Bienvenido a Miami! Shoot with Justin Macala

I'll admit, the title of this post is a little misleading. It might of been more appropriate, oh say... 2 months ago- when I first came to South Beach for the summer. But instead of blogging a few times a week about all my new experiences I got so caught up in it all that I didn't post anything..at all. So maybe in the next week or two as I'm back between Jax & Titusville I'll reflect on the past two months and all the experiences Miami had to offer.

I can say this much- moving down here I have never felt more conservatively dressed in my life. My normal resort chic The Loft wardrobe did not fit the bill down here! I saw so many girls' butt cheeks these past 2 months I was sure there was some store down here that all models go to buy their casting attire. Aside from the obviously hand altered shorts almost all the girls wore around, the general style of everyone was very laid back bohemian. The kind of effortlessly chic that made you think these girls rolled out of bed with 5 minutes to spare and grabbed the first things they saw and everything magically just worked.

I could write about the fashion down here for days, but what I really wanted to share are some of my new images from my test down here in South Beach with Justin Macala. It's been awhile since I've shot for the sake of getting images to, for lack of better words, sell myself. I'm always shooting to sell a product, service, idea etc. I don't look like I'm 16!! An accomplishment in itself. 

Bridal shoot with Danielle Nichol Photography

If there's one thing girls do growing up, it's imagine themselves in their future wedding gown. I'll admit I've never actually pictured my wedding day, but I am obsessed with weddings. Wedding decor pinterest board? Got it. Say Yes to the Dress marathons? Know they're on Sunday mornings (And TLC has Brideday Friday). And I'll admit, I wish it wasn't frowned upon to make a girls day of going to a bridal shop and playing dress up. Which is why I love my job- it's the small things ;) Not only have I had the chance to play bride for the day once, but 4 times. There's nothing better than wearing gorgeous gowns, jewels having your hair and makeup all done up and then leaving at the end of the day with no hole in my pocket. It's the ultimate dress-up loophole. I love loopholes.

I jumped through my latest loophole when Danielle of Danielle Nichol Photography wanted to do a bridal inspiration shoot with an AWESOME sunflower field that popped up in our hometown. Danielle just married in March, & so we used her wedding dress for our impromptu shoot. (Somehow I managed to fit myself into her tiny gown!) I brought along my flower crown I made for my graduation party, and with some makeup and hair touchups by Anna Williams, we set out and were "on set" by 7:30, or was it 6:30? Mornings that early tend to be a blur :P No one really warned us that mosquitos swarm at sunrise...but all was okay since Danielle came armed with bug repellent, right? Would have been had the can not mysteriously lost its spraying powers. We made it through like troopers with a surprisingly minimal number of bites- success!

It's awesome to see the fun images that can come out of a simple shoot. I've been glammed up for bridal before, but even with just simple hair, makeup and wardrobe we took some of my favorite bridal images so far. Tomorrow I have a fitting for Central Florida Bride Magazine which I'll be shooting Friday in what I'll call "full glitz" (Toddler's & Tiaras is a guilty pleasure). I'm sure I'll post all about it, and it will probably be lots of pictures of diamonds and makeup- all necessary for full glitz ;) It's cool to see the polar opposite ways bridal can be shot, it all depends on the bride and her vision for her day! I adore going full glitz for shoots (dress-up!!) , but I have to admit I see my future bridal portraits being more down this alley: simple and elegant.

I've been told I resemble Kristen Stewart?!