Folklor…. what?!

That’s what I said when I first heard what Tracy McKee wanted us to take pictures of her doing!  It turns out (as Scottie informed me) that Folklorico dancing is a traditional Mexican Ballet that is done using beautiful costumes like these!  And oh my gosh are they elaborate!  Just the process of pulling together the stage makeup, giant hair accessories, and all the layers of clothing was like a special dance all on it’s own with each little step being just as important as the previous… it was quite a production!  I felt very cultured and educated learning about it all! 🙂

We met Tracy when she hired us to do her wedding photography at Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona, Arizona about a year ago.  We had a great time getting to know her and Paul and we’ve kept in contact via Radiant’s Facebook Page ever since then!

Though we really hit it off with this couple, we haven’t gotten to see them since the wedding since they live in L.A.  So we were thrilled when they said they were headed off to Sedona, AZ again for a little anniversary get away and they wanted us to come stay with them for part of it!  Of course we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a little portrait session while we were together as well!

Tracy has been dancing Folklorico for years so she really wanted to get some good pictures of her in the costumes that represent such an important part of her life.  Um… not to mention they make for BEAUTIFUL photographs!!  We’re thankful that we even got to take pictures of something so beautiful to show off in our portfolio! 🙂

So we took a break from lounging around our little Villa while reading Elle UK on the porch (overlooking our scenic view), watching Twilight, and sipping drinks in the private hot tub to step out on the town for our little photo session… though it was hard to pull ourselves away from such luxury!  We went over to a shopping center called “Tlaquepaque” (yeah it’s hard to say AND to spell) because it has a nice old- school, Spanish flair to it so Tracy thought it would be an appropriate place.  And as you can see, she was right.

It was pretty funny though because it is a busy shopping center after all, so Tracy had cheers, photo ops with tourists, and random gawkers (asking if this was for a magazine) to deal with while attempting to pose and dance.  Scottie and I just laughed and said, “good thing she spent so much time dancing as various characters at Disneyland and she knows how to handle all this!”  She seemed oddly at ease as she stood with her arm around a random man who flashed a cheesy smile at his wife holding the camera!  Classy as always, Tracy!

All in all it was a FANTASTIC trip and a much needed break for us.  Thank you SO much, Paul & Tracy, for letting us come crash your place for a couple of days and for sharing all your food and wine with us (and your magazines!).  We had a blast hanging out with you both and hope to do it again sometime soon!