Spring on the Line | A Society 512 Creative Portraits Editorial in Spicewood, Texas
Vintage linens, spring flowers, and a creative portrait session with the Society 512 team at Grelle Recreation Area.
An Old Idea, a New Spring
I've had a fascination with those old-fashioned clothesline photographs for years. You know the ones, with sheets and linens hanging between trees, wooden clothespins, and a certain simplicity that makes you wonder why something so ordinary can be so visually interesting. I'd come across different versions of them here and there, and every time, I'd think about how much I'd enjoy creating something along those lines myself.
Earlier this spring, I finally decided to do something with the idea. I started collecting inspiration on Pinterest, putting together a mood board, and figuring out how I might build an entire creative session around it. What began with clotheslines and hanging linens gradually expanded into a vintage-inspired spring picnic, with white dresses, flowers, quilts, old-fashioned accessories, and a few other details that helped tie everything together.
I called it Spring on the Line, and it became one of our May creative sessions with the Society 512 Creative & Ambassador Team.
An Idea That Had Been Waiting for the Right Time
One of the things I enjoy about these creative sessions is having the opportunity to explore ideas that don't necessarily fit into a traditional portrait session. Sometimes the starting point is a location, sometimes it's a particular style of clothing, and occasionally it's something as simple as a photograph I saw years ago that I haven't quite been able to get out of my head.
For this one, I wanted something that felt a little old-fashioned without becoming a costume shoot. The white dresses, delicate fabrics, crocheted head coverings, and vintage-inspired accessories all helped establish that direction. I also wanted the setting to feel relaxed and lived-in, rather than perfectly arranged to the point that nobody would dare sit down or touch anything.
Once I had the general concept worked out, I started putting together a mood board and sharing ideas with the girls and their moms. I had a pretty good picture in my head of what I wanted, from the white dresses and vintage-inspired hair accessories to the linens, flowers, and picnic details. But bringing all of that together became a collaborative effort.
The families gathered much of what we needed, and we went back and forth on clothing, accessories, and different pieces that might work with the overall concept. Some of the smallest details ended up being among my favorites. One of the moms found old-fashioned wooden clothespins, the kind without springs, which were perfect for the clotheslines. There was also a pitcher of tea with freshly cut lemons, along with the quilts, linens, baskets, and other pieces that gave the picnic setting its character.
And then there were the chairs.
I'd spotted a couple of chairs sitting beside the road during one of my runs a few weeks earlier. Someone was giving them away, and as I passed, I started thinking about how I might use them in a future shoot. It didn't take long before Spring on the Line came to mind. I knocked on the door, asked if I could have them, and went back later to pick them up.
They weren't exactly what you'd expect to find in a vintage spring picnic, but with the quilts and linens draped over them, they fit right in. Sometimes an interesting prop turns up in the least expected place, including the side of the road when you're supposed to be out running.
A Spring Afternoon at Grelle Recreation Area
We photographed the session at Grelle Recreation Area in Spicewood, Texas, a Travis County park with open grassland, trees, and a natural setting that suited the concept. I arrived ahead of the girls and their families to look around, settle on our locations, and figure out how I wanted to arrange everything.
Part of what appealed to me was the tall grass. It gave the photographs a softer, less manicured setting, and I liked the way the white fabrics and dresses would stand out against it. Admittedly, when the girls first saw where I was setting things up, I think they were a little curious about my choice of location. But I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted the finished photographs to look like.
The clotheslines became one part of the setting, with hanging fabrics creating backgrounds and opportunities to photograph through different layers. The picnic arrangement gave us another direction, incorporating the quilts, baskets, flowers, tea, and other accessories we'd brought together.
From there, we had plenty of room to work with the girls individually and together, moving between the different arrangements and making use of the surrounding landscape.
Creative Portraits Beyond the Clothesline
Although the clothesline was the original inspiration, I didn't want every photograph to revolve around it. Once we had everything in place, there were several different directions I wanted to explore.
The group portraits were an important part of the afternoon, especially with the girls wearing different interpretations of the same general wardrobe concept. The dresses and accessories complemented one another without being identical, which gave the photographs a cohesive appearance while still allowing each girl to have her own style.
I also wanted to spend time photographing them individually. That's often where I can experiment a little more with composition, expression, and the details of the setting. We worked with the hanging linens, the flowers, the surrounding grass, and some patterned shadows that created a completely different look from the softer picnic photographs.
Those variations are part of what I enjoy about planning a creative session. I may begin with a fairly specific visual idea, but I don't want to limit myself to recreating the pictures on the mood board. The inspiration gives us a direction. Once we're actually photographing, I want the freedom to explore what else might work.
By the time we finished, we had photographs that ranged from relaxed portraits around the picnic setting to more stylized individual compositions. They all belonged to the same general concept, but each had something a little different to offer.
A Little More Room to Create
Spring on the Line is a good example of why I enjoy having the Society 512 Creative & Ambassador Team. It gives me an opportunity to develop ideas I've been wanting to try, and it gives the girls a chance to participate in sessions that are quite different from the portraits we might create for their senior year.
There's also something enjoyable about the process of putting one of these sessions together. The conversations about wardrobe, the exchange of ideas, finding the right accessories, and figuring out how to make everything work in a real location are all part of the creative process. And I appreciate the time and effort the families put into helping bring those ideas to life.
What started as an old-fashioned clothesline photograph I'd wanted to try for years eventually became an entire spring editorial in a field outside Spicewood. The original idea was still there, but it had grown into something much more interesting than the few sheets hanging between trees I'd first imagined.
And those chairs I found on the side of the road? They've since moved on to wherever old chairs go after their brief careers in photography. I couldn't tell you where that is, but they served their purpose beautifully.
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