Photoshoot :: In Some Way, I'm There With You

As I began typing this post, my little cousin Olivia was soaring through the air on the way to her new home. I say "little"--Olivia's been taller than me since we were tweens and, if I'm being honest, I look up to her as much as she might look up to me. We've spent our lives growing together, and I'm so proud of the intelligent, passionate, radiant human being she's become. It seems like not so long ago that we were singing Beatles songs in silly opera voices and making each other laugh with obnoxious fart noises--and look at us now! Well...okay, we still do that sometimes. 

My point is, I love Olivia more than I describe. She is honestly my favorite person in the world, and, as I've mentioned before, my number one inspiration for portraiture. I'm so glad we had time for one more cousin photoshoot before she moved away to start her fantastic college adventure--as always, it was a day filled with creative inspiration, meaningful conversation, delicious food, and hilariously immature jokes. Oh, I'll miss you, cousin. :)

"When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Song of the Day:

London Thunder, Foals

Photography :: Olivia

So much of what I've learned as a photographer has come from working with my cousin Olivia. When we were younger, we had all the time in the world to be our creative little selves; we began by taking pictures in front of my peeling garage door with my old Sony point and shoot camera, grabbing assortments of dusty old books with cool covers and umbrellas and other odds and ends to develop a story, a feeling, and having ridiculous amounts of fun as we brought it to life. She was the beginning of my love of taking portraits; fabulous on camera, gorgeous beyond words, and with a bright creativity perfectly complementary to my own, Olivia has been, and probably always will be, my most favorite person in the world to take pictures of. 

"Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." 

Henry Miller 

Song of the Day:

Slip, Elliot Moss

Style :: Canary

Here's an outfit I wore earlier this week for a marvelously cold and cloudy day. Notice a theme here? Ah yes: black on black on black. This probably goes without saying, but I love black. I could wear it every day of my life and never tire of it. It's classic, cool, and versatile. What's not to like?

This pretty much a uniform for me; jeans, ankle boots, a button up, and a sweater or cardigan. And, yes, all monochrome. I love working with basic pieces like these, because they're easy to throw together in a hurry, and yet an accent color, like this canary yellow bag, brings everything together. Simple and comfy with a funky twist!

What do you think? 

"Black is the most slimming of all colors. It is the most flattering. You can wear black at any time. You can wear it at any age. You can wear it for almost any occasion. I could write a book about black."

– Christian Dior 

Song of the day:

Love Me Again, John Newman