I met Natalie several years ago when the non-profit organization I volunteer for, Gibson City Restoration Association, opened up our recently purchased, former Opera House for photo shoots. Natalie was one of the talented photographers who took us up on the offer. She photographed an entire family in our vintage Opera House and the photos turned out fabulous.
Fast-forward to present day and Natalie and I have partnered on several different collaborations - from open houses to Harvest Fest photo shoots. I truly believe that the best way to make it in the small business world is through relationships. And Natalie is one of the people whose relationship I value. So, when she reached out to me to have a photo shoot on our property with all proceeds going to Gibson City Restoration Association, I was giddy with excitement. Of course I was in! It was a win-win-win!!
Our vision was to have the photo shoot outside with the corn field in the background. I prayed so hard in the time leading up to the photo shoot that 1) it wouldn't rain that day and 2) the corn wouldn't be harvested yet. As we all know living in Central Illinois, the farmers have to harvest when the crops are ready and the weather is good (and even sometimes when the weather isn't good and the crops aren't ready!). And for the first few days in October, the weather has been amazing and the crops were more than ready!
My prayers were answered and on the day of the photo shoot, the corn was still in place and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was a beautiful fall day.
Natalie and I brainstormed on the photo shoot setup. She wanted a nice fall setting and I wanted to highlight some of the items in my rental inventory. We chose to go with the provincial off-white brocade couch along with some fall florals and white pumpkins. The final product looked stunning. The mono-chromatic tones worked well against the natural colors of the grass, corn stalks and wood elements. And, no matter what colors her clients showed up in that day, we knew it wouldn't 'clash' with anything they were wearing.
The photo shoot went extremely well. And, since we had the photographer here and the couch all set up, my husband and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get professional photos taken for our business. They turned out amazing!! You will see these pop up soon on our feed and on our website.
The cherry on top is that Natalie was able to raise over $400 for the Gibson City Restoration Association. Wow! This money will go towards the restoration of the Burwell Building including the former opera house that was once located on its second floor. Natalie told me in between photo sessions that she originally got her start in photography by taking photos of old buildings. She expanded her clients to include 'humans' and started her photography business called Nerdybird Photography. She recently started photographing weddings too!
Check out Natalie's Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/3NzyQK2FXiDSVqJM/
And to learn more about the Gibson City Restoration Association and the work we are doing, visit our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/MjnSLooVRpj3tAZF/
or visit our website here: https://klintworthd.wixsite.com/gcra
She even got a great photo of sweet Bella who was so good while everyone was here for the photo shoot. ❤
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