Photo Shoot with Emily Easterly

I've been meaning to share a few of my favorite shots from a recent photo shoot I did with my best friend, Emily Easterly...

For those of you who don't know Emily, she is a talented singer/songwriter you need to listen to, a fiery redhead, and my best girlfriend of best girlfriends — going on almost 20 years now (wow, that makes me feel old). We've literally grown up together, so the friendship and history is one I cherish. It's the type where we can still just look at one another or tell by the voice on the other end of the phone just what the other one is thinking/feeling.

In any case, back to this little photo-shoot we had. Emily was in town to tie up some wedding details and happened to be having her hair/makeup trials going on at the house where she grew up, so I came over to snap a couple pics. On a side note, yes — we both are engaged at the same time and are having a ball going over ideas, plans, and general wedding mayhem. Who gets the opportunity to be engaged at the same time as their best friend?

 

As you can see, she's got the kind of hair some women might kill for. I remember even when we were little, people would stop in their tracks when seeing her hair, asking her if it was really real — it's pretty stunning.

Again, if you know Emily, you also know she has a deep affinity and appreciation for The Beatles. Saying she's a fan is actually a pretty huge understatement. We decided to take shots around the outside of the house, but also in her old bedroom — where each of the photos, posters and other images of The Beatles and Paul McCartney's family have remained perfectly in tact after all this time.

Here's a better idea of the magnitude of memorabilia in this room:

Don't say I didn't warn you and yes, I pulled out the wide lens for that shot. I can't tell you how many years it took for Emily to layer the entire room with images like this. She could sit and tell you the story behind each one and I remember when we were in high-school it became a challenge to see if we could find any images, articles, books, or documents she hadn't already come across.

I feel so lucky that I was able to help document it after all these years.

After wrapping up indoors, we headed outside to get some shots before the sun went down while the lighting was just right. There was an area of stone wall that turned out to be the perfect backdrop:

 

It's beautiful here in Virginia, isn't it?

Here are some of my favorite test shots from the whole day, using my phone:

If you couldn't tell, we had a lot of fun and got some great finals from the shoot. Learn more about Emily and listen to her music here. Find out more about her passion for the Beatles and her childhood bedroom here, and keep up with her news over on her Facebook page.

Hair and makeup by Emily Hudspeth.