Colorado Self Love Mountain Session

A Journey to Reclaiming Yourself in Colorado Springs

I first met Celi during an extended family session back in December of last year. She and her family gathered together for short 15 minutes on a chilly day and we made magic near the mountains. Celi reached out to me shortly after, sharing with me that she wanted to work with me on a project where she would be the main subject. She was interested in doing a “non-traditional headshot” session for her blog and her real estate business.

When a client schedules a session with me, we also schedule a time to talk about their session, a pre-session meeting. Sometimes clients prefer to do these over video chat and not so often, in person. Celi wanted to meet in person and I am so glad we did.

During our hour long conversation at Loyal Coffee in Downtown Colorado Springs (my favorite place to meet clients), Celi and I talked about her “why”. Why did she want this session? What did it mean to her? This conversation was an especially important one to have as I normally photograph families and this session was quite different.

Celi started talking about her life when I asked her about her why. She has been a caregiver in one form or another her whole life. She spoke lovingly of the people she cared for. Her parents, siblings, children. I could tell that she genuinely enjoyed that time, and now, now, she was reaching a time now that will allow her to focus more on herself. A time that will allow her to reinvent herself. Re-find herself. Discover herself all over again. That was her why and it gave me the fuel to make our time together exactly what she needed.

She danced to mariachi music swirling around a sarape, she wore clothes that brought her back to her Mexican roots and she incorporated her sisters' pashmina for a session that truly reflected the beauty that she most certainly is. Towards the end of our session, I asked Celi to sit quietly and reflect on the things that she hopes for herself this year and the why behind those things.

She chose to share one of those thoughts with me. She told me that, to her, our lives do not exist merely for ourselves and what we want out of life. Instead, we exist to be able to intersect with others. To share our experiences and our journeys so that we might be able to feel like one big interwoven society of human beings. That is some powerful stuff. She cried, I cried.

Celi, I am so thankful for your heart. Your selfless and kind heart. You make me want to sing and dance and share the love I have and the journey I have been on with others. I know you are going to do amazing things this year and beyond. I cannot wait to see where you go.

Here are some of my favorites from our time together, before the state stay at home order. Before the chaos really hit home. This was my last official session before we were told we can’t anymore. I am hoping that this will all be over soon and our loved ones will be with us and we can hug tight those who we haven’t been able to in so long. Until then. Here is Celi in her beauty.