A year ago I had a winter photo shoot concept in my head that I wanted to shoot, so I picked up dresses from Emily Hart Bridal, booked Hoffman International model Kelena and hair + makeup stylist Michele Taylor and shot it!
I’ve posted some of these photos online but I want to post all of the photos and the story behind the photographs now, all in one place. Part of the delay in posting was that the photo shoot was accepted to be published in Alchemist magazine so I couldn’t post the photos online until the magazine was published which ended up being in July 2018. I was going to do this post in October for National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Month but I stopped posting online for awhile after I delivered Bennett who was stillborn in October and haven't quite got back into the swing of consistently posting online; so here we are.
As I was preparing for the shoot in January, I was reminded what a stranger said to me in May 2017, a few weeks after my first miscarriage. (My second miscarriage was in November 2017.) He said God had told him I was in a dark place—a season of winter—but that he saw me walking in fields of flowers. God saw me and my pain, and spring WAS coming. I wanted to symbolize the beginning stages of the end of winter and start of spring. So I decided to buy some flowers from Target and incorporate them into the photo shoot. It snowed the morning of the shoot which couldn’t have made me more happy. Kelena and Michele were perfect and I’m so thankful they could be a huge part in this photo shoot.
Flowers have sense become symbolic and comforting to me in the last year.
I am excited and a little nervous to publicly announce that I want to do more symbolic photo shoots but have women who have experienced loss and any kind of infertility be in the photos. I want to honor these strong women and their babies. I want to give them a platform to tell their story and have a tangible photograph to honor their children, loss, pain and hope. I will definitely keep you updated on these photo shoots. It has been on my heart for a year now and it’s time to make it happen. This is only the beginning.
Hair + Makeup: Michele Taylor
Model: Kelena with Hoffman International
Gowns: EmilyHart Bridal
{As seen in Alchemist Magazine}
Behind the Scenes video: