USA National Miss Queens in their Minnesota North Shore Photoshoot

I’ve never checked a weather app more during a photoshoot than this one.

Days before this shoot, I started getting really, really excited to have the 3 senior queens for UNM come to Minnesota for their sponsored photoshoot with me. We were so thankful to have Ashley Lauren ship a selection of gowns to me. From frilly & girly to striking and dramatic, we had our pick of beautiful wardrobe to shoot in.

Our 3 queens & their moms, their National director Jackie, the UNM Pre-teen and her mom (also Minnesota pageant friends & past clients of mine!), and Emerie Jones and her assistant McKinley all met in Duluth, Minnesota to prep for the photoshoot. Even my husband came along to help with driving & hauling gear around! We had everything we needed for a fantastic photoshoot.

I popped into the hair & makeup room where Emerie and team were working their magic, which also looked over the beautiful Duluth Marina. I started driving to our shoot location, about an hour from Duluth, that had been on my “I gotta shoot here” list for some time. Black Beach in Silver Bay, MN is worth every mile! I went up early to plan our shots, figure out any technical shooting needs, and then waited for the rest of the group to come up.

Then it started to rain. Then it rained really hard. Then it wasn’t too bad. Then it rained again. The whole group was so supportive to shoot in the slim hour window it looked like the rain would stop. And we did it! We managed to pull off photographing all the looks we planned, and even made a Tik Tok that has over 100k views.

I’m so thankful for the whole group came together to get these striking images. What was an unexpected bonus is that the light kept changing as clouds rolled in & out, so the variety of images we got was outstanding! Some are backlit, some are dramatic with my strobe light, some are soft and overcast, and others are showing off that makeup’s highlight in direct sun.

We shot quickly, and thank goodness we did because it started absolutely down pouring as we wrapped up the photoshoot. But always with a silver lining, we saw a double rainbow! It was actually the second double rainbow I’ve seen this month shooting on location. Feeling quadruple blessed.

Models: Alyssa, Katie, Jaclyn

HMUA: Emerie Jones Artistry

Gowns: Ashley Lauren

Photos: Brittany Link Photography

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Brittany

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