Couldn't Have Asked For Better

Wednesday - August 9, 2012 

Pre-6am 
 My boyfriend and I woke up, had breakfast, and began gathering our gear for the day. By the time all was said and done, we'd packed: my camera and lenses, his camera and lenses, some props into 2 camera bags and had my tripod, 2 beach towels, a 32 inch reflector, a 42 inch diffuser, and another bag for two prop masks.

7am 
We arrive at Connie's house as she's finishing her hair, make-up, and the packing of things that SHE needs to have on hand for the session. We pack up her car and head to the beach, just in time for the sun to start peeking over the palms trees.

8am 
The beach is quiet, hardly a soul comes out here during these early morning hours. If they only knew what they were missing! It's about 80 degrees out, and so is the water.

I'll share some more photos (from the beach) later, but she hasn't gotten a chance to see any others just yet :)

We left the beach around 9:30, and headed for a local drugstore so that we could buy something to drink and she could freshen her make-up. Afterwards, we headed North to an Historic site that I am absolutely in love with. Because she wanted to do something with a vintage feel, I felt this location was perfect.

Around 10:30
The Koreshan Historic Site is located in Estero, Fl. If you haven't heard of it, especially if you're local to the area, I suggest you look into it a bit. This place is stunning. For more information, please click the link: Koreshan State Historic Site

We started our day at one of the first houses on the land. It's an old-Florida style home, well over 100 years old. From the front, there's an amazing wood framed wrap porch and a rocking chair. The image below shows part of the framework to the wrapped porch.

The property also has some amazing bamboo "forests". They came to the property by way of the Edison-Ford Estate. Thomas Edison wintered in the area, and was a frequent visitor to the Koreshan compound. Because of his avid love of nature, he supplied the Koreshans with plants to enhance the natural beauty of the village. We captured Connie amongst the bamboo, as it made for beautiful scenery.

Around this point, we've all run out of beverages and are slightly starving! :) This location allows you to leave, and return, without paying another admission fee so we decided to head out to Chick-fil-A for a little lunch. Afterwards, we returned to Koreshan and managed an outfit change during the last half of our day at this location. This is where the mask(s) were incorporated, along with several other props we'd packed into our bags. I'll share one such photo with you now, but the rest will have to wait until Connie's seen the photos first :)