Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Topsail
Insider, where you can hear all
about the businesses and eventsin the beautiful coastal towns
in the greater Topsail area ofNorth Carolina Coming up.
Whether you're a local andsimply love where you live, or a
vacationer that misses thecoast after returning home,
(00:22):
today's guest offers a way foryou to cherish the beautiful
coast of North Carolina everysingle day.
We're chatting with FaithTeasley, the photographer and
author who has spent a decadecapturing the essence of the
Carolina coast.
Her debut fine art coffee tablebook is filled with beautiful
coastal imagery that fostersnostalgia while insisting you
(00:45):
explore more of the coast in thefuture.
Stay tuned to discover theinspiration behind her work and
find out how you can bring apiece of the Carolina coast into
your home.
On this episode of TopsailInsider, it's time to indulge
and experience the finestcoastal hospitality on Topsail
(01:06):
Island, with Saltwater Resortand Suites in Surf City, north
Carolina, designed to exceedyour expectations.
Guests can enjoy elegant suitesfeaturing premium, luxurious
bedding, fully equipped kitchenswith dishwashers, 75-inch flat
screens, en suite washers anddryers, and gorgeous ocean views
(01:27):
.
With the grand opening of theirnewest location, you can now
relax in their saltwater pool,opening at the end of July, and
their modern clubhouse, perfectfor unwinding and socializing,
is now open for private events.
Book your next beach getawaytoday at saltwatertopsailcom or
call 910-886-4818.
(01:51):
Saltwater Resort and Suitesredefining luxury on Topsail
Island.
Come on out to Surf City Linefor the best made-from-scratch
beach and bowls on TopsailIsland.
Treat yourself to theirdelicious bowls, pilonique
(02:11):
shrimp, beach break salads and awhole lot more.
And come thirsty and enjoytheir full bar serving
handcrafted cocktails.
Incredible margaritas, and theyproudly serve North Carolina
craft beer.
Incredible margaritas and theyproudly serve North Carolina
craft beer.
The line boasts the biggestdeck on the island with three
levels for listening to livemusic, relaxing in the sun, or
(02:32):
head on up to the top deck andenjoy your meal with ocean views
.
Visit Surf City Line NCcom fortheir full food bar and brunch
menus.
The best service and vibes onthe island await you at 2112
North New River Drive.
Whether you're a local orvisiting from out of town,
(02:52):
celebrating a special occasionor just soaking up the sun with
family and friends, surf CityLine is the place to be for food
, fun and beach memories.
Fun and beach memories.
Hello everyone and welcome toTopsail Insider.
My name is Krista and I am yourhost.
Today we are talking to FaithTeasley.
(03:18):
She is the author andphotographer behind the coastal
lifestyle brand SaltwaterCollection.
We are here today to discussher beautiful debut coffee table
book highlighting the NorthCarolina coast.
It's called Saltwater CoastalCarolina.
Welcome, faith, and thank youso much for joining me today.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Thank you so much,
Krista.
I'm very excited to chat withyou.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Let's start out with
a brief description of your
beautiful coffee table book.
What can you tell us about it?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Saltwater.
Coastal Carolina is an ode andlove letter to the North
Carolina coast.
It features all of NorthCarolina's shoreline, from the
Outer Banks to the Crystal Coast, to the Brunswick Islands and
the Cape Fear.
Inspiring travel guides, funfacts and watercolor maps by
artist Printed Hughes are woventhroughout the book, making it a
(04:02):
truly immersive experience.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It is gorgeous.
I do love the Printed Hughesmaps that you have at the
beginning of each section.
I love how you laid out thebook.
Tell me how many photographsand pages are in your coffee
table book.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
With all of the North
Carolina beaches featured.
It is a naturally big book.
It is 10 by 13 linen hardcover,it is 288 pages and it features
over 200 curated filmphotographs.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It's all film
photography, which is amazing
and very unusual for this dayand age, but it really comes
through in the look and feel ofyour book.
I do love the linen hardcover.
I have seen your book in thestores and it's just.
It's so perfect for thatcoastal Carolina look and feel.
You did an amazing job.
This book was self-publishedtoo correct.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It was, yes,
self-published and nearly 10
years in the making Wow it issold on the website and in
stores around coastal Carolina.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Your photography has
been featured in Our State
Magazine, which is about NorthCarolina.
It photography has beenfeatured in Our State Magazine,
which is about North Carolina.
It's also been featured inCoastal Living and also
VisitNCcom.
Do you remember whichphotographs were featured in
these publications?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I am actually a
contributing photographer for
Our State Magazine and I havehad several photos featured by
them, and then various photoswith Coastal Living and with
Visit NC.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
It's award-winning as
well.
Can you tell me about theawards?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, the awards are,
with the International
Photography Awards and the bookactually placed in three
different categories.
It was awarded in the jury topfive, second place and honorable
mention, which was veryexciting, being that it's an
international competition andaward process.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So exciting.
You have a book signing comingup soon.
Can you tell me where and whenfolks can meet you and buy a
copy of your book and get itsigned?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yes, for sure, our
next book signing.
We've actually hosted severaland are planning more, but the
next one that's on the calendarand perfect for the listeners of
the Top Soul Insider podcastit's going to be in Surf City at
the beautiful new location ofCoastal Home Store, which I know
, krista, that you're a big fanof as well I am.
(06:16):
Yes, it is so beautiful and I'mvery excited to go visit.
And it will be Thursday, august1, four to six, and I will be
joined there with my good friendLaura Lobdell of Printed Hues
and, as you mentioned, she's theone that contributed the
beautiful watercolor maps thatare featured in the book.
So you actually have theopportunity to meet both of us
(06:37):
and we will be happy to signyour copy of Saltwater, coastal
Carolina.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Awesome, I didn't
realize that both of you were
going to be there together.
Yeah, I did do an interviewwith Jill for Coastal.
Home Store when she was at thelittle cottage which I fell in
love with her then.
But now she's moved to a biggerlocation in Surf City and I
haven't been to the store yet.
So when I go to the booksigning it'll be my first time
visiting the store.
But I was also wondering I knowyou're going to have your book
(07:02):
there for sale.
What about the prints of yourphotography and also the
watercolor prints from PrintedHues?
Will we be able to buy printsthere?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
at the book signing
as well.
Yes, excellent, we do treatthem as pop-up events and we
always bring a selection ofprints and products with us to
these book signing events thatwe like to host together.
So we'll definitely have thoseavailable.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
And, of course, we
both have our own individual
websites where you can purchasemore selections there.
Wonderful, and now you haveturned the book into what is now
Saltwater Collection.
Explain how you've expanded andwhat other products are now
available atsaltwatercollectioncom.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
So Saltwater
Collection has grown into a
coastal lifestyle brand.
It is a community built uponintentional, slow living and
life by the sea, where salt airfuels our soul and summer is a
state of mind.
The North Carolina coastinspires us deeply.
We celebrate the character ofevery beach and coastal town in
(08:02):
our beautiful state, from theOuter Banks to Baldhead Island
to the Crystal Coast andBrunswick Beaches.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
You are passionate
about both the Carolina Coast
and photography, and I wanted tofind out how both got started.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I have always adored
our coast not biased at all, of
course, but I do think the NorthCarolina coast is a very
special place and I actuallydedicated the book Saltwater to
my grandma, betty, and mygrandma, who is still with us,
which is such a blessing.
She has always told me that wehave in our family, we have
(08:36):
saltwater running in our veins,so that word saltwater has
always been very important to meand to us, and we have
different family connections tothe coast.
Her maiden name was actuallySalter, which was derived from
Salter Path, north Carolina, onthe Crystal Coast.
And then, in addition to that,we also had our family cottage
(08:58):
on the Pamlico Sound nearBelhaven, north Carolina, and I
spent many childhood summersthere.
We had a pier and a boat and wewould fish and dolphins would
swim through and we'd go to thelocal 4th of July parade in
Belhaven and we really justembraced that coastal Carolina
lifestyle at the cottage andwhat I think is so fun and so
(09:22):
cool.
Through talking with you andthrough other people as well, I
feel like all of us have thatspecial place, maybe that we
spent childhood summers at, ormaybe even in adulthood as well.
But these places that mean somuch to us and I think a lot of
people can relate to what Ishare about in the book about
the cottage, and that's what wefondly have always referred to
(09:44):
it, as is the cottage, and Ithink a lot of us have our own
cottage.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
It was really nice
looking through your book and
reading about your grandma,betty, and about the cottage,
and you even have a beautifulpoem in your book about it.
It did make me feel nostalgicand think back to my fond
childhood memories that I have,and so I do think that when
people are looking back on thatand reading your story and your
(10:10):
history and how beautiful yourconnection still is to those
memories and to your grandma,that it'll strike something
within themselves to think backon their own personal history
and what's important to them.
So really it's a beautiful joband it has a very sentimental
value to how you've laid out thebook and how you've spoken
about your history.
So thank you for sharing allthat.
(10:30):
Going to your passion forphotography, you started with
wedding photography.
You don't just jump intowedding photography and I've
seen your wedding photographyand it's actually stunning.
When did you first pick up thecamera and develop this love for
photography?
Speaker 2 (10:46):
So that actually can
go back to Grandma Betty as well
.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Oh, really In fact,
yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
So when you open up
the book you'll see where it
says to my Grandma Betty, thankyou for sharing your love of the
ocean and photography with me.
Okay, because my grandma hasalways loved photography.
She's always loved takingphotos.
She never pursued itprofessionally, but she was our
(11:13):
family historian and the personthat was documenting all of our
family events, both with filmcameras, then, of course,
digital cameras, as those camealong, as well as video cameras.
So that's something that she'salways been very passionate
about, and she shared thatpassion with me growing up.
To take beautiful photos Infact that was one of our biggest
activities at the cottage wasto like every sunset we would go
(11:34):
out on the porch and just takephotos together.
It was kind of our thing.
So my grandma Betty inspired meto take photos for fun.
My grandma Betty inspired me toto take photos for fun.
And when I graduated highschool which I'm dating myself-
but in 2009, when I graduatedhigh school.
I was, of course, figuring outwhat I wanted to do with my life
(11:54):
, as one does, and theopportunity just fell in my lap,
really of.
I had a family friend ask if Icould take photos of her family
and that she would pay me, and Iwas like, why would you pay me?
I'm not a photographer.
I mean, I had a camera, butthat was about it.
But I did that.
I took her family photos, lovedit.
I put them up on Facebook and abunch of families from my
(12:17):
church actually started askingme if I could photograph their
families.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
And so just kind of.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, I just started
taking off from there, by
accident almost, and then in2010, I decided to go to an
internship in Nashville,tennessee, with a wedding
photographer there, and that'swhere I was introduced to the
world of wedding photographyspecifically, and I absolutely
fell in love with the ability totell a story, to tell the story
(12:43):
of a wedding day.
Every single wedding isdifferent.
It's always fresh and new andexciting, and it's these really
deeply personal and intimatemoments in people's lives that
it's such an honor to be invitedinto.
Anytime I photographed awedding, I always feel like I
become part of the family thatday, but then even beyond that
(13:04):
too, because there's severalclients that I'm their life
photographer, so I still taketheir family photos every year.
And that's such a cool honor andsomething that I am deeply
thankful for.
But I had a really successful,awesome wedding photography
career.
I photographed weddings allacross North and South Carolina
and sometimes beyond that aswell Hundreds of weddings and
(13:26):
had a great time doing it.
But all good things must cometo an end, I guess, and for a
myriad of reasons, but primarilyhealth issues, I decided to
step away from weddingphotography.
I do still offer some portraitand some commercial work when it
comes to my photography career,but in 2014 is when I had this
(13:47):
dream of creating this coffeetable book and this brand called
Saltwater Collection, and it'sbeen a very natural transition
of moving away from the weddings.
I needed to move on, and I amvery happy with how all of that
is going.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
You said for health
reasons, I don't want to get too
far up into your business, butwere these reasons that kept you
from being able to likestanding up and being at a
wedding all day long?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Correct, correct.
And I've actually struggledwith health issues my whole life
and, I guess, coincidentally,so has my grandmother.
We actually share a lot of thesame conditions, which is not a
fun thing to share, but it iswhat it is.
But I deal with chronic pain.
I've dealt with chronic painsince I was a child, and
weddings were very hard on mybody.
(14:33):
But one thing to know about meis that I'm very stubborn, but
in, I guess, a good way.
So, pretty much I try reallyhard to not let my health
dictate my life and thedecisions I want to make.
So I have always pushed myselffor everything for weddings and
other photo shoots and travel.
(14:53):
All those things have alwayscome with a price that people
don't see.
That's the behind the scenes.
But it came to a point, though,where the health issues became
that much more severe that itmade the decision for me of,
okay, we need to step back fromthe weddings.
This is a bit much.
So, essentially, I do strugglewith chronic pain, so even
continuing the brand saltwatercollection is a daily struggle,
(15:15):
but it's something worthfighting for.
So it's something that Icontinue to push myself beyond
my limits daily, so that way Ican share the beauty of the
North Carolina coast with all ofyou.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I am certainly sorry
to hear that you and Grandma
Betty are suffering the chronicpain, and I know that there are
a lot of beautiful brides outthere who are missing out on
your amazing photography, but itis inspiring to see that you're
pushing through and stillachieving your goals.
You started out with digitalcameras, which most people do
nowadays, I would imagine, butin 2014, you decided to try film
(15:53):
.
I think kids today wouldn'teven know what a roll of film
looks like, so tell me whatmotivated you to try film in
2014.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So, yes, I did start
with digital photography,
especially in the world ofweddings.
Film terrified me.
I needed to be able to see onthe back of the camera exactly
what I got, to know that I gotthe shot when it came to
weddings.
So I was like that's crazy tonot use digital for that.
But I noticed, though, as I wasin the world of weddings, that
(16:25):
all of my favorite photographershad one thing in common, and
that was they shot film, and Iwas very intrigued by that.
So I decided, okay, I think itwould be worth trying film, but
still, I was terrified.
I was terrified of the wholeprocess, like it was really
scary and daunting to me, but awebsite that I came across
(16:45):
allowed for camera rentals and Iwas actually able to rent a
medium format camera, the sametype of camera that I still use.
It is called a Contax 645.
And it uses medium format filmand that means that each roll of
film only has 16 frames perroll.
I decided I wanted to take itto Southport, being that it's
(17:07):
such a beautiful, coastal,charming community in town, and
I knew it would be a perfectplace to go play with a film
camera.
I had that film developed anddid not know if any of it was
going to turn out because Ididn't know what I was doing,
and I sent the film to a lab inAlabama also the same lab that
has processed all of my film,which I think is really cool,
(17:29):
and that is Indie Film Lab.
They're located in Montgomery.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Alabama.
Do you think that's importantto stay with the same lab, that
they learn you and you learnthem?
Is that something photographersshould pay attention to?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I think there's a lot
of value in that for sure.
Having that general connection,I think, is really valuable
because in the world of filmprocessing, the technician that
works with your film can reallymake or break it.
Basically, there's a lot ofdifferent things that go into it
and Indy's been very great tome.
I have been able to work withthem to really hone in my style.
(18:02):
I do have a very unique and acertain characteristic to my
work that people recognize it,which is really cool, and one
way that I'm able to achievethat is by using a great film
lab.
They developed it and thephotos turned out.
I was like this is great, andthey actually turned out so good
that a few of those photosactually made it into my book,
(18:23):
which is wild.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Whoa yeah, your very
first rolls.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
I put that in the
intro section for fun to really
pair with the story of thecontext of the whole project and
everything.
So that's how I got startedwith the use of film.
I immediately fell in love anddecided during that trip
actually that how cool would itbe if I photographed the entire
North Carolina coastline on film.
(18:48):
Because what I found was thatthe tones and the grain and the
natural softness of film pairswith the salty air and the
coastline beautifully.
It's like a match made inheaven, I feel like, and it was
the closest I've ever gotten tocapturing the magic of the North
Carolina coast.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
You really have.
You're right, it is a perfect.
The look and feel that'screated in your images.
It's very I don't know anyother word to say it.
It's saltwater and it's coastalCarolina.
It's perfect.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, so you took the originalphotos, you send it to the lab,
the lab sends it back to you andyou're like I think I should do
the entire coast.
(19:29):
That's how that worked.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Pretty much, but I
had no idea what I was doing.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
I just had a dream.
That's all.
That's amazing.
Okay, when they send thepictures back to you, it's not.
You don't get a package in themail with the paper version, so
they send them back to youdigitally right they do.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I've never been in a
dark room a day in my life.
I don't know how to do that,because a lot of film
photographers I think we'll talkabout their days in high school
in the dark room- I don't havethat experience.
That scares me, but I feel likeI would mess it up.
So I put my film in the mailand then they receive it, they
(20:12):
process it and then they scan it, and then what I actually
receive from that is an emailthat says your film scans are
ready, which is the best emailever.
It's like Christmas morningevery single time, because I
never know what I'm going to getyou know, and oftentimes it's
several weeks or months after Iphotographed those things.
So it really is like a surprise.
So it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I can feel that
you're making me feel that it's
so much fun, krista because itreally is something to look
forward to and to enjoy.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
But they send me a
gallery, I download those photos
and then I'm able to make anyedits necessary at that point.
Most of the time it's simplethings like straightening the
horizon line or making a photo alittle bit brighter or
something like that.
But I really like to keep thosecolors very true to life and
very reflective of the filmstock that I use, because
(20:55):
different film stock producesdifferent colors.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
For the most part,
it's natural, except for some
slight editing that you're doing.
Okay, this is 10 years ofphotography, so when was it,
within that 10 year span, thatyou're like?
You know what I'm gonna do?
A coffee table book.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Well, pretty early on
, I knew I wanted it to be a
book.
I just didn't know how toactually do that.
So, essentially, what I did is,anytime I went to the coast,
both for personal orprofessional reasons, I would go
, like, let's say, to the OuterBanks and photograph a wedding,
and I would go ahead and shootsome film while I was there.
So that's one way that I wasable to really compile a massive
(21:32):
library of photographs of allthese different regions and I've
kept them very organizedthroughout the years of all of
these different regions, andI've kept them very organized
throughout the years.
And it was in, I think, 2019,when I was starting to realize,
you know, I need to get thisthing done.
So in 2019, I made some veryspecific trips for the purpose
of the book.
There was still, like, capeLookout Lighthouse I needed that
(21:54):
for my book so I made a tripout there for the exclusive
purpose of the book.
So I was shooting with a bookin mind.
And then those following yearsis when I decided, okay, I need
to get this thing laid out andget it designed and figure out
who's going to print it and allthose things, and that really
started in, I guess like 2020,2021-ish, and then the really
big push of getting it done overthese last couple of years.
(22:16):
The book itself was actuallyreleased in November of 2023.
And actually it has been areally wild and awesome ride
since then because we'vereleased and I say we, it's just
me, spoiler alert and by Marchwe had sold out online, which
(22:36):
was crazy.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Because I had a
really large shipment of books
come in and was able to sellthem all, which was fantastic,
because I didn't know if they'rejust going to sit like in a
storage unit.
I didn't know.
I'm just winging it out here,krista.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
You're doing an
amazing job of winging it.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Thank you, it's
worked out and I'm very thankful
.
I had to place another bigorder and I got those books just
last month and they're sellingfantastic as well, your book is
laid out so beautifully.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I know you said it's
just a team of you, but did you
have help figuring out how tolay out such a large book?
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I did.
I did have some help with thatpart.
I partnered with a awesomedesigner.
Soul Twin Studio is their nameand I absolutely love their
aesthetic and they have donesimilar name and I absolutely
love their aesthetic and theyhave done similar projects.
And I actually have a familyfriend that it's their niece, so
there was a lot of connections.
Yeah, ready, and she actuallygrew up in the Wilmington area,
(23:31):
so she had an appreciation forthe coast as well.
I knew that she was theabsolute perfect person to lay
out my book, so she did thegeneral layout of the book and
then I ran with it.
It was a very collaborativeeffort and we came up with these
ideas and she gave me the filesand then I was able to
manipulate and make all thosefinal edits myself, but I did
(23:53):
have some great help from SoulTwin Studio.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
What about with
writing the text?
You wrote that poem yourself.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
That's from your poem
I did, and what's funny about
that to me is that I don'tconsider myself a poet at all.
I wanted to convey the feelingof being at the cottage and I
decided that a poem might be thebest way to do that.
So I literally one afternoonsat down, wrote a poem.
I haven't wrote a poem since.
(24:20):
I probably should try it again.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I think in 10 years
you'll have a book of poetry,
Maybe.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Stay tuned.
That's how things go in my life.
I feel like I just decidesomething and then I just got to
do it.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
And the rest of the
text in there.
Yeah, yep, yep, that was all me.
I wanted the book to be animmersive experience and journey
for people.
I wanted it to be aestheticallybeautiful.
I created it with interiordesign in mind, from the
exterior perspective, but forthe interior, I wanted it to be
something that people could flipthrough and they could feel
like they were there.
(24:55):
I wanted them to be inspired tobook their own trips to these
places and I wanted to givecontext to the photos.
I have some little travelguides for the individual
regions and then I have some funmetadata on each spread that
includes a longitude, a latitudeand little captions that give a
(25:15):
little bit of context to thephotos and fun facts and things
like that.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
It does inspire you
to travel.
Now I'm dying to go see all ofthe lighthouses.
Yeah, have you seen them all?
I've seen one.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Girl, you gotta go.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
My parents.
A long time ago, they took atrip.
They went to the north tip ofNorth Carolina and they took the
path all the way down the OuterBanks and they saw every single
lighthouse.
So cool, it meant so much tothem, and my grandmother was
with them at the time.
She's no longer with us, but toshare that memory with her as
well is something that theystill talk about today, and so I
want to do that with my familyReal quickly before we move on.
(25:55):
Do you think that you willcontinue shooting with film for
your future projects?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
I believe.
So I think that film is reallywhat helps me achieve the
certain look and aesthetic of myphotographs.
So for the foreseeable future,yes, I absolutely will continue
to shoot film so the book is 288pages of coastal fine art and
(26:32):
luxury.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
It's white, it's
hardcover linen.
It is perfect for coastal decor.
So when you mentioned earlierthat you had decor in mind when
you were creating, the aestheticof the book makes perfect sense
to me.
It is something that you wouldbuy to complement your living
space, for sure, but also beingable to open it up and look at
all the beautiful pictures, buteven just clothes just sitting
there.
I could see that just being away that you would decorate your
(26:52):
house.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Well, as you said, I
wanted it to be really beautiful
from all perspectives.
So I wanted a really beautifulcover, I wanted a beautiful
spine, I wanted the very bestmaterials when it came to the
linen and the quality of thepaper used on the inside of the
book.
People love to display it, ofcourse, on a coffee table, but
it's beautiful on a shelf, it'sbeautiful displayed in built-ins
(27:18):
and it's also beautiful simplyopened up.
Plenty of people have told methat they'll leave it open on
their coffee table and they'llflip it to a new spread every
day, just depending on theirmood.
So I think it's a veryversatile book in that way, and
it's also.
It's beautiful for coastaldecor, but with its natural
neutral tones, it's reallybeautiful pretty much anywhere,
(27:38):
for any type of decor, naturalneutral tones.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
It's really beautiful
pretty much anywhere, for any
type of decor we talked aboutearlier.
You having self-published thebook.
What made you decide toself-publish rather than going?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
through a publisher.
I think that there are pros andcons to both and I did my
research, but ultimately Idecided to self-publish simply
because I had a very specificvision and I wanted to have full
creative control over thatvision.
And if I were to have workedwith a publisher, I would have
(28:10):
naturally given up a lot of thatcontrol and I'm sure we still
could have created a reallybeautiful book, but it would
likely be different and I neededto have that creative control
at least for this first project.
Now, if an opportunity arose ormaybe I could work with a
publisher for future projects, Iwould certainly be open to that
(28:32):
kind of idea, but for thisfirst debut book I decided, okay
, self-publishing.
I think that's going to be thebest route for this particular
project.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Give us an overview
of how you decided to lay it out
, the book.
You have three differentsections in there.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Just talk to us about
those three sections reasons
why I love each of them as well,and I think a lot of people
(29:08):
that have traveled to thesedifferent regions of the coast I
think they'll agree to that.
Each one is so uniquely specialon its own.
I knew I wanted to have theBrunswick Islands, cape Fear,
crystal Coast, inner Banks,outer Banks, so I decided to go
with the first section being theintro to give a little
background of my own story andwhy I love the North Carolina
coast.
The second section was tocelebrate the individual regions
(29:30):
.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
And.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
I decided to simply
call it islands, which is just
so simplistic and beautiful.
That middle section is whereyou'll find each individual
region of the coast and you'llfind the corresponding map by my
friend, Laura beautifulwatercolor maps.
And then the third section iscalled sea and sky, and the
inspiration behind thatparticular section was I have
(29:52):
all these beautiful photographsand a lot of them are specific
to a certain region, especiallyphotos that have a landmark,
like a lighthouse or a pier orsomething like that.
But there's also these otherphotos of the ocean, shorebirds
and different things that theydon't necessarily have to belong
to a certain region is what Idecided they were just beautiful
(30:15):
, beautiful photographs.
So in the third part of the book, sea and Sky, we have tides,
seabirds, waves and dusk anddawn.
That ended up being a reallybeautiful way of laying out the
book.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
I loved all of it.
Each section of your book is sospecial because of the way that
you've laid it out.
I think it's really wonderful.
Let's go back to the islandsfor a minute.
So you've got the BrunswickIslands.
Name a few of the BrunswickIslands for me.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Oak Island islands.
For me, Oak Island, HoldenBeach, Ocean Isle Beach,
Calabash, all of those placesyeah.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
And then the Cape
Fear region, which is where we
are.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
The Cape Fear might
actually be the biggest section
in the book and arguablypossibly my favorite, mainly
because it's beautiful, but alsobecause it's home.
For me, that includesWilmington, topsail, surf City,
all of those beautiful places.
There's a lot in that section.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Yeah, I think it was
one of the larger sections, but
of course it's one of myfavorites too.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Yeah, we're not
biased, right?
No, no, not at all.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
And then the Crystal
Coast going up.
I guess that would be north ofSneeds Ferry right.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
So Swansboro,
moorhead City, beaufort, salter
Path, atlantic Beach, yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
And then you have the
Outer Banks, but that takes you
all the way up to Kill DevilHills.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Starts in Ocracoke
and goes up to Kill Devil Nags
Head.
All those beaches.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
And what made you
decide to include the latitude
and the longitude of eachlocation?
I thought that was a very nicetouch, by the way.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, thank you.
I researched every single onemyself and double triple checked
multiple times to make sure Ihad those numbers right.
I thought it was a really fundesign element, really fun.
Detail adds even more contextto the photo and, yeah, just
aesthetically beautiful.
I think it makes a really cooldetail to correspond with all
the photography.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I learned going
through the book that you
actually chartered a helicopter.
So tell me what made you decideto charter the helicopter and
did it have anything to do withfigure eight island?
Speaker 2 (32:23):
So I chartered a
helicopter with high tide
helicopters.
They are based in Oak Island.
I highly recommend them.
They are wonderful.
They actually offer a lot ofdifferent tours.
It is the coolest way to seeour coast like breathtakingly
beautiful, from above.
Fun fact, I do not own a drone.
I've thought about purchasingone, but as of right now, I
(32:46):
currently do not own one.
And the biggest thing is that Iwanted the whole project, the
entire book, to be photographedon film, and in order to do that
, I physically had to be up inthe air one way or the other.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
Well, that's just
really too bad that you had to
go up, I know right Okay thatyou had to go up.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
I know right Okay.
So what they did for me is theyremoved the door, which was
terrifying yet exhilarating.
Emphasis on the terrifying part, but it was also absolutely
incredible.
What a rush.
So much fun, cannot wait to goback up.
They flew me over their wholecoverage area, so we went over
Oak Island and Southport, wewent over Baldhead, then we went
(33:27):
up to Wrightsville Beach,figure Eight and downtown
Wilmington.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Figure Eight Island
is a gated community.
It's a gated island.
You can't just drive on thereand start snapping pictures.
So when I saw the overhead Iwas paying attention, because
I've never seen Figure EightIsland before not even by boat.
I thought she probably had torent a helicopter because she
couldn't get on the island.
Most likely I don't know.
But yeah, what a greatexperience you had.
(33:51):
I can't believe they took thedoor off for you, but I guess
you didn't want to shoot throughthe glass.
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Right right, that's
something that they'll offer for
photographers specifically, butyeah, totally awesome
experience.
So they're high tidehelicopters and I highly
recommend them.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Where can folks find
your saltwater book?
Speaker 2 (34:10):
They can find my book
at stores all up and down the
North Carolina coast.
We have stores in Wilmington,surf City, moorhead City, and we
also have Raleigh stores aswell, and Apex, and you can
actually see the full list ofall of our stockists on our
website, saltwatercollectioncom.
And, of course, you can buy thebook directly at
(34:33):
saltwatercollectioncom as well,and I will personally pack and
ship your order myself, and I'mmore than happy to sign books as
well.
If you order directly throughme and you have.
Maybe this is a gift forsomebody or for yourself.
Treat yourself.
But if someone wants itpersonalized with maybe their
name or maybe the recipient'sname, I'm more than happy to do
(34:55):
that.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
You're also selling
your books.
They're in stores that are inTexas, New York, Ohio.
I did see that on your website.
Tell me about the book signingagain.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Our next book signing
will be at Coastal Home Store
in Surf City at their beautifulnew location, and that is going
to be on Thursday, august 1st,from 4 to 6 pm, and my good
friend Laura Lobdell of PrintedHues will be joining us.
We will be there to sign yourbook, we'll have some of our own
products and artwork availableand there's going to be light
(35:27):
refreshments as well.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Could you tell us
about the pricing of Saltwater
Coastal Carolina?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
A coffee table book
of Saltwater, coastal Carolina,
is $125.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
I just want to say
that it deserves that price tag
when you really pick it up andyou feel the quality of this
book.
It's got some really luxuriousfeatures, like the linen finish
and what is foil stamping, bythe way.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
So that is where the
text of the book is actually
directly imprinted inside of thecover.
It has a really cool texture toit because of the foil stamping
.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Again, it's 288 pages
.
It's fine art photography.
It's a compilation of 10 yearsof photography.
It's all in one book.
It is a piece of art.
It's home decor.
It's a display for your familyand friends to enjoy for years.
So $125 for the book and youcan get individual prints of
your photography.
(36:21):
And is this photography that'sin the book or is it a
combination of stuff that's inthe book and also in your
complete library?
Speaker 2 (36:27):
It's a combination.
Any of the photos that arefeatured in the book are
available to purchase.
If they're not listed on mywebsite, you can always send me
an email directly and I cancreate a custom order for you.
If there's something thatreally stands out to you, more
than happy to do that.
But then there's additionalphotos listed on the website
that I don't believe are in thebook, simply because the book
(36:49):
it's actually five pounds.
It is a heavy book.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Yeah, it is heavy, I
think it might be five pounds
five ounces.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
It's like a birth
announcement, and it really is.
It is quite my baby in a lot ofways and I had to actually cut
out a lot of photos from thebook because it was getting too
large.
So, yeah, so I have over 200photos featured in the book, but
in reality I actually havethousands in my personal archive
.
So, to answer your question,anytime someone has an interest
(37:17):
in a photo they might see on myInstagram or on my website, they
can reach out to me directly ifthey want a custom print.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Okay, so you can go
to saltwatercollectioncom and if
there is a print that you want,not only do you buy the print,
but you can order it framed andshipped directly to your home,
correct?
So what can you tell me aboutany of your future plans?
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Well, I have all
kinds of ideas.
I would love to do more books.
I have several concepts in mindand hopefully can start
revealing a little bit of thatsoon, and I've also been working
on other products that I'maiming to have available before
the holidays, so I'm veryexcited about those as well.
The best way to stay updated onthat and to stay tuned is to
(38:08):
follow my Instagram, which is atsaltwatercollection, and then,
of course, the website itself,saltwatercollectioncom.
I have an email newsletter aswell that people can sign up for
on the website.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
We are at the end of
the episode, so we're going to
do final thoughts.
What is the one takeaway thatyou want to leave listeners with
today about your gorgeouscoffee table book?
Or expanded saltwatercollection?
Or just you?
Speaker 2 (38:34):
personally calling.
I know a lot of your listeners,I'm sure, our locals and we
have such a beautiful coast andI think it's important to
appreciate it and to celebrateit and also to conserve it as
(38:54):
well.
And finding ways to help keepour coast beautiful, I think is
very important, but I thinkwe're the luckiest to have such
a beautiful place to call home.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
All right.
Well, let's give out thatcontact information Again.
The website issaltwatercollectioncom and you
can email her at hello atsaltwatercollectioncom.
You can find and followSaltwater Collection on Facebook
, Instagram and TikTok, and alsoPinterest, so I will have all
of those links for you in theshow notes.
(39:26):
So if you missed any of thisinformation, just go there.
And I just want to say thankyou to the listeners for joining
us today.
I appreciate you, and thank youagain, Faith, for being on
Topsail Insider and telling usall about saltwater collection.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Thank you so much,
Krista.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
This conversation
means the world to me and I
appreciate you so much.
Go to TopsailInsidercom andjoin our mailing list by
(40:04):
clicking on the Make Me aTopsail Insider button.
While you're there, you canclick the Send Me a Voicemail
button and let me know exactlywhat you're thinking.
Your message just might be onan episode of Topsail Insider.
You can email me at Krista atTopsailInsidercom, or call or
text me at 910-800-0111.
(40:25):
Thank you for listening andsupporting Topsail Insider and
our local businesses andnonprofits.
These are our neighbors and ourfriends and together we build a
mighty and a beautifulcommunity I'm super proud to be
a part of.
I'll see you around, topsail.