Refreshing Floral Inspired Shoot with Taylor & Alex

Model: Taylor Belle
Photographer: Alex of Fauna & Rae
Florals: Katie of Fern & Bloom

More than Just a Beautiful Element

Plants were the lead inspiration for this shoot, and when we asked Taylor Belle “why plants?”—turns out, it isn’t just for the beauty they add to the world.

Here’s what she had to share—

“Sometimes the environment around plants isn’t always ideal. The fertilizer isn’t always timed properly, watering can be neglected or overdone. Sometimes the sun doesn’t really shine for a few days - but they keep growing.

This is a lesson I’ve learned from being responsible for my little jungle—we are all resilient.”

-Taylor

Collaboration is Key

Taylor & Alex met on Instagram originally, and have been collaborating together ever since. Realm has a number of repeat collaborative teams that come in our doors, and we love seeing how each shoot, even with the same team, can create a completely different look.

Changing Things Up

Alex has been shooting at Realm regularly, so her goal was to challenge herself to use the space in a way she hadn't seen done before. We love the exposed paper roll interacting with the organic elements within the scene. Alex also did an incredible job of moving around each and every scene capturing a variety of perspectives.

Flower Power

During pre-production, Alex set up a planning call to finalize styling and props with Taylor and local florist, Katie, of Fern & Bloom. 

Conveniently enough, the shoot was scheduled on a day when Katie’s shop was closed, which meant the whole family of her pretties were being hauled over to Realm for the day. Y’all, it smelled s’good!

Often when styling, there’s a plan and then there’s the shoot day. As you beginning working and interacting with the elements on hand, opportunities present themselves. Katie’s suggestion to tuck these florals in Taylor’s back pocket created a dynamic styling moment for this scene.

Fun fact—Realm is actually the first studio Alex ever shot in.

“Before shooting at Realm I wasn't particularly comfortable shooting indoors and preferred a nice sunset outside. As my style developed and I learned better editing, I wanted to branch out and try something new. I then found Realm as I was browsing creative spaces available in Denver and of course couldn't resist the lighting and styling combo!”

-Alex

We don’t blame Alex for originally preferring the great outdoors! We’re a little obsessed with Mother Nature ourselves. As a natural light Studio, Realm is able to incorporate that familiar lighting element, but within a controlled Studio environment, making that transition to a Studio shoot far less daunting.

Tips for Your First Studio Shoot

After learning that Realm was Alex’s first Studio experience, we had to ask—what tips she has for someone in a similar boat. Here’s what she had to share…

Tip #1

“Don't worry... you have enough time! As long as you have at least a rough idea of what you're planning to capture, you can relax and just enjoy the process.

Tip #2

“Try new poses that seem wacky as heck and use the furniture in unconventional ways. Weird always translates well in photos, helps develop your skills and makes you stand out from others.”

Infinity Wall

Alex styled all of the scenes for this shoot within Realm’s oversized infinity Cyc Wall which transports a moment to something far more elevated. Alex constantly transformed this blank canvas for entirely different looks during her time in the Studio.

Looking Forward

After an interesting past year, Taylor & Alex are most excited for connecting in bigger ways with family and friends in 2021. Growth is also a big shared hope for these two, which (of course), brings us back to plants.

A Final Plant Love Moment

Thank you to this incredible team for sharing these images and words on our journal. And to wrap—here’s a final plant-inspired takeaway:

“We are strong enough to withstand the environment around us & grow through difficult times, and we can all restart if we feel the damage that has been done is stunting our growth. We can all “re-pot” ourselves, adjust our habits, and change our surroundings.”

-Taylor