Today may be Black Friday but tomorrow is Small Business Saturday! In lieu of our favorite studio project, Focus on Wallingford, we wanted to remind you of some of our favorite local businesses. On behalf of ourselves and these places, we want to thank you for your business and loyalty! Shopping local not only benefits your town but families and people who are just like you and doing something they love for work. Although it may cost a little more at times, you can't put a price tag on the added customer service and knowledge of these business owners. Enjoy these few weeks of the holiday season and the new year! Don't forget to shop local tomorrow and all year long.

Just because summer is (almost) officially here doesn't mean your tan is nearly as great as you want it to be. Luckily, right here in Wallingford we have a wonderful tanning salon! The owner, Laura is so lovely and her store is so comfortable and welcoming. Learn more about what Laura had to say, below!

"Anytime Sun is located at 600 North Colony Rd- Wallingford. I purchased the salon Dec of 2014. This really has always been a dream of mine to have my own tanning salon and when this opportunity came about I went after it FULL FORCE to make sure that is was mine. Anytime Sun has been around for many years with a total of 17 tanning beds starting of with your basic 20 min level 1 bed and then ending with Level 3 high pressure 12 min max tanning bed. We also have a variety of custom jewelry pieces which I added to the salon along with many other accessories.

The new adventure at Anytime Sun is Norvell Spray Tanning which I just started up in March and I have such pride in doing the spray tanning. I guess I just love making people feel amazing and look amazing! Norvell Spray tanning is very very popular and I have been booked since I started this!!!!! It just gives you such a GLOW to your skin without tanning and the smile on the clients face after I finish is PRICELESS! =)

I have many clients who have been coming to this salon for over 10 years and still til this day, love the salon. I have such amazing clients who not only come in to tan but to talk and just check in, which is so nice. Also being located in such a warm welcoming town such as Wallingford is definitely a plus!!! I look forward to serving many new and old clients from Wallingford and surrounding towns."

Don't forget to head down to Anytime Sun this summer, or at any point throughout the year! Thank you Laura for your time, it was great chatting with you!

Thank you for reading this weeks FOW! If you own a business in town and would like to be featured on our Focus on Wallingford series, comment below or contact me HERE!

Spring is FINALLY here and with spring comes prom season! As you know, I've been teaming up with The Dressing Room and Salon Le Rae for a series of styled shoots. A few weeks ago when we were really itching for warmer weather we went to a local bakery, Mr. D's that is decorated in super fun way (and my favorite spot to get cupcakes) with some pretty Terani and Mignon pastel dresses and got to work. Our model, Cassie was so sweet! It was a blast working with her on this!

I really tried to photograph this shoot with a variety of techniques. I brought a small off camera light and used the beautiful natural light that Mr. D's had to offer. Using these different techniques allowed me to showcase the beauty of both garments that Christine brought from The Dressing Room as well as the interior of Mr. D's. Once again, Rachel and Jess did a great job with the hair and makeup for this shoot. It really pulled it all together. 

To make this shoot even better, we were able to use cupcakes as a prop (and we got to eat them afterward! Yum!) 

I'm so glad that I'm able to do these shoots with such great local businesswomen and feature some of my favorite shops! Keep your eyes peeled for next week's Focus on Wallingford post featuring...Mr. D's! 

This winter at Impressions, I've had the pleasure of partnering up with The Dressing Room and Salon Le Rae for a multitude of styled shoots. I have collaborated with both vendors before for a variety of things and getting to do these shoots together has been so much fun! 

We started our series with an Audrey Hepburn inspired shoot to showcase some prom dresses from The Dressing Room. When we came up with the idea I knew just who to ask to model! I did Maggie's senior pictures this summer and she's such a sweet girl! To top it off, not only is she beautiful to the eye but on the inside as well - I couldn't wait to work with her again. 

Rachel and Jess from Salon Le Rae nailed the hair and makeup.  I was so happy with how much it looked like the Breakfast at Tiffany's Audrey hair - 100% the look we were going for. The Dressing Room offers dresses from top designers. Maggie rocked these dresses by LM by Mignon 

I feel like this shoot really complimented my "classic style of photography". I enjoy the simplicity of an image and working with high contrast black and white was fun. Being able to photograph and showcase each business in a different "light" has been one of the best parts. I enjoy playing with angles and focal lengths to capture the beauty of the makeup done by the Salon as well as the details of the garments. Playing with the images in post production to give them a slight vintage feel with a modern twist was great because I don't often get the chance to do that. 

I really love these images and I hope you do too! 

We decided to jump in on the shoot with our lovely model.  From left to right, Rachel of Salon Le Rae, Maggie, Christine Rinere of The Dressing Room and myself!