Shoot 1 of 5: I envisioned my first shoot to be magical. Below is the inspiration board I sent to the crew of this shoot. I wanted the model to wear something light-colored with a summery look, to have an overall pastel, airy feel to her. A wreath atop her head and bare feet were a must. The location must be a river or creek surrounded by trees. But the thing I wanted most was to build a miniature raft of wood and “float” it down the river with stationery on top, surrounded by flowers and ribbon. The rest was up to my model stylist and scene stylist.

Finding a river in the Seattle area was not easy. My photographer, Daniel Usenko, found the perfect location about an hour away. We all got up super early the first day of the shoot in order to be on site and ready to shoot at sunrise. That meant at six o’clock in the morning, in the damp cold, we found our way to the river with all our props. As you’ll see from the photos, the place was indeed magical. Especially when the sun started to rise and cast the most perfect glow upon the scene.

Stationery: Anastasia Marie

Photographer: Daniel Usenko

Model Stylist: Annabelle Petry

Scene Stylist: Short and Sweet Design

Flowers: Flowerbelle

Production Manager: Eleanor Petry

Model: Cheyanne Birt

Inspiration board image sources: gal by water (image source unknown)  | forest river (image source unknown)  |  gal in wreath (image source unknown)  |  bucket of flowers via Ann He  |  raft (image source unknown)  |  floating blooms via Ann He