Phoenix Wedding & Lifestyle Photographers | Session Nine Photographers

Christine is a hair stylist with Hair Story Salon in Gilbert. She colors my (Jess) hair so I’m fortunate enough to be able to catch up on life with her every six to eight weeks or so. Every single time I’m there, she is creating something new or setting out to create something new. Her creative brain is ALWAYS spinning and dreaming up amazing stuff. Not only that, but she is very, very good at putting her vision together. So the last time I was there, her and I had an impromptu brainstorming session about a styled photo shoot that would incorporate her Le Tweets. Christine makes the mosts AMAZING hair accessories- I have a few myself! She makes each creation by hand and I am ALWAYS blown away by the new ones she envisions.

And quick side note- she totally has amazing Le Tweets that are specifically for BRIDES. You guys. If you’re getting married and want to have a fancy little something in your hair that’s different from ANY other bride, THIS is the lady to call.

So anyways. We scheduled a time for me to come out to her very own home and to photograph models that she styled herself with all of her fabulous creations on. It was a blast. Christine has even BIGGER plans for her business and her and I might be teaming up in the future for some different things that she’s working on. Stay tuned for that! But in the meantime, check out the girly fun we had not too long ago. And get in touch with Christine to either get your hair ‘did’ or to snatch up her fabulous hair accessories.

You’ll regret it if you don’t!

We headed up north for the day for a creative project with Mikis + Rachel. We’ve known these two for a while now and they always rock to hang with. We’ve been a little more in touch with Rachel these days, as she is a wedding planner for Outstanding Occasions. She is amazing at what she does and we can’t wait for the chance to work with her someday soon! Mikis + Rachel have been married for almost two years now, but wanted to jump back into their wedding attire and have some focused shots taken of just the two of them. We wanted to keep it simple, timeless, and beautiful. So we teamed up again for this photo shoot with Alex Evjen with AVE Styles. Can we just say that that girl blows our socks off ALL the time? She is rad, so gifted, and brings so much to our photo shoots when she comes. She always jumps right on board with our vision and enhances it in ways that just really bring it to the next level. She is amazing and if you ever have a chance to work with her, DO IT.

So we all piled into our cars and met up just north of Payson for the afternoon. Fresh snow was on the ground and we had heard mentions of another snowstorm that was heading in. Not worrying about the weather, we headed into the woods excited to capture them amidst a winter wonderland. We had such fantastic time. Just as we were wrapping up (or THOUGHT we were wrapping up), a few snowflakes had started to fall. So we snapped a little while longer until it was really starting to come down. We started heading back to the cars when we stumbled upon this huge, old abandoned barn. We ALL agreed that we HAD to keep on shooting for a little bit longer, no matter how hard the snow was coming down. I wish I had an image to share of Jason and I huddled underneath our umbrella to protect our cameras, photographing the gorgeous snowfall that fell down around these two amazingly stunning people. We were shivering, freezing, and thinking NOTHING of the cold. Focused on only the art and of creating beautiful images that would last them a lifetime, we finished the shoot elated and refreshed.

Sometimes you’ve just GOT to get out of your element, right? And head to a new spot, look for the adventure, and be open to allowing whatever happen that needs to happen. We were pretty thrilled with the outcome of this shoot.

We set up shop in some fantabulous light inside one of the renovated old historic homes of downtown Phoenix. New City Church owns this rad space and since they’re so awesome, they graciously shared the resource with us. BOOYAH.

Jayna was a treat to hang with and create with all afternoon. Even when we asked her to “get all up in those books you like reading that are strewn across the floor”. And this creative fountain of a girl not only is starring in several film productions like Lemonade Mouth and Under The Bridge, she spews out new songs she’s writing like Chandler Bing rattles off sarcastic comments. (Sorry we’ve been watching WAY too much Friends lately.)

Digressing.

We’re excited to see where Jayna’s heart and drive take her in her film and singing career. Who knows where this young phenom may be in a year or two?

Oh yah, and the singing deal? Girls got some smoky pipes. Check out this little video we shot of her singing her song “Write It On My Arm”.

Model: Jayna Jordan
Styling: Alexandra Evjen
Makeup: Alexandra Evjen

Her groom.

It’s become really inspiring to me lately.

I’ve started noticing and thinking about the traditional wedding dress and I often wonder, as beautiful as it is, why does a wedding dress HAVE to be white? I mean, I understand the tradition behind it but I am really starting to fall in love with the idea of wedding dresses that explode beyond the boundary of the norm. I know and realize, this isn’t for EVERY bride. White dresses are classic, timeless, and will always, ALWAYS have a place within the wedding world. It’s breathtaking and beautiful, yes.

But HOW COOL would it be if a bride decided to throw caution to the wind and wear a dress that was edgy and risk taking? Oh, if I could do my wedding all over again I would TOTALLY do this. I would totally get married in one of these red numbers, for sure.

Or how about these??

I just love this picture.

I love the symmetrical shapes on this one. If I saw a bride walking down the aisle in this I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off of her!

And these two pink ones are just stunning. I would wear these in a heartbeat.

So this is what’s been inspiring me lately! I love thinking outside of the box and I think your wedding is the PERFECT PLACE to do that! To take some risks and be a little adventurous! To stand out and make certain things about your weddings things to REMEMBER. I love this idea. What do you think? I’d love to hear thoughts.

*All images found on Pinterest. If you’re not on Pinterest, you REALLY need to be. It’s my latest obsession.

Alex Evjen from AVE Styles collaborated with us again to come up with a styled look that harnessed the power of the disco era. Our good friend Christine modeled the looks for us and dare we say she was the perfect choice! She absolutely ruled this project with her fiery red hair and fun charisma. Christine is a hair stylist and owner of Hair Story salon in Gilbert, so when we asked her to capture the ‘Farrah look’, we confidently knew she’d pull it off marvelously! Christine was up for whatever we threw her way and has an endless amount of creativity and energy. We love clients that are up for anything and who trust us completely.

We hit some areas in downtown Phoenix with some bright and openly sunny spots to give it a little “California” feel, and Alex did her usual awesome-ness by giving us four super rad outfits to create with. Working with Alex is always something that we look forward too. Every ounce of work that she does to help create, collaborate and style a shoot is worth it. She is amazing and we never pass up an opportunity to create with her!

Here’s a little peek! Enjoy!