Two weeks ago I got a group of women together to come along on a trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. I had always wanted to visit and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to combine a group of unique outdoorsy women with a desire to document their unique beauty. We set up our outfits and makeup options at the camp site and got to work on the transformations.
I wanted to create a photoshoot that represented different elements of a woman- vulnerability, anger, confidence and poise. Each girl was given a location, outfit and feeling to channel to get a variety of images.
After a day of makeup and beauty in the desert, we huddled around the camp fire eating cookies and toasting marshmallows, and later burrowed in our ill-prepared tents. The next day we went full adventure theme, put on our exercise clothes and headed up the mountain after packing up the campsite.
While completely different, the second day was an equally amazing experience and I am so grateful for the relationships cultivated with these incredible women.
While walking down the mountain, we began to discuss the photoshoot from the previous day. The women all admitted that they had been nervous and unsure of themselves and had compared their experience and body type to the other women. They were grateful that I had worked so hard to make them feel comfortable and that the entire group was so supportive as a collective. As a parting shot for the weekend we all stripped down to only our sneakers and posed in the trees. The point of the image was to celebrate the beauty of every body type, the confidence we had all gained and the support we had for one another.
XOXO
#sanddunes #exploration #coloradophotographer #destinationportraitphotographer #coloradoportraitphotographer #outdoorportraits #outdooradventure #outdoorphotography #coloradooutdoorphotos #outdoorlifestyleimages #fashion #stylizedimages #fashionportraits #outdoorfashion #sandduneportraits #coloradosanddunes