Floods, Fire Ants, and Friday the 13th

The fact that we were able to do this photo shoot is basically a miracle. It was scheduled during the week of what would become the worst flooding in Colorado history. Highways were destroyed, homes were washed away, lives were lost. And here in Colorado Springs, the rains came down and the floods came up, too! Leading up to the Friday of the photo shoot, I just kept my fingers crossed and hoped for the best because I'd been majorly looking forward to it! Thankfully, the weather did exactly what we needed it to.

Rebekah and Emily (the high school seniors who are the lovely subjects of this shoot) have become near and dear to me in a very short amount of time! They are identical twins. They grew up in Italy from age 3-17, so they are not only bilingual but they also have a super cute Italian accent to their English :) And they make me both laugh and think a LOT. They're pretty wonderful.

The first part of the shoot was in an open space right across the street from where I live; I've been wanting to photograph there for a while. But of course I couldn't just do a "normal" shoot up there; I had to suggest we haul a recliner to the top of the hill! (which is where the fire ants come in) I didn't realize how heavy a recliner becomes as one has to cross a street and climb a Colorado hill with it. Let's just say it took the place of my Jillian Michaels' workout that day. Then, we were so tired when we got to the top that we kinda set the chair down wherever, and that "wherever" just happened to be on top of a large fire ant hill. So my thighs were burning the remainder of the shoot until I fell asleep that night... and not from climbing the hill! I think I was bit at least 5 times. Did you know those little buggers have VENOM?!

 In other news, I recently discovered a photo technique called steel wool photography, and these 2 were the perfect candidates to do a test run with! This part of the shoot involved lots of things including, but not limited to a whisk, steel wool, a camelbak tube, 2 tripods, a headlamp, a 9 volt battery, and a cave! They were such great sports, even though being up on Gold Camp Road in a cave on Friday the 13th was a little spooky at first. When Emily took her turn on cave duty, she sang Brandi Carlile at the top of her lungs the entire time. I thought she was just being funny, but when we got back to the car she told us she sings when she's scared :) At any rate, it was a very eventful shoot and they are such beautiful girls (inside & out), so I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Sisterly Love ;)