It’s here! The October 2019 Twins & Triplets issue of Peekaboo Magazine is live online and available in print all over Northwest Arkansas. I am thrilled to have participated in this issue by photographing the cover image, and writing a feature article inside on Imagination Sessions. All of these images are very close to my heart, and I couldn’t be happier to get to share them with families all over the area.
When the editor, Kim, approached me, I knew right away that I wanted to do an Imagination image for Peekaboo’s cover. They are all about celebrating amazing families in our area and telling their stories. The result is one of my favorite photo sessions ever. These three-year-old twins love to paint, and what better artistic inspiration than one of nature’s most beautiful seasonal wonders?
The fall colors have a special meaning for me, as they remind me of my childhood. I grew up in upstate New York, on the border of Vermont, where each September would bring a wave of reds, oranges, and yellows so full and vibrant it seemed as if they had been painted on by an artist’s brush. It wasn’t until I moved away that I truly appreciated why tourists, nicknamed “leaf peepers” by the locals, would drive hundreds of miles to come and see them. Even now, when I see the world all around start to shift its colors, I remember the crisp Vermont breeze and the taste of fresh maple syrup.
Of course, photographing on location in beautiful Gulley Park in Fayetteville on a warm summer evening meant that we really did have to bring the fall colors with us! The models’ beautiful vintage-inspired dresses were handmade by The Paper Doll and Goldybelle, and their gorgeous handmade hair accessories were created by Whimsical Woods LLC. The paints were non-toxic washable finger paints in fall colors. Don’t worry, we didn’t actually paint the trees or leaves (and everything washed out of their beautiful dresses!). The girls got to paint on a thin, clear plastic sheet, but almost all of the color you see is digitally added in post-production. If you look carefully in the background, you can see the brushstrokes and painted-on texture of the trees in the distance. This texture is composited in from a close-up photograph I took of a painting that my husband and I acquired when we lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, a decade ago, and that still hangs in our home. The piece is a large painting by artist Hana Esop of colorful fall trees reflected in a river.
But my favorite part of this image series is one that I couldn’t plan: the incredible bond between twin sisters. Best friends forever, partners in fun and mischief!
Click on the title to read my feature article in this month’s issue, Capturing the Magic of Childhood, which talks all about Imagination Sessions and why I love them so much.
To read the full October 2019 issue of Peekaboo online, click here or on the spread above.