You did WHAT?
Erin Broadway...thank you!
I have hiked the trail before and knew it held some gorgeous views, challenging climbs and enough time to let the mind and body have some good escape time. I was craving this, just for me. It was a cool morning, and I felt pretty good and started the climb with almost no one around. It was still early so trails weren't packed like they would be later in the day.
Of course I stopped for some pictures and just take in the view here and there on the climb to the Continental Divide overlook.
I had seen a couple sets of people, and one was 2 girls that I had passed, and then they ended passing me. The second time as I was pacing myself to them, I noticed the gorgeous hair that one of the hikers had, pulled back into a loose long pony tail. Seriously amazing. All I could thing of was....PICTURES lol, and how amazing she would look at the top of the hill with all that red hair!
So, probably sounding a little creepy, I got up the courage to go introduce myself, talk to the girls for a bit and awkwardly ask if I could photograph her! Wow, WAY out of my comfort zone and had I not been inspired by and heard of other photographer friends that have asked random people that caught their eye for whatever reason, asking to do some quick pictures, I would have never in a million years put myself out there. I'm glad I did!
First off, these two ladies were SO cool and chill and said they didn't even think twice that I asked! WHAT???? REALLY ?? YAYYYY!!! lol And...it turns out Erin was a hair model growing up so, I guess I'm not the only one who noticed her stunning locks!! 😉
I shot a very quick 20-40 frames, got her email, and thanked them so much for letting me intrude on their day. I finished my hike and not 10 minutes after I had headed off to continue my hike, I thought of ALL the cool shots I should have taken lol. Like SO many cool ideas that entered my mind a LITTLE too late. The upside is, I got the courage to do something uncomfortable! I kept telling myself, all she could say is no! Now that I've done it once, I will feel more comfortable taking a little more time and not putting unneeded pressure on myself to "HURRY UP"! I will be able to let my creativity emerge a little more and actually develop a skill of letting inspiration flow more rapidly!! A win/win for sure!
So THANK YOU to Erin, truly, for not making me feel like a dork, and being so willing to get in front of my camera on the spur of the moment!
The final take away and bonus for me is, I plan to meet up with her and her boyfriend to do further shooting in the future! As I ALWAYS say, I love making meaningful connections and by taking a chance, I did just that!!
Thank you for checking in on THE BLOG, and until next week...
💓
Below are three more favorites from our five minutes together!