A $6 Goodwill purchase turns out to be instrumental in defining my vision for my photography business.  How can that be?

Often I envision photographic images that involve me but in order to execute the idea, I need assistance.  One such idea was an underwater shoot.  I was doing a refresher course in scuba diving at the time and my Dive Master had an underwater housing for his camera.  I asked if he would be game to shoot it.    

I purchased a bright coral polyester JLo sundress at my local Goodwill for the prime price of $6.  Figuring it would be destroyed after spending numerous hours in a chlorine pool, that was all I was willing to spend.  I had a couple others; a clingy number and a pageant dress unaware which dress would perform the best.

With so many of my hair-brained aka creative ideas, I just jump in, skipping the research that might have made the whole process less painful.  I figure it’s more of an adventure that way!

I didn’t anticipate the obstacles we would have.  My goal was to showcase my strength in a very feminine way.  Ballet dancers have that quality — ripped muscles yet so elegant.  Being a tomboy, it’s vital to show my softer side.

The sun was bright in the backyard and the pool was a perfect temperature.  Bobby was more than patient as I tried desperately not to drown.  I am a very strong swimmer and very at ease in water ~ I actually adore being in the water.  The pose I wanted to do required me to tilt my head back.  In doing so, you create an ideal pocket called your nose in which for all the water to go.  Attempting to hold your breath and look at ease when your nose cavity has just been inundated is very difficult.  Then there’s the flowing hair.  You would think that it would just drift beautifully around my face, right?  At least that’s what I thought.  Being strangled by my hair with my nose clogged with water and then the dress was conspiring, too.  And Bobby saying, “Relax.”   It is a small miracle that we were able to get any good shots . . . but then again, you just need one.

Following this shoot, I was slated to go on an European adventure, hell-bent on launching my photography career.  My spectacular plan was to go open-ended; possibly not coming back to the states for an extended period.  Schengen was my roadblock.  In Europe, you are only allowed to stay 90 days in a six month period on a visitor’s visa. 

Along with all my camera gear, a HUGE duffle of clothes and too much technology, I stashed the orange dress in there.

Again, my vision was to put myself in an epic landscape and become a small element of the scene.  

My first location presented itself in Iceland.  Near Vik, a black volcanic beach with a crashing surf extending beyond what you can see provided enough contrast for the bright sundress.  

It was late September in Iceland on the beach — yes, it was chilly!  I set-up the shot and ran down over the boulders to the sand, stripped off the snow boots and parka and danced down to the water.  I hadn’t mastered the timer yet, so my friend was pushing the button for me.  

The image we captured that day is timeless.

Another friend analysed it this way:  “She is calmly walking from the turbulent waters as they recede away from her. The reflection of who she was still in the water.  She walks with purpose, definite into a haze in front of her, without fear.  There is a beautiful metaphor created by the triangle of the small house in the distance, the crashing wave mirroring it in the upper left, and her in between, closest to the viewer.  She isn’t walking to the house, but it is up above her like a thought or a memory. Now that she has reborn herself, she is heading for the place where she belongs.”

Since that first shoot, I have dragged that dress all over the world, even trekking in the Himalayas, when every ounce you carry should be essential.  I received many baffled glances as I walked through a small village wearing the bright frock & snow boots.  Certainly an interesting choice of apparel to trek the mountains. 

Studying with the National Geographic master, David Alan Harvey, the girl in the orange dress has made her way into the foreground of the frame.  My mentor suggested that I should be a more pronounced element of the image.

Perhaps it’s my alter ego showing her true colors.