And here she is, my favorite personal project of 2018, Mermaid Dreams. This creative jewel toned mermaid fantasy shoot has been brewing in my mind for quite a while. Seeing it all come together despite the odds is more than a dream come true for me. It is one thing to have an idea in your mind and it is a whole other thing to execute and bring to life, especially when it involves water and a handmade wooden strip canoe that has to be transported from point A to point B, a mermaid, candles and smoke bombs.

Those who know me well would say that I am a mermaid at heart. I have always loved the water and Disney’s The Little Mermaid was my top favorite movie as a second grader when it came out in theaters. I was on the swim team in high school, water played a role in both of my children’s birth stories, and for my 35th birthday this year I bought myself a swimmable mermaid tail from Fin Fun Mermaid which we used for this photo shoot.

The collaboration with our amazing florist Kate of Glory Flower Co. and my fellow photog boss lady partner in crime Emily Wilcox of Emily Grace Photography was so much fun. And this shoot of course would not have been possible without our incredible models and creative duo Sirena and Chris of Monsters and Lace.

I have never done a styled shoot like this before, and so it took quite a bit of organizing and Pinterest boards to bring it all together. I LOVE jewel tones and so I knew I wanted the colors to be rich and saturated in shades of turquoise, magenta, gold and cobalt blue. In hindsight we may have gone a little overboard with trying to do both a land scene and a water scene on the same day but it all worked out despite being a bit rushed at the end when it was getting dark (however it was perfect for our candles and lantern in the water). We originally planned to do the shoot on the Susquehanna River, but due to rains and flooding in the days before the shoot, the water was too high and fast for that. We ended up putting the boat in the tree line where it had flooded which worked perfectly to add a swampy, misty effect to the mermaid scene.

Speaking of the boat, I am forever grateful to Lakefield Weddings for allowing us to borrow their wooden strip canoe at the last minute. It took some effort to transport (especially since I could not lift anything due to throwing out my back the week prior) but with some help we were able to load it on top of Emily’s dad’s car and get it to the river.

And of course all of this would not have been possible without these amazing creatives and vendors who were willing to donate their time and let us borrow their stuff:

Personal: A Mermaid Dreams Jewel Toned Fantasy Styled Shoot

Melissa Hess