A Surprising Connection
As Nations Outfitters evolved I started to search for a photographer who would help capture the look I had envisioned for our new spring line. We have so many amazing options for photographers in the Birmingham area, I was convinced that there would be one that would totally see and understand the vision for Nations. We were entering into fall and needed to complete the shoot before the weather got too cold. Also for the shoot, I wanted to find local High school girls that would model the clothes. My sweet friend Melissa Salem had offered to have the shoot at her house which was the perfect place to have it since she had an incredible property that was conducive for creative shots.
After interviewing several great photographers, I narrowed it down between two, but the decision came when I was looking at Becky Abernathy’s website: Abernathy Photographics. Her blog caught my attention when she boldly expressed her faith. When Becky and I finally did meet I asked her all about her photography and then I asked her about her faith. What she said next totally blew me away. She said that she had been convicted by the death of little Bronner Burgess to be bolder in her faith as she had been the last one to photograph him before he had passed away. This was all I needed to hear to know that Becky was the one to help us with this project. She had no idea that Bronner had also influenced me to start Nations Outfitters. Sweet Bronner had brought us together!
After deciding on Becky, we were blessed to get six beautiful girls and three handsome guys to models for the weekend. They were Mary Alex Gilbert, Katherine Rutledg, Saige Donner, Lindsey Comas, Renee Nichols, Sarah Day, Tom Muir-Taylor, Sam Whitaker and Roy Gilbert. These kids were amazing as it turned out to be the coldest day we had in a while when we started the shoot, yet you would have never known it from the pictures. One would have thought that they were professional models in how they handled everything! Becky was amazing with them all and everyone truly had a blast making it happen.
LeighAnn Higdon and Melissa Salem helped me put all the styles together, while Genie Harris helped run the show. The two days were filled with shoots with horses, antique cars, couches, flowers, jumping, bikes, and lots of fun. About thirty of us gathered together and made it happen and I think our first photoshoot was an amazing success as you will see in a few weeks! We are so excited to show what we have been working so hard on and hope you love it too!