So much I can say about this session. It is one of my favorite sessions of all time. This family has been coming to me since the beginning. I have gotten to be a part of so many important moments with them. Every session they show up styled to the nines and ready to go with girls in boutique dress and boys in sweaters and blazers. Fall of 2020 arrived at the end of 6 very long months. Mom wanted to book a session but wasn't feeling the typical styling for a Fall session. So she approached me and said "I have an idea. I want to do something 'dark but elegant." Well I was all ears at this point as she laid out her idea.
"This year has SUCKED. I don't feel like smiling" my friend told me. I get it so what are we going to do. She laid it all out. One part Dark Shadows, one part Rocky Horror, and a bit of What we do in the Shadows. Splash in fashion cues that span decades of American history from the Golden age to Punk rock of the 70's and we had a timeless session that ooozed glamour.
One of my favorite parts of this shoot was not having to coax kids to smile. We just let them be moody. Of course the youngest boy was all giggles but his older sister was in her happy space getting to be a bit gloomy. My favorite of the session was the oldest brother who leaned hard into his role of moody emo rocker. He was fantastic. Total Rock Star.
Let's talk location. Calvary Cemetary is an iconic Botanical cemetary in North St. Louis. It's home to the final resting place of several famous figures and families such as Augustus Busch and his family, Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, Playwright Tennessee Williams and Dredd Scott. It is a marvelous place to visit and explore and carries the weight of history within its gates. From an artistic standpoint, the landscape design, architecture, sculptures, and simply put influence of time made it a perfect backdrop for a session meant to be timeless.
I'll always go back to this session that perfectly incapsulated how gloomy we were all feeling at the time. It brought out a little goth and darkness in us all and I was there for all of it!
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