This crazy thing happened recently. Mpix.com asked if they could feature me as an equine photographer in their national “Mpix Rocks” ad campaign. Of course I said “YES!” and immediately thought, “what will I wear?” (such a girl). Somewhere in the midst of that, I got that adrenaline rush feeling throughout my chest and head and probably turned bright red. This is such a big honor and opportunity!
Here’s the full resolution file of the ad, so you can see all the beautiful detail and great things I said about Mpix.com’s products and services. 🙂 There is also a page on their site about me, along with a little blurb on their home page. Oh, and on this page? I’m right next to Scott Kelby. Oh my!
The ad is running in the January-March issues of Shutterbug, Layers, Outdoor Photographer, Photoshop User and ON THE BACK COVER of Popular Photo! I walked into a newsstand store at the Houston airport yesterday, picked up the magazine, turned it over, and saw myself. Talk about surreal!
My dear friend Jamie Schultz of Jamie Schultz Photography took the photo. We met at a portrait workshop early in our careers, and she is the one who connected me with Mpix and MpixPro to work at their trade shows, which led to this opportunity. Thank you, Jamie, for being such a great friend and supporter. I appreciate you!
And thank you, Mpix team, for the privilege to represent a company I believe so much! You truly do ROCK!
Background on the Photo Shoot
In front of the camera is NOT my favorite place to be. Factor in that the wind was blowing like crazy that day, in the wrong direction for the kind of light we had wanted, and the horses were squirrely, well, it was a challenge. But Jamie did a great job! I’ll share a few other images from the shoot in a little bit.
The horse in the photo is not mine. Jamie lives all the way across town in Hudson, Wisconsin, so I wanted to do the session near her. I contacted Deb Hilger, who owns and operates Bleu Valley Farm in Stillwater, to ask if we could use her farm for the session. Bleu Valley Farm is a thoroughbred breeding, foaling, and care facility, and many beautiful horses grace her property. I owe Deb a huge debt of gratitude. When she saw us struggling, she came out and helped us try and get the horses to cooperate. After awhile, she suggested we work with her buckskin quarter horse gelding, who she had just gotten at an auction two weeks before. He was wonderfully behaved, and I have always had a thing for buckskin horses. It turned out that for the photo they used, his coloring really fit the setting, and he’s adorable. 🙂
You know how, sometimes in life, things just come together in beautiful ways? Well, on the “what will I wear?” question, the answer really wasn’t that difficult. Earlier this fall, I had a consultation with Sasha Weston of Fabuliss, where she evaluated my style, then went shopping with me (a la “What Not to Wear”). I got that green jacket the day we went shopping together and it’s my favorite item in my whole wardrobe. I checked in with Sasha when I found out about the ad and asked about what shirt to wear under it. I was thinking about defaulting to black, but she suggested plum. She’s so good. I have few photos that make me feel as good about myself as this one, thanks to Jamie and Sasha. 🙂
I did my own hair, and got my makeup done at the MAC counter at Macy’s in Maplewood Mall.
Here are some other shots from the session, taken by Jamie. This first one was my other choice for the ad, but I am glad they chose the one they did.
