For this concept, we were inspired by iridescence. The rainbow array of colors you see when you blow bubbles – cool colors like purples, pinks, blues. This is what we kept in mind when styling wardrobe, but we knew we wanted to also incorporate actual bubbles too. Our assistants stood on the sidelines with bubble wands creating them (though the wind did pose a challenge) while the models posed behind the shapes. Meanwhile, we had a few other tricks up our sleeve – an iridescent shower curtain made of a cellophane-type material that reflected the sunlight perfectly, and …. a plexiglass table we had made. Photographers climbed under the table and directed the models, who stood on top and did some edgy poses. It was a an iridescent DREAM!

While many of other concepts at Colorpop had quite feminine influences, we wanted go in a more sporty, edgy direction for this one. We also wanted the photographers that attended to be able to get creative with the elements we provided – in this case, ropes! We chose to use the white cyc wall at the studio and string up ropes of different colors to create fun shapes, and encouraged the models to do some “weirder” poses. It was really cool to see how incredibly different everyone’s shots were from this specific concept – swapping out the different types of rope we brought as well as some outfit changes made for a variety of images.

The make-believe story that inspired this concept: It’s 1950 and no one showed up to her birthday party 🙁 Our goal was for the set to look like she was hanging out in her living room by the phone, waiting for her friends to show up. We had a cake that said “I’ll cry if I want to” along with balloons, confetti, playing cards, candles, confetti, and silk pajamas for a slumber party vibe. Our model Hannah is a talented wardrobe stylist and has the cutest vintage personal style as well – we knew her look would be perfect for this shoot!

About three years ago, I left my 9-to-5 to pursue photography full time. Although I can genuinely say that I am living the dream now, that doesn’t mean it’s always a breeze. The thing about turning your passion into your career is that you have to rely on it to pay your bills – and you may go through rough patches where it feels like more of a burden than a blessing. If you feel this way, don’t worry. We’ve all been there, and thankfully there are a few things that I’ve found that help me stay passionate about photography in times where work feels like … a lot of work.

When I graduated from college and moved to Utah, I had to start all over again from scratch. Nobody knew who I was, and I had to figure out a way to start getting paying clients so that I could follow my dream of eventually running my own photography business full-time. Aside from things like networking, posting consistently on social media, and doing a lot of work for free, there were three things that I did specifically that helped me start getting paid clients.