Look who inspired the Anna sheath dress

Look who inspired the Anna sheath dress. Anna’s grandmother instilled in her a love of dresses. A true Scottish lady, her grandmother never wore slacks until she was in her 90’s. She had grown up back in the era when slacks were for men. So, she always dressed for the day in her dresses. She travelled to Scotland and England and across Canada with her dresses and a cardigan in case she was cool.

How we met

Fast forward to today and how I met Anna. About 3 years ago, I was looking for a photographer who could do a fashion shoot with lifestyle models, not professional models, as well as product shots of my COKANNA clothing. I put a call out on Facebook and Anna answered right away. I called her up and liked her professional yet easy going style. She had a studio in her farmhouse which is surrounded by cornfields and rustic barns. I was also interested in another photographer who was away on a photoshoot in Africa, I believe. So, I had to wait to meet with her. But, after going out to the farmhouse, I decided to just go with Anna. And, as it turns out, Anna and the other photographer are friends and they highly recommended each other’s work.

Anna has done 5 or 6 photoshoots for me now. What I like about Anna is she always puts the models at ease. This is important because I typically use woman like you and me. I’m not going to say ordinary women because they’re all extraordinary, and Anna is able to draw that out in photographs. She captures their true essence so they look relaxed and natural in the clothes.

Look who inspired the Anna sheath dress by Colleen Kanna

Anna photographing Eleanor

Giving back

Anna also has a big heart. For the past 3 years, she has volunteered her time and services as the official photographer of the “Forget for a Moment” Makeover which I host every year in collaboration with Salon Fiorella. It’s an evening of pampering for 15 women going through breast cancer. These breast cancer champions have been through so much. They often feel like they’re not their best self especially when it comes to getting their portrait taken. Anna is patient, gentle, and caring with these ladies. She’s able to capture their inner beauty and the photos are always stunning. Side note: This year’s makeover had to be put on hold due to the pandemic.

How it all started

How did Anna Epp Photography come to be? At a very young age Anna was drawn to photography. Anna and her family would visit her grandmother in Montréal, the one who loves dresses, and look through her photo albums and boxes. Anna’s family didn’t have a camera so they didn’t have a photo box of their own. Her parents eventually got a little Kodak and that really got Anna going. When she was 12, she bought her first camera and her love of recording her family and some of her friends grew from there. Back then, all her babysitting and working money went to developing film. Anna’s father used to get mad at her for always taking pictures. But, when they moved to Manitoba, she gave them a photo album of pictures she had taken and he finally got it!

Her love of photography continued to grow. She photographed for her high school slideshow and yearbook. For many years after she mostly kept it to family and friends. Then she was asked to photograph a wedding almost 13 years ago and that, as they say, is history. If she was ever going to make it a business, that was the time. She truly believes that photographs are meant to be taken, printed, and treasured. Her job is to capture that moment in time, and she does that very well.

This year Anna turns 50 and in celebration of her 50th birthday she launched the 50 Over 50 Project. Her goal is to photograph 50 women over 50 and capture their beauty and wisdom in photographs. I have signed up and you can too at 50 Over 50.

Anna the dress

Anna still prefers dresses and skirts to slacks and wears them whenever she gets the chance. So, who better to name my latest dress after. The Anna dress is the same style and fit as the Maxine tank just longer in length. It has the same reversible neckline with the V on one side and the round on the other making it 2 dresses in 1. The soft bamboo french terry is the perfect weight for year round dressing. I think you’ll agree Anna looks fabulous in the Anna.