Dawn wanted to create a really special birthday keepsakefor her older sister Stacy’s birthday. Multitalented Stacy has always been a huge presence in Dawn’s life and the life of Dawn’s two young daughters. But how do you present six different birthday cakes she made the girls, all shot at different angles? The fact that she is an expert at hardanger, a form of lace-making?  Or that she made Frankie’s Mary Poppins costume by hand?

When I learned that amusement parks was also something that Stacy loves -the idea of a carousel popped up. Perfect! Each of the cakes would be tucked into the ornamental canopy of a carousel. To find this perfect carousel with inset windows, my photo search took me all the way to France for the carousel of Place du Marechal Leclerc.  And still not satisfied with the number of horses per square feet, I ended up adding more horses on the right side of the carousel!

The other tricky part of this custom collage was including an old Halloween photo of Stacy and Dawn as kids, which was missing their lower bodies. Dawn remembers that Stacy made a hobo costume for her back in the 60’s. Looking around the carousel, I found the perfect spot. They’d ride in a seashell, beautifully balancing the pairing of Stacy’s two nieces, Ruby and Frankie.