I can’t imagine going a day without learning, without exploring, without growing. I had the great pleasure of learning to photograph silhouettes this weekend from a fantastic local photographer, Erika Thornes. Her style is very relaxed, it’s as though she’s a fly on the wall, just capturing beautiful moments between the family members she’s photographing.

I first saw her images on a friend’s Facebook page – Erika photographed the gorgeous family of five at the beach. Right then and there I knew I wanted to learn from her. I emailed her inquiring if she’d be open to have me tag along to watch and learn from her, and she was quite lovely in her willingness to share her knowledge and experiences. We tried to connect in the fall, but with uncooperative tides, hectic schedules and the holidays abound, our meeting would have to wait until the new year.

As luck would have it, Erika contacted me on a whim on Sunday as she was heading to the beach in the afternoon. Her friend Jason (also a photographer) and his family were coming to San Diego from Arizona; he too wanted to learn from Erika. The weather was warm, tides cooperative and schedule open – yay for me!

So, with Erika’s experience and willingness to teach, off we went to Del Mar. I finally captured some silhouettes! I’ve attempted silhouettes before, but would quickly give up when I couldn’t figure it out. I love these images and I hope Jason, Cat and Rowan do too! It was fantastic shooting side-by-side with Erika. Literally, tummies down on the sand, cameras in hand, working with the sunset, horizon line, waves and bodies, capturing lovely moments in time. I can’t wait to do more of these… with my daughters and hubby, with family, with friends, with clients!

And just as we had packed up our gear and were heading off the sand, we came across two surfers, who were willing to take a couple minutes to let us photograph them as well. They were amazing! Can you believe this handstand on the sand?! I have a hard enough time just walking on the sand! Simply, amazing!

I still have a lot to learn about silhouettes, but this whole experience reminds me how much I love to learn and share. I guess it’s also validating the decision to start this blog and share with the world! I hope my crafting, creativity, and organizing tips, and especially my “Photo Fridays” series in which I share photography tips, helps and inspires you, the same way Erika was able to help and inspire me!

Thanks for stopping by and have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day! Happy crafting!
xoxo,
/c

PS. I hope my experience encourages you to reach out to someone you’d like to learn more from… We can all be a tad shy about putting ourselves out there, but our world is full of gifted teachers in need of eager students to share with!