Bridal Portrait in The Biltmore Estate Conservatory

What do you need to find inspiration around you? In my opinion, all it takes is a curious mind, a well-trained eye, and a thankful heart. All three are free, all three change how you walk through the world.

I’m working on teaching this to my children. As we drive to school we look at the way the morning sunlight, rising above the horizon and bursting out between hills and houses, touches and torches the tops of autumnal trees. “They are on fire!” we exclaim, delighting in the warm glow. It changes with every curve of the road, and a 20-minute drive turns magical.

In the afternoon, we talk about how the diffused light of a cloudy sky changes how we see Fall colors. The trees aren’t glowing. they are instead richly saturated tones of orange, golds, reds, and burgundies.

CS Lewis once said “[The child] does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods; the reading makes all real woods a little enchanted.”

I think of inspiration as a kind of magic. It draws us into possibilities that excite and ignite the imagination, and spur us onto creating more beautifully, more skillfully, more wholesome work than before.

This image, a Bridal Portrait in The Biltmore Estate Conservatory, is a prime example. Isabel’s pose is inspired by the famous portrait by Richard Avedon, “Dovima With Elephants.” The angular shape of her body and the palms, contrasted by the grace of her hands and the flow of her dress draw the eyes in and invite you to look a little longer.

This image was made possible thanks to the following collaborators:

Venue: The Biltmore Estate  |  Creative Director & Photographer: Sarah Bradshaw  |  Stylist & Production: Type A Society  |  Logistics & Planning: Beckon Events  |  Videographer: Chasing Mozart |  Florist: Kate Asire  |  Beauty: Beauty Bespoken  |  Bridal gown: Anne Barge