I always love it when I get to do a photo shoot where the goal is not so much about taking someone’s portrait, but more about creating art. On March 9th, I had that privilege. And I loved it symbolically because it was exactly one year to the day that I put corporate America (and a job I was miserable at) behind me, 
and leaped in faith into my dream of making photography my full time profession. It also happened to be the day that my beautiful client / friend was celebrating her birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Carrie! What a celebration!
I was honored because she hired me in particular because she knows my work, and the passion I have for truly connecting with my subjects. She knows I always want to capture more than just a nice face. It’s the heart and soul of a person that drives me as a photographer. She wanted photos that would tell her story. I was honored and challenged! As we spent time together all day, there were moments of serious collaboration, of laughing (and deleting some of our “less successful” experiments), and even some of intense emotion as the cares of this world occasionally surfaced in our conversation.
Take THAT 47!
But to begin, we met at a chilly 7:00 am parking lot about a quarter of a mile’s walk from a smooth grassy hill where we (ok, ok, where “
she”) danced and leaped in the morning sun atop that hill, showing off her amazing, “47-and-proud-of-it”, FIT (beyond belief), graceful athleticism. She was amazing. It was like watching living poetry as she leapt and danced across that hill effortlessly (impressively, while barely getting winded!) Way to look 47 in the face with defiant joy, Birthday Girl!!! 🙂 And also: As I watched her, I I felt a sense of symbolism in my own heart — leaping in faith to commemerate the one-year anniversary of my new life!
Grace meets grunge
The rest of the day was spent in my home studio where we basically just played… and ate… and later in the day toasted with a glass of wine and did our best to create all sorts of looks from fitness to fashion to elegant to ethereal to gritty and intense. All the looks she felt would tell her story. It was a long, hard day’s work, but it’s the kind of hard work that makes you love the art of photography and the privilege of getting to do it for a living!
Here’s a few more pictures from the day, and after the photos, I created a little musical slideshow to bring it all together.
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About Sandy
I'm Sandy Powers, full-time photographer, doing what I
love with my life! My passion is PEOPLE! There is such artistry in people, and I love capturing it. Naturally, portraiture is my passion, but I also love shooting for the art of photography for competitions or exhibit.
I once watched an interview with Kim Walker, a well-known Christian worship leader. What she said resonated with me and pretty much describes my own story. In the interview, she said she didn't have to force things to happen for herself. She didn't have to push. She didn't have to overly promote herself or call people and beg them to hire her. In fact, she didn't have to do
anything except keep her eyes on Jesus and watch Him bring her destiny to her. That's exactly how I feel. I walk each day by faith, and my eyes are on Him! I have watched in amazement as He has orchestrated circumstance to bring my destiny to me. I thank Him daily for allowing me to not only do what I love, but to use what I love to bless others!
So, how is "the destiny" unfolding? Well. . . . My work has been juried into temporary museum and art gallery exhibits, I have been featured in Outdoor Photographer Magazine, my portraiture and fine art have won several awards in national and international competitions, and one of my portraits was selected by an Adobe Lightroom blog as one of the top 50 most stunning black and white photos.
I'm a member of Professional Photographers of America and the Texas Photographic Society.
Anything else??? Send me a note (Sandy@SandyP.net) any time! I LOVE meeting new people, sharing stories, and best of all, changing the "ordinary" to extraordinary through photography!
I always love it when I get to do a photo shoot where the goal is not so much about taking someone’s portrait, but more about creating art. On March 9th, I had that privilege. And I loved it symbolically because it was exactly one year to the day that I put corporate America (and a job I was miserable at) behind me, 
and leaped in faith into my dream of making photography my full time profession. It also happened to be the day that my beautiful client / friend was celebrating her birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Carrie! What a celebration!
I really like these, Sandy. I love her spirit. I really like the one of her floating above the grass in that first photo. Thanks for sharing these, and tell Carrie she is awesome.
Those are absolutely breathtaking!! This is what you’re meant to do!
Not only do you have a truly lovely subject in Carrie…she’s beautiful body, soul and spirit…but you’ve got a very subtle, and very nice way of capturing a person’s essence. I wish you the very best of success in your photography endeavor. If these pics of Carrie are any indication of your talent; you’ve got what it takes to make art with your camera. Becky
Becky, thank you!
Absolutely beautiful Sandy! Your reward after a long tough day of shooting, are these photos that not only show the beauty of Carrie, but the God given talent you have to capture such beautiful artful images.