I've lived in Arizona for nine years, and it took me two and half years of styling to finally do a cowboy shoot...or shall I say cowgirl. For some reason, I have finally fallen in love with the desert this year. I've already done three shoots using the Sonoran backdrop. I think that might be enough for the year though.

Several months ago a NYC makeup artist, Tonya Noland, contacted me about doing a test shoot with her. In New York City she is constantly working in a studio, so it's really hard to add photos using natural light to her portfolio. She arranged a special shoot in sunny Arizona, and reserved time on a dude ranch. Yep, we got to use LIVE horses!!!

She sent me some inspiration and then I added my own twist to it. I didn't want it to be too literal. I wanted to make sure fashion trends were present, so obviously a bit of rock 'n roll and glam came out.

Eric Cassee was the photographer on the project and did a wonderful job using the light and the scenery. It was actually high Noon when we were shooting, which can pose a lot of problems for a photographer. Harsh light and shadows are rarely your friends, but he managed to work around it.

Because it was a test shoot there were only four looks, but I love every one of them. Rachel Yampolsky from Agency Arizona was the beautiful model and rocked everything. You need to watch out for this girl. She has the gift!

Michelle Herrick recently invited me to do some impromptu styling for a photo shoot with her and Ryan Young. I had no idea what was going to happen other than two Agency Arizona models would be present and bringing a suitcase of clothes to use. I saw some photo inspiration from Michelle's Pinterest board that focused on lighting, and I knew that the shoot was going to be in Ryan's home studio, but that was pretty much it. I wanted to be a part of this opportunity because I had an inkling that this was going to be a fabulous learning experience for me, especially since backgrounds and lighting would be involved. I also have never really been in a situation where a shoot was going to take place and I didn't know what the wardrobe was going to be, nor the makeup or hair inspiration.

It was SO much fun! Everyone on set was fun to hang out with. There were some limitations in clothing, but it made me not only think on my feet, but get creative. Both Michelle and I brought some fun clothing pieces to use, and with our powers combined we made some great outfits for the lighting concepts.

The other factor was that two photo shoots were happening simultaneously - one model and photographer in one room, the other two in another room with the beauty team glancing in both making sure everything was going okay. It was surreal, crazy and SOOO much fun! I got to back and forth to two different worlds it seems, and just create different looks without always having to measure it against some kind of theme. It was freeing in a way. =)

I hope you enjoy these photos! I LOVE how different this is from anything I've done so far, and I can't wait to get back into a studio and do it again!!!