I first met Emmaleigh through one of our mutual brides, Lauren Edgerton, last year. We reconnected on social media where this enthusiastic lady cheered me on to continue posting my 35mm photography and experimenting in the medium, right as I was getting comfortable with sharing my work. Her mother had studied darkroom photography so we bonded over our love of the experience, finally planning to meet in person to get to know each other and our business ventures better. As we got to talking about our similar life experiences outside of work, we quickly realized we were kindred spirits and ended up talking for over three hours!

Fast forward a few days and we were already scheming up plans, the first of which being Em's branding photos to promote the business she was just getting ready to launch. We've since developed countless ideas spring-boarding both our businesses, but I'll talk more about those later.

The objective of her branding photos was threefold: to show the active and nature-loving lifestyle that's as much a part of Emmaleigh as her fiery red hair, to show her styling expertise and enthusiasm for conveying each client's personality through their clothing and accessories, and to show the virtual assistant side of her business where she focuses on helping other businesses grow. 

As a native Ashevillian, we knew we had to shoot against the Blue Ridge backdrop that's an integral part of her story (after all, her personal Instagram handle is @redheadedmountainwoman) so we set of with her partner and pupper to one of their favorite hikes and views. We stopped quite a few times along the hike to Em could point out mushrooms or moss. We stopped even more so I could grab cute photos of Serenity. Occasionally we even stopped to jump on rocks. 

Once we crested the hill, Emmaleigh somehow managed to change clothes in the freezing cold putting on a gorgeous burgundy dress that perfectly coordinated with the muted colors of the mountaintop. It was freezing so we had to work fast, but luckily Emmaleigh's "extraness" - her penchant for excited jumping, cheering and especially dancing - kept her warm while also providing perfect personality shots for her brand. 

In addition to the fun photos of smiles and squeals, I also wanted to capture her more serious side, the one that's gotten her through so much adversity. I'd brought my prism with me so as she was doing what I later called "harnessing the power of the mountains," I positioned it to catch just a slight reflection, to indicate the former self she had metamorphosed from. 

A few days later, we met up at Mountain Mojo to finish her shoot. For these more posed professional shots, we just wanted to create some stock images to show her prowess as a virtual assistant. The cafe's colors were once again mutedly perfect, allowing her signature purple dress to really pop. 

Since our shoot, we've worked on 2 styled shoots together (with the one we planned getting published twice!), worked on improvement and expansion of my own business and collaborated on planning and styling offerings for her clients. The more I work with this talented lady, the more I see her true passion for building others up. Just Bloom Together is the embodiment of Emmaleigh's way of making everyone around her feel at ease and confident in their own talents. I'm honored to have created these images for her brand and can't wait to see where the business goes!

For wedding coaching, styling expertise and/or virtual assisting: Just Bloom Together