I had this concept in mind for a self-photoshoot on the forest floor, with soft sunlight shining through the small kidney ferns while I wore a green dress. I didn’t have a specific location planned. But when my friend Christin came to visit, we went to the forest to take photos, and it turned out to be the perfect opportunity to bring this photoshoot to life.

We each took our cameras to capture whatever caught our attention, and I expected to be doing self-portraits. After I took my first photo, though, Christin, who had been photographing something else, suddenly turned toward me and started taking pictures. And just like that, this photoshoot happened.

It was the most fluid and relaxed session. Christin has an exceptional eye for the curves and lines of the feminine body, capturing them with such reverence. Every angle she chooses highlights the natural flow of movement — the shift of a hip in the light, the arc of a back, the way fabric follows form. Nothing she does ever feels staged or forced.

Also, it was only ten degrees Celsius (about 50°F) — freezing! Having Christin behind the camera made the whole thing so much quicker than if I had done self-portraits. Otherwise, I’d have been an icicle by the end.

Through her lens, she transforms vulnerability into power, and you see yourself glowing in a way you never imagined. She captured exactly what I had in mind: a mood that was grounded, ethereal, soft, intimate, and dreamlike. No one else could have captured it better.

I will let the photos tell the rest of the story:

Until the next sip,