May 23, 2020

Brenna | Spontaneous Girls Day

After being cooped up for weeks from the Covid 19 Pandemic, as soon as restrictions were lifted, my soul sista Brenna (a bestie from aerial arts) and I hit the road for a girls day. She took me back to explore her homeland in northern MI, sharing with me some of her favorite places to find serenity. It was something we both needed so badly; a quiet escape to recenter ourselves that only Mother Nature herself could provide. Once she asked I couldn’t resist; I packed my camera and we headed out early the next morning.

We hiked all around northern MI and literally chased waterfalls. (I’ll be posting another blog feature with the beautiful scenery Brenna introduced me to, but this post I’m going to keep focused on this amazing unscripted photo session that went down!) As the day went on, Brenna mentioned a park she planned on taking me to – the last park on her list – and the little cobblestone type building that she just adored there. Once we arrived while strolling through the park, Brenna showed me the building and said she wanted to squish into the tiny door frame and play with some wacky acro poses. Knowing how incredibly bendy and talented she is from our aerial classes together, I was super enthusiastic as I began to envision the photo opportunities.

Then it gets better. She mentions she just happens to have like 1/2 of her closet with her, performance costumes included! (Ha! No way, like what the hell is actually going on here?!) Before I knew it, one thing lead to another and we were putting together several outfits for a totally unexpected and unplanned session hours away from home! I was over the moon- I NEEDED the creative outlet, and so did Brenna. After we had our impromptu plan together, she layered up in her car, threw on a little makeup, slipped back into her hiking boots and we headed down to the beach.

The rest was all documented with my camera and the photos tell a way better story than I could with words. We just embraced the moment. It was wild and free; it felt as though all of the fresh air we consumed and time we spent with Mother Nature soaking in the Earth throughout the day had released our souls from captivity. Unplanned creativity burst from both of us while belly laughs rolled out one on top of another. I love what the session brought to both of us and how dynamic the photos are; I feel they are strong, playful, honest, sexy, challenging, raw, refreshing and just plain fun. We decided to include the bloopers with this session because not only are they hilarious (my girl has the best sense of humor) but it was just about having fun, so enjoy! We would’ve keep photographing until there was no more light, but our hungry bellies summoned us search for warm food (it was a blustery 45 degree day and we had been out allllll day long- surviving on granola, trail mix, peanuts, peanut butter fudge box brownies I made the night before, and water).

The entire day we spent playing in the Northwoods and along Lake Superior’s shores, finishing an amazing day with a surprising photo session where we both just played some more. I’m still so fulfilled from this day. On the way home, although we couldn’t get a clear view of the sunset because we were so deep in the northwoods, we both witnessed our first “Sunset Rainbow” that appeared and only lasted for a fleeting moment- but long enough for me to grab a quick photo. I have to give a special thanks to my Soul Sista for taking me exploring for the day, her openness and spontaneity, and enormous heart! We hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did, here are some of my favorites:

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