It’s been a few months since I first started working on my first Fine Art Photography Project. You may recall that my first series is titled The Your Story Project, and it is a collaborative creative project where we work together to create an art piece that visual portrays your own personal story. I’ve currently done three in this series, including one for myself entitled “The Girls Who Gave Too Much,” one for my hubby “The Man with a Million Ideas,” and one for my best friend Erin, “The Girl Who Was Really a Dude.” I’ve really enjoyed working on each one of these so I was super excited when Brittany messaged me that she was interested in working with me for one too!

To start working on one these pieces for Brittany – we messaged back and forth for a few days. We talked about the idea of relaying a personal part of yourself – something that you feel defines you – something that people might not know looking at you from the outside. Brittany gave me a few different ideas for her piece and I began doodling. I finally find my idea and then molded it from there. Brittany’s piece will be called “The Girl Controlled by Worry.”

So now for a little background as to why this title fits the beautiful and amazing Miss Brittany. When Brittany and I were chatting one of the things she talked about being a huge part of her life is worrying. She often feels like she ends up over-thinking things… worrying about all the possible outcomes. This worry often feels like it takes control of her and she can feel immobilized by it. Being someone who struggles with anxiety and has had issues with panic attacks – I completely understand where Brittany is coming from and how that can affect me personally. So I sketched up a couple ideas and showed her what I had planned. We actually did three different shoots for Brittany. Two revolving around worry and one just for fun at the beach.

I’m not going to reveal the finished Your Story Project piece today since I’m hoping to have a big unveiling of all the Your Story Pieces in the future, but I would like to show you a little peek behind the scenes of Brittany’s Your Story Project shoot. So here’s a little glimpse at how we set up for Brittany’s session!

Brittany was such a great sport with the Your Story Project shoot that I wanted to create something fun for her that would be a little more light-hearted than the Worry concept. I had seen this dress at Target a couple months ago and really loved it. I thought it would be a perfect beach dress since it reminds me of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. But I had this picture pop into my head when I was thinking about what to do with this dress and I couldn’t shake it… That’s usually a good sign for me. Here’s a little gif of each layer as it’s added.

This particular image is a composite of 8 different images and a TON of layers to build the final piece. I’d say it took me probably 2 or 3 hours to put together. Usually my ideas have a strong concept base before I create them… but this image popped into my head and I felt pushed to bring it to life. I just really like the idea of this angel all alone somewhere on this beach. And the more I worked on it the more the story started to make itself clear to me.

We’ve all met someone like this. A kind, sweet person… an angel of an individual. They are that person who stands along the shoreline, as the waves come crashing in shining a light, a beacon for others. They themselves may be lost or fallen or broken, often unbeknownst to those around them. But there they stand, doing everything they can to help others from coming to harm. A beacon of light in the darkness for others, though they themselves may feel hopelessly lost.

Here’s the finished piece

Well I hope you enjoyed this little peek behind the scenes of another one of my Fine Art shoots. I had so much fun with Brittany and these pieces were a blast to create! If you’re at all interested in participating in my fine art series – I’d love to hear from you! Simply contact me through the contact form on my site here and we’ll plan your shoot too!