Earlier this year I had the privilege of photographing a group of amazing women gathered together to celebrate a milestone birthday of one of their tribe in Joshua Tree.

It was a remarkable ensemble of powerful, thoughtful and passionate women who I found truly inspiring on both a personal and professional level.

Prior to the session, we talked about our ‘intentions’ for the portraits, in a deeply Soul Purpose Method framework (Rester & Souder, Kynosura Publishing). Some of those intentions were more literal, such as ‘I want to look younger’. But others were articulated at a spiritual level, expressing a desire to ‘capture our energy’, ‘celebrate our togetherness’ and ‘document the diosa in each of us’.

That discussion was a paradigm shift for me as it coalesced the technical ‘pre-visualization’ of a Zone System approach, pioneered by Ansel Adams, with a deeper, more emotional and thoughtful ‘visualization’ of how the final image needed to embed both their individuality and their shared unity in purpose.

As a photographer, it is comfortable to rely on a high confidence level for the technical elements. You can get great photos by setting the camera to auto, not blowing the highlights, and using the ‘rule-of-thirds’. But to make an image, especially one that is built on both pre-visualization and soulful intention, which sublimely captures the deepest feeling, emotion and connection, that is where the art of the medium exponentially transcends the science, and is what I love most about photography.