RTS - St. Louis Styled Shoot

Ok, it's that time of year again.  It's time to throw out everything you know of my style and play a little with me as a creative.  I am a part of a creative group known nation wide at The Rising Tide Society.  Their mission is quite simple: it is to support and encourage creative entrepreneurs through education and networking, #communityovercompetition.  I have been a part of the group coming up on 2 years, and it has been just what this newbie needed to get the confidence and knowledge to get her little boat floating.  Once a year, our local chapter teams together to create a collaborative event.  In case you need a refresher, this was last year's.

This year, there was a big desire to show off St. Louis for the amazing things we know and love about our city, so we decided to organize our shoot around an engagement that would take place downtown near Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village.  I can't even begin to describe to you the amount of work that goes into a collaboration like this.  Since styled shoots, while beautiful, don't really fall in line with my type of photography, I put more emphasis this year into shooting behind the scenes - be watching for a follow-up post to show you all those hard working creatives in action!  As a photographer though, I can't see a lovely styled shoot unfold before my eyes and not participate, so for now, I am going to focus on the styled shoot.

Our couples, 3 of the 4 professional models from Talent Plus, started with a walk to Ballpark Village, dressed in great clothing from Arch Apparel.  If you are a sports fan, then you know the addition of Ballpark Village has been awesome for our city and screams St. Louis.  It was the perfect backdrop to start our day.

Our friends spent some time walking and laughing and just generally having fun.  I mean, what says friendship + St. Louis more than sharing some local brews?  It was nice to see them enjoy a gorgeous day downtown amidst a city that was gathered to cheer on the home team. 

The engagement piece of our day was a ton of fun!  The couple has been together for more than a few years, so it was fun to see them practice that reaction.  And the onlookers even cheered for them!!

After the proposal, we made a quick stop at the Budweiser Trolley and headed back to The Ballpark Hilton to get ready for a romantic evening.  A local restaurant, 360, partnered with us to help our couple have a private space to celebrate with their friends.  And Paperdolls Boutique gave our girls some beautiful outfits to get dolled up in.

While we waited for our group to gather, our couples got to spend some fun time playing out their roles and chatting away. I really enjoyed getting to shoot these angels and that our couples were willing to work so hard.

The final spot for our evening was the top of 360 with a beautiful view of the Arch.  It was a great place to celebrate with an amazing cake from our own cake artist, Deva, and polish off the evening with a few sweet couple shots.

It was such a great time to spend working with other creatives and getting to play in a way I don't very often!  I can't wait to share the behind the scenes with everyone!!!

Until next time,