YFE very first photoshoot!

Picture this: you’re in the backseat of your friends truck and the windows are open. The sweet smell of woods permeates your nose as your eyes are trying to fixate on the trees that are saying hello as you zoom by. This isn’t just a regular old day of driving through the woods of Oregon, this is an absolute first and you feel a bit of butterflies thinking of all the possibilities that the next few days hold. It’s our very first photoshoot baby! Okay I will stop referring to me as you, but you get it, haha.

You see, Yay for Earth is my baby, my heart, my soul. It has been around for five years and never have we been able to afford or have time to have an official Yay for Earth photoshoot! Since the birth of YFE, we had so many priorities like fulfilling orders, making the product from my kitchen, customer emails, product formulations, packing orders (and that’s just 5% of it), and it wasn’t until I was able to recruit my cousin to be the king of the YFE space where Sophie and I could do the more visionary things! The aesthetic that we’ve wanted was not a possibility until this year, so we are fully embracing what we can bring to life and make it more beautiful with every photoshoot.  

 ENTER IN ALEX BEAL, photographer. His work has always been so perfect and beautiful. MY favorite thing about his work is the way he captures life and makes it feel like you are in the room at that very moment. There is this deep nostalgia I feel and he is able to translate mood and emotions with each photo. He had to be the one to create our first shoot.

 ENTER IN NICK, MY MOTHER FUGGIN BF. He is able to come up with ideas on the fly, he is one of the most creative people I know. Not to mention he is so intentional about a scene that I wouldn’t trust anyone else to carry equipment and carry the vision. We would be nothing without him.

 ENTER IN STEFFENIE. My great friend and biggest inspo of all things sweet and lovely. She emanates softness and inspiration everywhere she goes. She is also a lover of the products we make and it’s super important for me to only collaborate with people who genuinely love Yay for Earth. I feel like the energy and “modeling” becomes so much more vibrant. I truly want this love to permeate all spaces and for everyone to feel this intention - through the products, the photos, through our faces and bodies, and into the cosmos.  

Second,  I cannot explain to you how calming the space is. The creek was constantly ebbing and flowing around you, and we were able to take pictures all day outside around the location. It was one of those spaces that you catch yourself gazing into nothingness often, and with ease. Nature wanted you to melt into its rivers, mossy floor, and soft soil and there was nothing we could do about it - thank god. Our bodies were at a homeostasis with nature and I personally felt like it was the best weekend ever.

-Stevie