Last Summer found me in the Hamptons surrounded by a team of creative professionals that I am also lucky enough to call my great friends, sisters even! This team was assembled for the second year in a row to photograph the Donna Morgan campaign, led by the amazing Kathleen McFeeters, who has come to be a dear friend of mine thanks to the Engage Luxury Business Summits! I met Kathleen in Grand Cayman as she sat for me while I was ‘portraiting’ with some of the attendees at the conference and she patiently waited for me and then we got to her time to sit and she literally sat in the chair I pulled over so gracefully, she was like a ribbon fluttering into place. I was so taken by her confidence, her easy way with me, it felt like we were already friends. After the conference, I received a formal invitation to work with her and the whole Donna Morgan team to create their 2015 on location catalog and I was beyond ecstatic (that post will come up soon, I promise!) to work with everyone.
Flash forward to this year’s shoot and we found ourselves at Kathleen’s home on the Hamptons as our home base / first location! It was beyond wow, like literally the stuff you see in magazines! Kathleen in an amazing gardener and decorator and cook and I literally felt like I was living in a Pinterest board come to life complete with steaks on the grill and fresh farm stand tomato salad and the best company a girl could ask for! I stayed in the pool house (pictured above) and it was as delightful as it looks! We arrived the day before, after many ferries and drives past vineyards galore and bopped around the town to scout for the shoot the next day. This is my favorite part- checking out spaces and seeing the potential! Gauging the light was the only challenge as we weren’t entirely sure what the light would look like at any given time- I have not yet honed that superhero skill- but what a fabulous way to see a new area. Plus, even thought Kathleen has been going here for years upon years, I see things that others don’t so it was doubly fun showing her how I saw the town and all of the spaces that she wanted to work at!
All in all, it was a dream trip with a dream team of professionals who placed 100% of their trust in me and it was just so…. FUN! Until this summer’s shoot, ladies!
creative partners:
gowns: Donna Morgan
styling: Beth Chapman Styling
hair + makeup: Catie & Amy
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