At the beginning of the summer I had the pleasure of shooting with Mikala Wilbow from She Surfs Photography for a project around Nalu Beads.

Naturally, this called for sandy shorelines, a hot summer’s day, and a roadtrip down the south coast of Australia.

While Mikala and I had met and worked together a few times before, I had yet to hear of Nalu Beads, a line of jewellery created with the sun, surf and outdoors in mind.

Safe to say their whimsical, unique designs intrigued me — not to mention the fact that “Nalu” means “Wave” in Hawaiian, so I was pretty much on board from that moment on.

Inspired by that special something in everything

What I love about Mikala’s style of shooting, aside from the fact that she’s an absolute ocean lover, is her ability to capture a moment that is raw and real, through a perspective that is distinguished by a unique vision. Her creative eye is always looking for that fresh view, a detail, an emotion. Mikala really and truly finds the beauty in each and every moment, and manages to bring out the subtle details that define it.

The variety in colour and texture of every bead evokes a place, a continent, an island or a mountain on earth. They even have beads that embody our oceans, like Atlantic or Arctic ocean, or countries in Asia like Sumatra or Sri Lanka.

How cool is that?!

Fast forward to the release of these shots and I’m so stoked to see the final results. Having spent a creative morning brainstorming ideas, splashing around in the surf and coming up with creative ways to showcase these one of a kind beads, Mikala and I created a storyline behind a brand that evokes freedom, the natural elements, and a sense of adventure while creating memories with your friends and loved ones.

And as a side note — I even got my own man to star in a shot!

Salty at heart

You will always find me shooting near the ocean, where working with the elements creates a one of a kind feel to every shoot. I had such a blast with Mikala on this morning, encapsulating a day where adventure is always around the corner, if you just let things happen naturally.