DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA - I love doing passion projects. It's my first love. It's how I began this adventure with photography. I love doing this because it's how I materialize the images that I have in my mind—the ideas that roam in my head like a lyric from a beautiful ballad. These projects eventually make it to the sessions that I have with my paying customers. But not everyone can pull off these projects. The people that I use are special to me, to the idea.

Sandy is one of these special people.

The people I use in these projects are all chosen by me. They tell me a story just by looking at them. I want to capture or create stories with my images about them. There is something about their beauty that speaks to me—a gentle spirit about them. I don't pick them because of their physical attributes or because they are the prettiest people in the room. To me, that's secondary. It's about how they influence the world around them. Their beauty doesn't make them entitled or insecure.

I met our dear friend Sandy at a checkout in Target. She greeted me with a smile that was genuine—not one of those fake smiles that are forced because some training video told them to do it. She was very cheery. She was awesome, and my photographic mind wanted to photograph her.

Sandy has been our model since March of 2015. Every time she has worked with us, it has been amazing. That's 11 passion projects she has nailed with us. This includes the latest shoot we did recently in Del Mar, where the objective was to create images that can go along with poetry.

She has been amazing, and we are forever grateful for her work. She has been a great help as we have developed our style throughout the years.

If you know a person that you think deserves to have a shoot. Send us a message and tell us the story. We might go ahead and set up a passion project for free.