Homespun Ballerina, Self Portrait | salt lake city utah conceptual portrait photographer

Do you remember being a kid and getting ideas in your head that just wouldn't go away? Me too. I went through phases. Dolphin trainer, astronaut, football player, famous actress and singer, a scientist...

Being a ballerina when I grew up was another one that, obviously, I didn't pursue. I never even took a class. I didn't feel coordinated enough, skinny enough, pretty enough. It didn't seem like me. But  it was always fun to dream.

I was thinking about that last night as I was putting on my pajamas, and the more I thought about it the less tired I felt. My hair was already done from earlier in the day...so at 11 PM it began. I rummaged through my fabric stash, found a silky pink wrap, cleaned out a corner in a room and set up my camera. 

It might surprise you that the fabric is not actually flowy. I composited a few images of shaking it around to make one beautiful spinning dress and posed my arms and feet separately. I left the door and air intake vent in the corner intact because I wanted the viewer to know I was at home, just doing what I felt like doing. 

I finished editing at 3 AM, but how satisfying that was. I drifted to sleep feeling nostalgic, beautiful and artistically fulfilled. I wonder if that's how ballerinas feel too...