Behind the Shoot // Mother Earth, Father Sun
Mother Earth, Father Sun was an editorial influenced by my travels to New Mexico after a 7-day Vipassana Retreat at Spirit Rock in northern California. After my retreat, I came back to LA and realized that I was struggling to connect with the work that I was creating through the flower crowns. I had this feeling inside of wanting to create floral design work that was more; intimate, real and authentic. I luckily had a shoot after my trip to New Mexico where I was able to create some bridal pieces that were more earthy, raw and just different from the work I was doing earlier in the year. I was really inspired by that shoot, that I wanted to lead my own. I have never done something like this before on my own, so I wasn't too sure how to navigate through that process outside of just making sure I surrounded myself with a team of people who would help create this vision come to life.
I connected with Emily Magers who I had been following on Instagram for a short bit of time. The way she captures moments is really unbelievable. I loved her style, richness in the photos and depth that she portrays through her work. I was beyond excited to have her come on board and shoot the Mother Earth, Father Sun shoot and come to find out, she was also a resource of great contacts and led me towards some amazing creatives.
After a few weeks of connecting with people that I have met through the creative industry or through referrals, the Mother Earth, Father Sun team was formed. From details of the bridal dress, macrame wall hangings, crystals, prints and desserts, the vision that I had for this shoot was starting to come to life.
The next thing to do on the list was finding a location. It was important to find a place that was surrounded by nature and all of its elements: water, earth, sun. We found a spot at Solstice Canyon in Malibu. I remember driving out there for the first time with Emily (our photographer) and Garrett (our cinematographer) and spending time in the car getting to know each other and exploring in the mountains while it was sprinkling rain throughout our scouting trip. The clouds coming into the mountains while we hiked about a mile inland was really gorgeous. We laughed, we bonded, and we took a lot of photos of potential sites with Garrett being our muse for most of the shots! It was a good time and after securing our location, we were good to go!
In early March, we shot for Mother Earth, Father Sun and it was one of those days that could not have been more smooth. I remember driving out through Topanga Canyon and seeing the ocean. It was so bright, blue and I remember thinking how amazing it was to be able to do something like this on a weekday. We were shooting with Alex and her husband David and it was really a beautiful thing to witness them being able to share their love through this shoot.
There was NO reception out in the canyon and so it made it tricky for the girls who came later to find us...we were a mile in and had no way of communicating. But like I always say...the universe will take care of things that are meant to happen and the girls found their way to us right at golden hour! I am grateful to everyone who came out because it was a long hike considering all the materials that they had to carry.
I look back at this shoot and am so grateful to everyone involved. Although this shoot did not get picked up through publication, I was really proud of everyone who was a part of it and connecting a rich community of creatives together that came from both the West and East Coast. If you are ever looking for resources of people to work with or support, this team is truly a collection of talented individuals.
If you are ever looking for a dress and want the comfort of personalized attention in a home setting, Adina from Adina's Bridal is your place to go. She is the sweetest thing and has a bunch of dresses that she has on-site!
Adri helped created the desserts that were inspired by crystals and geodes. I met her 2 years ago when I first started THE CROWN COLLECTIVE and we've worked together ever since and have become great friends. She is so creative in her designs, so it was obvious that I have her be a part of this vision.
Juliana and I first met when I created her flower crown for her bridal shower last year. She has such a fun and silly personality and I am always in good spirits whenever I talk to her. She owns her own greeting card company with her husband and friend and if you are ever looking for unique designs that have personality and character, this is where you want to get your cards! Juliana created some prints for us for the shoot for our bride and groom to write love notes to each other that when connected, created a heart. It was a beautiful detail that really was appreciated on this shoot.
I met Lindsey from Laurelwood Gems at ImagineFest and connected because her sister and I use to work together...small world! She is so darling and I have one of her macrame wall hangings in my home because I love what she does so much! She came out with all of her wall hangings and bless her heart, that mile out on a dirt path with a roller was not the easiest thing. She is amazing and I love, love, love her macrame pieces.
I knew that crystal elements would need to be incorporated into this shoot, so I reached out to Evangeline! She is based on the East Coast and has been such a pleasure to work with and support from such a distance. I also own several of her stones and crystals and if you are ever looking for someone who knows their stuff, she is someone to be in contact with!
I met Alex through Emily and we hit it off from our first call! We connected over crystals, grounding and our love for all things earthy. She was very open about her story and there was a sense of vulnerability that I fell in love with and knew would be such a subtle element felt through the pictures. Alex does hair and make up, but we were also lucky to have her and her husband act as the talent for this shoot! I loved getting to know her on this shoot and was really happy to have this shoot be part of their real-life renewals to each other!
Last, but definitely not least, is the video that Garrett created for this shoot. Garrett is brilliant and was such a delight to work with. He is funny, charming and so easy to get along with. His vision and editing was more than I could have asked for and I am so grateful for his work on this shoot! Oh and the music on the video was made by a friend of mine I met at my retreat. Robert is such a beautiful soul and is so smart. I was so happy to have his music be part of this video. It really creates a special meaning to this video that I will never forget!
I hope that you enjoy the photos and the video that was created for this shoot and thank you again to the people who supported this project from start to end, xo
Mother Earth, Father Sun Creative Team
Florals & Coordination // Carolyn H. Brown of THE CROWN COLLECTIVE
Photography // Emily Magers Photography
Cinematography // Garrett Wedel of THE WEDEL COLLECTIVE
Hair & Make-up // Alexandra Flores of Elegance By Alex
Bridal Dress // Adina's Bridal
Wall Hangings, Macrame & Jewelry // Lindsey Taylor of Laurelwood Gems
Prints // Juliana Tyson of Good Juju Ink
Desserts // Adri Pioquinto of Maskipops
Crystals // Evangeline Summerville of The Lunar Fae
Music Composition // Robert Raymond
Colorist // Kelsey Rae
