An inquiry came in through my website as per usual one day with a bit of an odd request. It was from a very sweet young woman asking for a family style photo shoot for her new puppy, which is basically their new baby. But here was the twist – “we live on our sailboat and would like to have our photos done on and near our boat and dock”. Okay, wow – so cool! I was hooked. It sounded really fun and a little different and I was so intrigued! I didn’t think a whole lot of it, I was just excited to do something new.
Portrait day arrived and we proceeded in the normal fashion. I played with their new puppy while they finished getting ready with those last touches of shirt tucks, lipstick and shoe decisions. In this particular case – shoes or no shoes? We are on a boat after all. 🙂
Small talk began as it always does because that’s where the true magic on creating beautiful images begin. Making a CONNECTION. Your subjects won’t relax and truly be themselves until they can feel safe, confident and beautiful in front on your lens. It’s not always an easy task, but with Ryan and Sophie it was pretty simple. They were super chill and laid back and we instantly clicked (get it? see what I did there?).
I proceeded to ask about their lifestyle and what they did for a living and that’s when I discovered that Ryan and Sophie are quite famous (LOL!) YouTubers who sold their home, bought a boat, learned everything they could and then set off to sail the world! Such inspiring and fun people, and photographing them was a breeze! They happened to be docked in Annapolis, MD for a short while to attend the famous Annapolis Boat Show.
Of course curiosity got the best of me so I had to ask how on earth did they find ME? As it turns out, they were docked at Herrington on the Bay, which happens to also be a wedding venue with the same name right next door to the docks. I photographed a wedding at Herrington on the Bay just last year, did a blog post about it tagging the venue, and there you have it! When Sophie typed into the google search bar “Herrington on the Bay photographer”, my name popped right up because SEO is a beautiful thing. She liked my style so she reached out and here we are! Even though I don’t live in Annapolis, it just goes to show you how important it is for your small business to practice a little bit of SEO, having some good keywords on your blog, your website, or wherever your long content lives.
Not only did we get some amazing photos, we discovered we are both in the “digital course creation” space as well! They are just about to release the first of their series of digital courses Sailing The World with Ryan & Sophie all about how to create the lifestyle they did and begin to travel the world on a sailboat! (Stay tuned for my photography courses coming in early 2023! Sign up to be notified HERE).
Not only did we get great photos, meet a fellow course creator, now almost daily I watch one of their YouTube videos during my lunch break and dream about what it would be like to sail the world! It’s a perfect way to dream, learn, be inspired and completely reset your brain for a fresh start to jump back into your work world right after lunch. They are the perfect length videos for a nice lunch break!
Thank you Ryan and Sophie for the honor of capturing and preserving those first few days with your new puppy Barnacle! What a perfect addition to your sailing adventures and the perfect name for your little pup too! Until we meet again – – Bon Voyage!
(Iphone uploads!)
Much Love,