I had possibly the hippest and most amazing shoot ever. The super fun and adventure-loving Stephanie found me on Instagram, loved my work, and reached out to me for a lifestyle shoot. She needed photos for her business website, and she wanted someone to capture her fun, free-spirited, adventurous personality. And as a bonus, it would take place at a this awesome Airstream, on top of the mountains, practically hanging over the edge of the world! Say what!? Heck yeah! And this is the same Airstream that Taylor Swift herself had once stayed and done a photoshoot with her friends! OK I’m definitely in! 😀
Prior to our shoot, Stephanie did warn me that it would be a bit tricky to get up to the Airstream, considering it’s atop the mountains and all. I drive an SUV so I was pretty sure I could make the trek. I had a car maintenance service scheduled that morning so I thought, good timing, my car would be in extra good condition to make the long drive to Malibu. Little did I know, my car ended up needing some extra services that required for it to stay at the dealer overnight and I’d be driving a loaner. D’oh! They gave me a 4-door LOWERED sedan. Ohhkaay, this…might… work.
So here I am, on my merry way, in my loaner car, driving up the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, heading for Malibu. So far so good. I follow the Airstream site’s driving directions, push up this really narrow and windy road up the mountain, about half way until my loaner car GPS wonks out. Then my phone service dies (of course, thanks a lot AT&T.) Yup, I’m lost, and stuck on the mountain, unsure how much further up to go. Looking ahead, the road becomes more and more treacherous, with a whole lot of dirt and not a whole lot of wiggle room. There’s absolutely no way my low loaner Acura TLX would survive this bumpy road. Nuh uh. So I thought – OK let’s just go back down, regain cell service, and call Stephanie and her hubby for help. Stephanie was able to get service up at the Airstream for a while so I’m praying I’d reach her. Well, ten or so calls and texts later, nothing. Yup, at this point, I’m pretty sure both of them have lost service. We can put men on the moon but we can’t get cell service in friggin’ Malibu? So now, I’m parked at the bottom of the mountain, just praying that Stephanie will figure out that I’m “stranded”.
Luckily, about 10 minutes later, I spot Stephanie’s hubby, Nate, driving by in his gigantic truck looking for me. YES! I’M SAVED! We drive to the nearest restaurant to find a spot to park my car and then Nate scoops me up and drives us back up the narrow, windy, bumpy dirt road to the Airstream at the top. Though relieved, I still can’t fully enjoy the beautiful mountain and ocean view on the way up because I’m just too nervous about the road (scared of heights here, haha), and that’s just me sitting on the passenger side so imagine if I were driving this by myself? Ahhh! How on earth did they ever manage to pull the Airstream up like this? Thankfully, Nate is pretty good at maneuvering. We finally make it to the top, and WOW, the breathtaking view! Kinda makes it all worthwhile in the end!
But all that stress goes away once we start shooting. With Stephanie being so outgoing, energetic, always laughing, it’s just easy to capture her exuberant personality. Oh, and did I mention her super cute big puppy, Roux?! She’s the funniest thing, always running towards her mommy and me, photobombing us every chance she gets, which I didn’t mind, of course! Best of all, at the end of the shoot, we get to kick our feet back with pillows and blankets, relax and enjoy a gorgeous mountaintop sunset, with Roux licking everyone. This is truly a dream shoot come true for me! Thank you Stephanie and Nate for a crazy adventure and an amazing, unforgettable photo session!
Here are my favorite photos from our dream shoot:
