Shooting for fun is something I haven’t had the luxury of doing too much the past couple months. Being in the thick of wedding season I rarely have time to grab models, find a pretty location, and just get creative. But last month when the poppies were in full bloom I knew I needed to shoot there. I grabbed two of my favorite models (Shanya and Megan), and my photographer pal Lexxi Smith, and we piled in the car and went searching for this magical field of poppies we had heard about. We knew they were in Mantua, and we were told they were at the Box Elder Campground, so I figured it would be pretty easy to find. I typed “Box Elder Campground” into my GPS and off we went. All of a sudden my phone was telling me to turn onto the sketchiest dirt roads that felt like they were leading to the middle of nowhere. We were so confused and rerouted and turned around multiple times. Finally, after almost giving up, we decided to try one more road even though it didn’t look too promising. All of a sudden we’re driving down this crazy steep hill that was barely wide enough to be a road and I think we were all worried that we’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere. But sure enough, a few yards from the bottom of the hill there was an opening and it led us right to the poppies! I’ve never been so happy to see the color red!
Later we found out that there was a much easier way we could have gone to get there, which was pretty funny, but all that mattered was that we found it! We shot until we ran completely out of light, and every image made my creative soul sing. I’m thankful for awesome friends, crazy adventures, and cameras that can capture the magic in front of us.
Models: Shanya Krievins & Megan Allen
Dresses: Urban Outfitters & Free People
Hair: Sarita Dawn
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