Location: Floor 13 by Codor Design

Client: Emily

This girl.

From the moment we met there was an instant connection. A spark. She is one of those isthisevenhappeningtome clients where she truly just wants me to do my thing. I connected deeply with three things about her and why she was doing this shoot:

1. She did it completely for herself. And yes, she has a boyfriend. Now what’s unique about this is not that the photographs were for herself. It’s that she didn’t wait. The thing is, 99% of the time – this is what I hear from my clients: they’ve ALWAYS wanted to do a shoot, but they’ve been waiting for an excuse. Here is my counterpoint to that train of thought: why do you need an excuse to celebrate yourself now?
2. She wanted to see herself as she is in her photos. Emily doesn’t wear a lot of makeup and she rarely does her hair (another reason we get along SO WELL). She decided early on she did not want to go crazy in this department but that she still wanted a hair and makeup artist on set, mostly to take stress off the day (so smart). Ashli did an incredible no-makeup-but there’s -actually-makeup look and a put-together-but-messy hair style, which is seriously way harder than it seems. Emily asked as so many others do after the shoot – “Can she teach me to do that?”
3. She wanted to celebrate, she wanted to discover, and she wanted to empower herself. From the get-go this was for HER. She has always struggled with how she sees herself, but as a part of overcoming that, she wanted photos that challenged her. Forced her to see a different angle of her face, a different expression, a different attitude. She wanted to bring them to the light. She wanted to see. She wanted to learn to love. 

I cherish my time spent with this incredible human, and lucky me – she lives like 4 blocks away. Excited for more memories, but for now, check her out below…