The Traveling Dress Photo Shoot

I was up before four a.m. to help with a photo shoot. Stephanie had been awarded the honor, along with seven other professional photographers, of showcasing a layout taken with a “traveling dress” that was mailed from photographer to photographer, over several weeks. We drove to her chosen locale: a solitary dock jutting into Lake Washington. My inspired, on fire daughter began shooting well before sunrise.

I was her assistant, tasked with guarding the camera and tripod that she carefully positioned before running out onto the dock, swaying, prancing, dancing, her layers of tulle skirts swirling, flowing, and glowing in the backlight. She set the camera to take one hundred shots at a time, reset the hundred over and over, moving the camera here and there, checking the angles, the exposures, scrunching her face when not pleased with the results, grinning with an I like that one . . . pretty! with ones that captured her creative spirit.

In the flow, she braved splinters and gravel on her bare feet; her legs seized with charley horses as she crouched and squatted; she gazed into the searing sunrise for that look-directly-into-the-camera picture. She chuckled when the voluminous layers of tulle snagged on weathered planks, and dipped into the water. The “holy-water” drops on the gown served as grace-filled glitter, a blessing on her project.

At one point, a policeman drove by and motioned to Stephanie. He was concerned when he saw her dashing toward the edge of the pier, thinking she would jump. She and I later mused at the vivid image of “doing a Virginia Wolf exit from the world”.

My heart clenched to hear Steph’s response to the officer: I’m just playing.

My hard working and relationship challenged daughter could so use more lightness, more playtime in her life. She deserved beauty, pleasure, and amusement. She deserved to be admired, cherished and loved.

Stephanie shot for over two hours, taking thousands of images. Self-portraits galore, each showing a different aspect of the glory of the woman she is: beautiful, regal, talented, sensitive, vulnerable, strong.

I glow in her glory.

Here’s the link to her website post The Traveling Dress