has been my hair stylist for years and years. I’m crazy about her. She’s seriously the best. My family gets gray hair early, and by early, I mean 18 years old early. So I’ve had a long relationship with hair color and most of my stylists before Fran turned my hair this strange reddish brown tint and it made my skin look weird. It was bad. Fran gets that my hair is supposed to be dark brown…and she gets me. I love knowing that about every 4 weeks I get to spend a couple of hours with her at Salon U talking home decorating, kids, fashion, church, creative projects and yes, photography. A relationship with a camera is a hobby for Fran and she has a great eye because she’s got that creative gene; so we always talk lighting situations, f/stops and shutter speeds. Hair appointments are fun and the two hours go by really fast with all of our talking.
A few months ago Fran asked me to photograph her oldest daughter Reese and capture her at this age in a specific heirloom-style white dress. We brainstormed a little about locations, then it hit me. I’ve been wanting to shoot in a cotton field and I knew that Reese’s silky dark hair and those big brown eyes would be amazing against a sea of white cotton. What’s more southern than a cotton field? At the end of our shoot, we would photograph Reese with her little sister Edy for their Christmas card. And, I was determined to persuede Fran to jump in a few shots. Just like we want to enjoy looking back on photographs of our children, they too will want to look back on photos of us with them. It’s important to document our lives with mom in the shots. Too often we are the ones behind the camera and the opportunities are missed. I was so glad Fran agreed.
During the golden hour, the light changes quickly; so at this shoot, the field of cotton quickly went from warm and golden, to cool and gray. The shoot was a fun adventure and I love the images we came away with. Here are a few of my favorites of these beauties.
