We recently caught up with popular photographer Sarah Embree of Embree Photography. Her work never ceases to amaze us ~ her art evokes everything that we love about childhood innocence and imagination, yet her images are also sophisticated and polished art pieces.

We're honored that she relies on so many of our Decor pieces to set the stage for her photographic sessions, and we couldn't wait to get inside her head a bit to see what goes on behind the lens at Embree Photography.

SWT: Your recent work has a couture fashion feel. How do you create the settings and costumes for your shoots?
Sarah: I have teamed up with some great fashion designers and boutiques. I photographed the little girls with the gypsy chandelier with the help of Janay Deann Designs, and she does amazing work! I came up with the location inspiration from the name of the fashion designer's collection, which was "Roses." I love using unique locations, and I knew of this beautiful flower field, and it just worked. The ShopWildThings chandelier took this couture session to the next level with elegance. It all worked out so perfectly!

SWT: (referring to the 2nd photo) We keep staring at this image ~ our pink "Sleeping Beauty" canopies never looked so dreamy! Speaking of elegant ~ what words do your clients most often utter when they first open their finished pieces from Embree Photography?
Sarah: I had to go look back at e-mails. Here are a couple:

"Yes!! loved them all so much! The best pics of Kay till this day!! Thank you so much again! You're awesome!" -Dulce

"Amazing and Beautiful" -Tammy

"Love love love. ..thank you so so much" - Staci

SWT: Without giving too much away, what is your next big photographic project?
Sarah: My next big photo project is something involving the whole family.

SWT: You do such a great job of incorporating childhood and imagination into shoots that have a sophisticated edge, as in the image above where a tiny fairy seems to come to life against the backdrop of a blue Fairytale canopy and a pink swirl chandelier. How do you balance the sophistication of your interpretation against the age and childhood-oriented themes of your shoots?
Sarah: That is a very good question. I try to let the child play the part in his/her own way, and then on my side of things, such as props, outfits, hair, and processing, I put the more sophisticated edge. So the sophisticated, edgy part is me, and the childhood and magic is the child.

SWT: We love your recent work with our chandeliers. How did you "dream up" the setting for these sessions?
Sarah: I just imagined something out of a dream. For my recent pixie shoots, I tried to imagine where a pixie would live and what her house would look like. The ShopWildThings pink chandelier Chelsea Swirl, hanging inside a beautiful canopy that I also got from ShopWildThings ~ they just screamed to me, "fairy." The Chelsea Swirl looks like a swirl of magic and pixie dust, and the canopy just held some sort of magic, especially with the flowers adorning the top. I thought it was the perfect fit!

SWT: What are your favorite ShopWildThings products? How do you use them to set your shoots apart?
Sarah: Oh gosh! Everything! LOL, no but really, there are so many different products I would still love to use from ShopWildThings because the variety is so large! I really love the crystals, canopies and chandeliers. They are so classy, and so artistically made.

Along those lines, we love the little girl's fascinator fabulous closeup as she peeks through our gold bubbles bead curtain.

SWT: What's your dream product ~ either something that we carry that you'd love to splurge on, or something you haven't seen that you would use? How would you use this "dream product"?
Sarah: My dream product would be to have a forest area just covered in ShopWildThings LED Curtains and Fairy Lights! I would have them all somehow powered up and have a mascarade ball.

We're pretty glad that she tried our FabuLush floral bead curtain, too.

SWT: What advice do you have for photographers who would like to break into fantasy/interpretive childhood work?
Sarah: My advice would be take it little by little. Try to develop your own since of style before jumping in head first. Try to be original!

SWT: Sarah, we can't thank you enough for sharing your thoughts about all things childhood magic with us. We love your work and can't wait to feature you again here on the blog and, of course, on our main website. We're delighted to see all of the creative ways that you find to incorporate our products into your stunning images.