Topsail Insider
Topsail Insider interviews local businesses and nonprofits in the Greater Topsail area of North Carolina including Hampstead, Surf City, Topsail Beach, North Topsail, Holly Ridge, and Sneads Ferry. Locals can learn about all the new businesses popping up in our area, prospective residents can find what’s available before making the big move, and vacationers will see we have much to offer beyond our beautiful beaches!
Topsail Insider
Saltwater Collection
Celebrate the beauty of the North Carolina coast with Faith Teasley and her brand, Saltwater Collection, featuring her stunning debut coffee table book, “Saltwater: Coastal Carolina”. In this episode, we explore the heartwarming stories of summers spent at “The Cottage” in Pamlico with her Grandma Betty who spurred her passion for the Carolina coast and photography. Her decade-long labor of love captures the entire North Carolina coastline, from the picturesque Brunswick Islands to the dramatic aerial views of Cape Fear and the stunning Outer Banks. Featuring nearly 200 curated film photographs, this book is a must-have for coastal lovers everywhere.
Website: saltwatercollection.com
Email: hello@saltwatercollection.com
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Topsail Insider is Sponsored by Saltwater Suites & Resort - Topsail Island’s premier luxury hospitality experience! Book your beach getaway today at SaltwaterTopsail.comor call (910) 886-4818!
Topsail Insider is also Sponsored by Surf City Line! Come out for Beachin’ Bowls, Margaritas, and Live Music, and enjoy your meal on their top deck with Ocean Views! Visit SurfCityLineNC.com for their full food, bar, and brunch menus!
Topsail Insider is edited by Jim Mendes-Pouget.
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Welcome to Topsail Insider, where you can hear all about the businesses and events in the beautiful coastal towns in the greater Topsail area of North Carolina Coming up. Whether you're a local and simply love where you live, or a vacationer that misses the coast after returning home, today's guest offers a way for you to cherish the beautiful coast of North Carolina every single day. We're chatting with Faith Teasley, the photographer and author who has spent a decade capturing the essence of the Carolina coast. Her debut fine art coffee table book is filled with beautiful coastal imagery that fosters nostalgia while insisting you explore more of the coast in the future. Stay tuned to discover the inspiration behind her work and find out how you can bring a piece of the Carolina coast into your home.
Speaker 1:On this episode of Topsail Insider, it's time to indulge and experience the finest coastal hospitality on Topsail Island, with Saltwater Resort and Suites in Surf City, north Carolina, designed to exceed your expectations. Guests can enjoy elegant suites featuring premium, luxurious bedding, fully equipped kitchens with dishwashers, 75-inch flat screens, en suite washers and dryers, and gorgeous ocean views. With the grand opening of their newest location, you can now relax in their saltwater pool, opening at the end of July, and their modern clubhouse, perfect for unwinding and socializing, is now open for private events. Book your next beach getaway today at saltwatertopsailcom or call 910-886-4818. Saltwater Resort and Suites redefining luxury on Topsail Island. Come on out to Surf City Line for the best made-from-scratch beach and bowls on Topsail Island. Treat yourself to their delicious bowls, pilonique shrimp, beach break salads and a whole lot more. And come thirsty and enjoy their full bar serving handcrafted cocktails. Incredible margaritas, and they proudly serve North Carolina craft beer. Incredible margaritas and they proudly serve North Carolina craft beer. The line boasts the biggest deck on the island with three levels for listening to live music, relaxing in the sun, or head on up to the top deck and enjoy your meal with ocean views. Visit Surf City Line NCcom for their full food bar and brunch menus. The best service and vibes on the island await you at 2112 North New River Drive.
Speaker 1:Whether you're a local or visiting from out of town, celebrating a special occasion or just soaking up the sun with family and friends, surf City Line is the place to be for food, fun and beach memories. Fun and beach memories. Hello everyone and welcome to Topsail Insider. My name is Krista and I am your host. Today we are talking to Faith Teasley. She is the author and photographer behind the coastal lifestyle brand Saltwater Collection. We are here today to discuss her beautiful debut coffee table book highlighting the North Carolina coast. It's called Saltwater Coastal Carolina. Welcome, faith, and thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Krista. I'm very excited to chat with you.
Speaker 1:Let's start out with a brief description of your beautiful coffee table book. What can you tell us about it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. Saltwater. Coastal Carolina is an ode and love letter to the North Carolina coast. It features all of North Carolina's shoreline, from the Outer Banks to the Crystal Coast, to the Brunswick Islands and the Cape Fear. Inspiring travel guides, fun facts and watercolor maps by artist Printed Hughes are woven throughout the book, making it a truly immersive experience.
Speaker 1:It is gorgeous. I do love the Printed Hughes maps that you have at the beginning of each section. I love how you laid out the book. Tell me how many photographs and pages are in your coffee table book.
Speaker 2: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 film photographs.
Speaker 1:It's all film photography, which is amazing and very unusual for this day and age, but it really comes through in the look and feel of your book. I do love the linen hardcover. I have seen your book in the stores and it's just. It's so perfect for that coastal Carolina look and feel. You did an amazing job. This book was self-published too correct.
Speaker 2:It was, yes, self-published and nearly 10 years in the making Wow it is sold on the website and in stores around coastal Carolina.
Speaker 1:Your photography has been featured in Our State Magazine, which is about North Carolina. It photography has been featured in Our State Magazine, which is about North Carolina. It's also been featured in Coastal Living and also VisitNCcom. Do you remember which photographs were featured in these publications?
Speaker 2:I am actually a contributing photographer for Our State Magazine and I have had several photos featured by them, and then various photos with Coastal Living and with Visit NC.
Speaker 1:It's award-winning as well. Can you tell me about the awards?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the awards are, with the International Photography Awards and the book actually placed in three different categories. It was awarded in the jury top five, second place and honorable mention, which was very exciting, being that it's an international competition and award process.
Speaker 1:So exciting. You have a book signing coming up soon. Can you tell me where and when folks can meet you and buy a copy of your book and get it signed?
Speaker 2:Yes, for sure, our next book signing. We've actually hosted several and are planning more, but the next one that's on the calendar and perfect for the listeners of the Top Soul Insider podcast it's going to be in Surf City at the beautiful new location of Coastal Home Store, which I know, krista, that you're a big fan of as well I am. Yes, it is so beautiful and I'm very excited to go visit. And it will be Thursday, august 1, four to six, and I will be joined there with my good friend Laura Lobdell of Printed Hues and, as you mentioned, she's the one that contributed the beautiful watercolor maps that are featured in the book. So you actually have the opportunity to meet both of us and we will be happy to sign your copy of Saltwater, coastal Carolina.
Speaker 1:Awesome, I didn't realize that both of you were going to be there together. Yeah, I did do an interview with Jill for Coastal.
Speaker 1:Home Store when she was at the little cottage which I fell in love with her then. But now she's moved to a bigger location in Surf City and I haven't been to the store yet. So when I go to the book signing it'll be my first time visiting the store. But I was also wondering I know you're going to have your book there for sale. What about the prints of your photography and also the watercolor prints from Printed Hues? Will we be able to buy prints there?
Speaker 2:at the book signing as well. Yes, excellent, we do treat them as pop-up events and we always bring a selection of prints and products with us to these book signing events that we like to host together. So we'll definitely have those available.
Speaker 1:And, of course, we both have our own individual websites where you can purchase more selections there. Wonderful, and now you have turned the book into what is now Saltwater Collection. Explain how you've expanded and what other products are now available at saltwatercollectioncom.
Speaker 2:So Saltwater Collection has grown into a coastal lifestyle brand. It is a community built upon intentional, slow living and life by the sea, where salt air fuels our soul and summer is a state of mind. The North Carolina coast inspires us deeply. We celebrate the character of every beach and coastal town in our beautiful state, from the Outer Banks to Baldhead Island to the Crystal Coast and Brunswick Beaches.
Speaker 1:You are passionate about both the Carolina Coast and photography, and I wanted to find out how both got started.
Speaker 2:I have always adored our coast not biased at all, of course, but I do think the North Carolina coast is a very special place and I actually dedicated the book Saltwater to my grandma, betty, and my grandma, who is still with us, which is such a blessing.
Speaker 2:She has always told me that we have in our family, we have saltwater running in our veins, so that word saltwater has always been very important to me and to us, and we have different family connections to the coast.
Speaker 2:Her maiden name was actually Salter, which was derived from Salter Path, north Carolina, on the Crystal Coast. And then, in addition to that, we also had our family cottage on the Pamlico Sound near Belhaven, north Carolina, and I spent many childhood summers there. We had a pier and a boat and we would fish and dolphins would swim through and we'd go to the local 4th of July parade in Belhaven and we really just embraced that coastal Carolina lifestyle at the cottage and what I think is so fun and so cool. Through talking with you and through other people as well, I feel like all of us have that special place, maybe that we spent childhood summers at, or maybe even in adulthood as well. But these places that mean so much to us and I think a lot of people can relate to what I share about in the book about the cottage, and that's what we fondly have always referred to it, as is the cottage, and I think a lot of us have our own cottage.
Speaker 1:It was really nice looking through your book and reading about your grandma, betty, and about the cottage, and you even have a beautiful poem in your book about it. It did make me feel nostalgic and think back to my fond childhood memories that I have, and so I do think that when people are looking back on that and reading your story and your history and how beautiful your connection still is to those memories and to your grandma, that it'll strike something within themselves to think back on their own personal history and what's important to them. So really it's a beautiful job and it has a very sentimental value to how you've laid out the book and how you've spoken about your history. So thank you for sharing all that. Going to your passion for photography, you started with wedding photography. You don't just jump into wedding photography and I've seen your wedding photography and it's actually stunning. When did you first pick up the camera and develop this love for photography?
Speaker 2:So that actually can go back to Grandma Betty as well.
Speaker 1:Oh, really In fact, yeah.
Speaker 2:So when you open up the book you'll see where it says to my Grandma Betty, thank you for sharing your love of the ocean and photography with me.
Speaker 2:Okay, because my grandma has always loved photography. She's always loved taking photos. She never pursued it professionally, but she was our family historian and the person that was documenting all of our family events, both with film cameras, then, of course, digital cameras, as those came along, as well as video cameras. So that's something that she's always been very passionate about, and she shared that passion with me growing up. To take beautiful photos In fact that was one of our biggest activities at the cottage was to like every sunset we would go out on the porch and just take photos together. It was kind of our thing. So my grandma Betty inspired me to take photos for fun. My grandma Betty inspired me to to take photos for fun. And when I graduated high school which I'm dating myself- but in 2009, when I graduated high school.
Speaker 2:I was, of course, figuring out what I wanted to do with my life, as one does, and the opportunity just fell in my lap, really of. I had a family friend ask if I could take photos of her family and that she would pay me, and I was like, why would you pay me? I'm not a photographer. I mean, I had a camera, but that was about it. But I did that. I took her family photos, loved it. I put them up on Facebook and a bunch of families from my church actually started asking me if I could photograph their families.
Speaker 1:And so just kind of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just started taking off from there, by accident almost, and then in 2010, I decided to go to an internship in Nashville, tennessee, with a wedding photographer there, and that's where I was introduced to the world of wedding photography specifically, and I absolutely fell in love with the ability to tell a story, to tell the story of a wedding day. Every single wedding is different. It's always fresh and new and exciting, and it's these really deeply personal and intimate moments in people's lives that it's such an honor to be invited into. Anytime I photographed a wedding, I always feel like I become part of the family that day, but then even beyond that too, because there's several clients that I'm their life photographer, so I still take their family photos every year.
Speaker 2:And that's such a cool honor and something that I am deeply thankful for. But I had a really successful, awesome wedding photography career. I photographed weddings all across North and South Carolina and sometimes beyond that as well Hundreds of weddings and had a great time doing it. But all good things must come to an end, I guess, and for a myriad of reasons, but primarily health issues, I decided to step away from wedding photography. I do still offer some portrait and some commercial work when it comes to my photography career, but in 2014 is when I had this dream of creating this coffee table book and this brand called Saltwater Collection, and it's been a very natural transition of moving away from the weddings. I needed to move on, and I am very happy with how all of that is going.
Speaker 1:You said for health reasons, I don't want to get too far up into your business, but were these reasons that kept you from being able to like standing up and being at a wedding all day long?
Speaker 2:Correct, correct. And I've actually struggled with health issues my whole life and, I guess, coincidentally, so has my grandmother. We actually share a lot of the same conditions, which is not a fun thing to share, but it is what it is. But I deal with chronic pain. I've dealt with chronic pain since I was a child, and weddings were very hard on my body. But one thing to know about me is that I'm very stubborn, but in, I guess, a good way.
Speaker 2:So, pretty much I try really hard to not let my health dictate my life and the decisions I want to make. So I have always pushed myself for everything for weddings and other photo shoots and travel. All those things have always come 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 it made the decision for me of, okay, we need to step back from the weddings. This is a bit much. So, essentially, I do struggle with chronic pain, so even continuing the brand saltwater collection is a daily struggle, but it's something worth fighting for. So it's something that I continue to push myself beyond my limits daily, so that way I can share the beauty of the North Carolina coast with all of you.
Speaker 1:I am certainly sorry to hear that you and Grandma Betty are suffering the chronic pain, and I know that there are a lot of beautiful brides out there who are missing out on your amazing photography, but it is inspiring to see that you're pushing through and still achieving your goals. You started out with digital cameras, which most people do nowadays, I would imagine, but in 2014, you decided to try film. I think kids today wouldn't even know what a roll of film looks like, so tell me what motivated you to try film in 2014.
Speaker 2:So, yes, I did start with digital photography, especially in the world of weddings. Film terrified me. I needed to be able to see on the back of the camera exactly what I got, to know that I got the shot when it came to weddings. So I was like that's crazy to not use digital for that. But I noticed, though, as I was in the world of weddings, that all of my favorite photographers had one thing in common, and that was they shot film, and I was very intrigued by that. So I decided, okay, I think it would be worth trying film, but still, I was terrified.
Speaker 2:I was terrified of the whole process, like it was really scary and daunting to me, but a website that I came across allowed for camera rentals and I was actually able to rent a medium format camera, the same type of camera that I still use. It is called a Contax 645. And it uses medium format film and that means that each roll of film only has 16 frames per roll. I decided I wanted to take it to Southport, being that it's such a beautiful, coastal, charming community in town, and I knew it would be a perfect place to go play with a film camera. I had that film developed and did not know if any of it was going to turn out because I didn't know what I was doing, and I sent the film to a lab in Alabama also the same lab that has processed all of my film, which I think is really cool, and that is Indie Film Lab. They're located in Montgomery.
Speaker 1:Alabama. Do you think that's important to stay with the same lab, that they learn you and you learn them? Is that something photographers should pay attention to?
Speaker 2: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 film processing, the technician that works with your film can really make or break it. Basically, there's a lot of different things that go into it and Indy's been very great to me. I have been able to work with them to really hone in my style. I do have a very unique and a certain characteristic to my work that people recognize it, which is really cool, and one way that I'm able to achieve that is by using a great film lab. They developed it and the photos turned out. I was like this is great, and they actually turned out so good that a few of those photos actually made it into my book, which is wild.
Speaker 1:Whoa yeah, your very first rolls.
Speaker 2:I put that in the intro section for fun to really pair with the story of the context of the whole project and everything. So that's how I got started with the use of film. I immediately fell in love and decided during that trip actually that how cool would it be if I photographed the entire North Carolina coastline on film. Because what I found was that the tones and the grain and the natural softness of film pairs with the salty air and the coastline beautifully. It's like a match made in heaven, I feel like, and it was the closest I've ever gotten to capturing the magic of the North Carolina coast.
Speaker 1:You really have. You're right, it is a perfect. The look and feel that's created in your images. It's very I don't know any other word to say it. It's saltwater and it's coastal Carolina. It's perfect. Thank you so much. Yeah, so you took the original photos, you send it to the lab, the lab sends it back to you and you're like I think I should do the entire coast. That's how that worked.
Speaker 2:Pretty much, but I had no idea what I was doing.
Speaker 1:I just had a dream. That's all. That's amazing. Okay, when they send the pictures back to you, it's not. You don't get a package in the mail with the paper version, so they send them back to you digitally right they do.
Speaker 2: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 talk about their days in high school in the dark room- I don't have that experience.
Speaker 2:That scares me, but I feel like I would mess it up. So I put my film in the mail and then they receive it, they process it and then they scan it, and then what I actually receive from that is an email that says your film scans are ready, which is the best email ever. It's like Christmas morning every single time, because I never know what I'm going to get you know, and oftentimes it's several weeks or months after I photographed those things. So it really is like a surprise. So it's fantastic.
Speaker 1:I can feel that you're making me feel that it's so much fun, krista because it really is something to look forward to and to enjoy.
Speaker 2:But they send me a gallery, I download those photos and then I'm able to make any edits necessary at that point. Most of the time it's simple things like straightening the horizon line or making a photo a little bit brighter or something like that. But I really like to keep those colors very true to life and very reflective of the film stock that I use, because different film stock produces different colors.
Speaker 1:For the most part, it's natural, except for some slight editing that you're doing. Okay, this is 10 years of photography, so when was it, within that 10 year span, that you're like? You know what I'm gonna do? A coffee table book.
Speaker 2:Well, pretty early on, I knew I wanted it to be a book. I just didn't know how to actually do that. So, essentially, what I did is, anytime I went to the coast, both for personal or professional reasons, I would go, like, let's say, to the Outer Banks and photograph a wedding, and I would go ahead and shoot some film while I was there. So that's one way that I was able to really compile a massive library of photographs of all these different regions and I've kept them very organized throughout the years of all of these different regions, and I'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 this thing done.
Speaker 2:So in 2019, I made some very specific trips for the purpose of the book. There was still, like, cape Lookout Lighthouse I needed that for my book so I made a trip out there for the exclusive purpose of the book. So I was shooting with a book in mind. And then those following years is when I decided, okay, I need to get this thing laid out and get it designed and figure out who's going to print it and all those things, and that really started in, I guess like 2020, 2021-ish, and then the really big push of getting it done over these last couple of years. The book itself was actually released in November of 2023. And actually it has been a really wild and awesome ride since then because we've released and I say we, it's just me, spoiler alert and by March we had sold out online, which was crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was crazy.
Speaker 2:Because I had a really large shipment of books come in and was able to sell them all, which was fantastic, because I didn't know if they're just going to sit like in a storage unit. I didn't know. I'm just winging it out here, krista.
Speaker 1:You're doing an amazing job of winging it.
Speaker 2:Thank you, it's worked out and I'm very thankful. I had to place another big order and I got those books just last month and they're selling fantastic as well, your book is laid out so beautifully.
Speaker 1:I know you said it's just a team of you, but did you have help figuring out how to lay out such a large book?
Speaker 2:I did. I did have some help with that part. I partnered with a awesome designer. Soul Twin Studio is their name and I absolutely love their aesthetic and they have done similar name and I absolutely love their aesthetic and they have done similar projects. And I actually have a family friend that it's their niece, so there was a lot of connections. Yeah, ready, and she actually grew up in the Wilmington area, so she had an appreciation for the coast as well. I knew that she was the absolute perfect person to lay out my book, so she did the general layout of the book and then I ran with it. It was a very collaborative effort and we came up with these ideas and she gave me the files and then I was able to manipulate and make all those final edits myself, but I did have some great help from Soul Twin Studio.
Speaker 1:What about with writing the text? You wrote that poem yourself.
Speaker 2:That's from your poem I did, and what's funny about that to me is that I don't consider myself a poet at all. I wanted to convey the feeling of being at the cottage and I decided that a poem might be the best way to do that. So I literally one afternoon sat down, wrote a poem. I haven't wrote a poem since. I probably should try it again.
Speaker 1:I think in 10 years you'll have a book of poetry, Maybe.
Speaker 2:Stay tuned. That's how things go in my life. I feel like I just decide something and then I just got to do it.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:And the rest of the text in there. Yeah, yep, yep, that was all me. I wanted the book to be an immersive experience and journey for people. I wanted it to be aesthetically beautiful. I created it with interior design in mind, from the exterior perspective, but for the interior, I wanted it to be something that people could flip through and they could feel like they were there. I wanted them to be inspired to book their own trips to these places and I wanted to give context to the photos. I have some little travel guides for the individual regions and then I have some fun metadata on each spread that includes a longitude, a latitude and little captions that give a little bit of context to the photos and fun facts and things like that.
Speaker 1:It does inspire you to travel. Now I'm dying to go see all of the lighthouses. Yeah, have you seen them all? I've seen one.
Speaker 2:Girl, you gotta go.
Speaker 1:My parents. A long time ago, they took a trip. They went to the north tip of North Carolina and they took the path all the way down the Outer Banks and they saw every single lighthouse. So cool, it meant so much to them, and my grandmother was with them at the time. She's no longer with us, but to share that memory with her as well is something that they still talk about today, and so I want to do that with my family Real quickly before we move on. Do you think that you will continue shooting with film for your future projects?
Speaker 2:I believe. So I think that film is really what helps me achieve the certain look and aesthetic of my photographs. So for the foreseeable future, yes, I absolutely will continue to shoot film so the book is 288 pages of coastal fine art and luxury.
Speaker 1:It's white, it's hardcover linen. It is perfect for coastal decor. So when you mentioned earlier that you had decor in mind when you were creating, the aesthetic of the book makes perfect sense to me. It is something that you would buy to complement your living space, for sure, but also being able to open it up and look at all the beautiful pictures, but even just clothes just sitting there. I could see that just being a way that you would decorate your house.
Speaker 2:Well, as you said, I wanted it to be really beautiful from all perspectives. So I wanted a really beautiful cover, I wanted a beautiful spine, I wanted the very best materials when it came to the linen and the quality of the paper used on the inside of the book. People love to display it, of course, on a coffee table, but it's beautiful on a shelf, it's beautiful displayed in built-ins and it's also beautiful simply opened up. Plenty of people have told me that they'll leave it open on their coffee table and they'll flip it to a new spread every day, just depending on their mood. So I think it's a very versatile book in that way, and it's also. It's beautiful for coastal decor, but with its natural neutral tones, it's really beautiful pretty much anywhere, for any type of decor, natural neutral tones.
Speaker 1:It's really beautiful pretty much anywhere, for any type of decor we talked about earlier. You having self-published the book. What made you decide to self-publish rather than going?
Speaker 2:through a publisher. I think that there are pros and cons to both and I did my research, but ultimately I decided to self-publish simply because I had a very specific vision and I wanted to have full creative control over that vision. And if I were to have worked with a publisher, I would have naturally given up a lot of that control and I'm sure we still could have created a really beautiful book, but it would likely be different and I needed to have that creative control at least for this first project. Now, if an opportunity arose or maybe I could work with a publisher for future projects, I would certainly be open to that kind of idea, but for this first debut book I decided, okay, self-publishing. I think that's going to be the best route for this particular project.
Speaker 1:Give us an overview of how you decided to lay it out, the book. You have three different sections in there.
Speaker 2:Just talk to us about those three sections reasons why I love each of them as well, and I think a lot of people that have traveled to these different regions of the coast I think they'll agree to that. Each one is so uniquely special on its own. I knew I wanted to have the Brunswick Islands, cape Fear, crystal Coast, inner Banks, outer Banks, so I decided to go with the first section being the intro to give a little background of my own story and why I love the North Carolina coast. The second section was to celebrate the individual regions.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I decided to simply call it islands, which is just so simplistic and beautiful. That middle section is where you'll find each individual region of the coast and you'll find the corresponding map by my friend, Laura beautiful watercolor maps.
Speaker 2:And then the third section is called sea and sky, and the inspiration behind that particular section was I have all these beautiful photographs and a lot of them are specific to a certain region, especially photos that have a landmark, like a lighthouse or a pier or something like that. But there's also these other photos of the ocean, shorebirds and different things that they don't necessarily have to belong to a certain region is what I decided they were just beautiful, beautiful photographs.
Speaker 2:So in the third part of the book, sea and Sky, we have tides, seabirds, waves and dusk and dawn. That ended up being a really beautiful way of laying out the book.
Speaker 1:I loved all of it. Each section of your book is so special because of the way that you've laid it out. I think it's really wonderful. Let's go back to the islands for a minute. So you've got the Brunswick Islands. Name a few of the Brunswick Islands for me.
Speaker 2:Oak Island islands. For me, Oak Island, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Calabash, all of those places yeah.
Speaker 1:And then the Cape Fear region, which is where we are.
Speaker 2:The Cape Fear might actually be the biggest section in the book and arguably possibly my favorite, mainly because it's beautiful, but also because it's home. For me, that includes Wilmington, topsail, surf City, all of those beautiful places. There's a lot in that section.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it was one of the larger sections, but of course it's one of my favorites too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're not biased, right? No, no, not at all.
Speaker 1:And then the Crystal Coast going up. I guess that would be north of Sneeds Ferry right.
Speaker 2:So Swansboro, moorhead City, beaufort, salter Path, atlantic Beach, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you have the Outer Banks, but that takes you all the way up to Kill Devil Hills.
Speaker 2:Starts in Ocracoke and goes up to Kill Devil Nags Head. All those beaches.
Speaker 1:And what made you decide to include the latitude and the longitude of each location? I thought that was a very nice touch, by the way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you. I researched every single one myself and double triple checked multiple times to make sure I had those numbers right. I thought it was a really fun design element, really fun. Detail adds even more context to the photo and, yeah, just aesthetically beautiful. I think it makes a really cool detail to correspond with all the photography.
Speaker 1:I learned going through the book that you actually chartered a helicopter. So tell me what made you decide to charter the helicopter and did it have anything to do with figure eight island?
Speaker 2: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 of different tours. It is the coolest way to see our coast like breathtakingly beautiful, from above. Fun fact, I do not own a drone. I've thought about purchasing one, but as of right now, I currently do not own one. And the biggest thing is that I wanted the whole project, the entire book, to be photographed on film, and in order to do that, I physically had to be up in the air one way or the other.
Speaker 1:Well, that's just really too bad that you had to go up, I know right Okay that you had to go up.
Speaker 2:I know right Okay. So what they did for me is they removed 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 go back up. They flew me over their whole coverage area, so we went over Oak Island and Southport, we went over Baldhead, then we went up to Wrightsville Beach, figure Eight and downtown Wilmington.
Speaker 1:Figure Eight Island is a gated community. It's a gated island. You can't just drive on there and start snapping pictures. So when I saw the overhead I was paying attention, because I've never seen Figure Eight Island before not even by boat. I thought she probably had to rent a helicopter because she couldn't get on the island. Most likely I don't know. But yeah, what a great experience you had. I can't believe they took the door off for you, but I guess you didn't want to shoot through the glass. That makes sense.
Speaker 2:Right right, that's something that they'll offer for photographers specifically, but yeah, totally awesome experience. So they're high tide helicopters and I highly recommend them.
Speaker 1:Where can folks find your saltwater book?
Speaker 2: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 as well, and Apex, and you can actually see the full list of all of our stockists on our website, saltwatercollectioncom. And, of course, you can buy the book directly at saltwatercollectioncom as well, and I will personally pack and ship your order myself, and I'm more than happy to sign books as well. If you order directly through me and you have. Maybe this is a gift for somebody or for yourself. Treat yourself. But if someone wants it personalized with maybe their name or maybe the recipient's name, I'm more than happy to do that.
Speaker 1:You're also selling your books. They're in stores that are in Texas, New York, Ohio. I did see that on your website. Tell me about the book signing again.
Speaker 2:Our next book signing will be at Coastal Home Store in Surf City at their beautiful new location, and that is going to be on Thursday, august 1st, from 4 to 6 pm, and my good friend Laura Lobdell of Printed Hues will be joining us. We will be there to sign your book, we'll have some of our own products and artwork available and there's going to be light refreshments as well.
Speaker 1:Could you tell us about the pricing of Saltwater Coastal Carolina?
Speaker 2:A coffee table book of Saltwater, coastal Carolina, is $125.
Speaker 1:I just want to say that it deserves that price tag when you really pick it up and you feel the quality of this book. It's got some really luxurious features, like the linen finish and what is foil stamping, by the way.
Speaker 2:So that is where the text of the book is actually directly imprinted inside of the cover. It has a really cool texture to it because of the foil stamping.
Speaker 1:Again, it's 288 pages. It's fine art photography. It's a compilation of 10 years of photography. It's all in one book. It is a piece of art. It's home decor. It's a display for your family and friends to enjoy for years. So $125 for the book and you can get individual prints of your photography. And is this photography that's in the book or is it a combination of stuff that's in the book and also in your complete library?
Speaker 2:It's a combination. Any of the photos that are featured in the book are available to purchase. If they're not listed on my website, you can always send me an email directly and I can create a custom order for you. If there's something that really stands out to you, more than happy to do that. But then there's additional photos listed on the website that I don't believe are in the book, simply because the book it's actually five pounds. It is a heavy book.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is heavy, I think it might be five pounds five ounces.
Speaker 2:It's like a birth announcement, and it really is. It is quite my baby in a lot of ways and I had to actually cut out a lot of photos from the book because it was getting too large. So, yeah, so I have over 200 photos featured in the book, but in reality I actually have thousands in my personal archive. So, to answer your question, anytime someone has an interest in a photo they might see on my Instagram or on my website, they can reach out to me directly if they want a custom print.
Speaker 1: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 and shipped directly to your home, correct? So what can you tell me about any of your future plans?
Speaker 2:Well, I have all kinds of ideas. I would love to do more books. I have several concepts in mind and hopefully can start revealing a little bit of that soon, and I've also been working on other products that I'm aiming to have available before the holidays, so I'm very excited about those as well. The best way to stay updated on that and to stay tuned is to follow my Instagram, which is at saltwatercollection, and then, of course, the website itself, saltwatercollectioncom. I have an email newsletter as well that people can sign up for on the website.
Speaker 1:We are at the end of the episode, so we're going to do final thoughts. What is the one takeaway that you want to leave listeners with today about your gorgeous coffee table book? Or expanded saltwater collection? Or just you?
Speaker 2:personally calling. I know a lot of your listeners, I'm sure, our locals and we have such a beautiful coast and I think it's important to appreciate it and to celebrate it and also to conserve it as well. And finding ways to help keep our coast beautiful, I think is very important, but I think we're the luckiest to have such a beautiful place to call home.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, let's give out that contact information Again. The website is saltwatercollectioncom and you can email her at hello at saltwatercollectioncom. You can find and follow Saltwater Collection on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and also Pinterest, so I will have all of those links for you in the show notes. So if you missed any of this information, just go there. And I just want to say thank you to the listeners for joining us today. I appreciate you, and thank you again, Faith, for being on Topsail Insider and telling us all about saltwater collection.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Krista.
Speaker 1:This conversation means the world to me and I appreciate you so much. Go to TopsailInsidercom and join our mailing list by clicking on the Make Me a Topsail Insider button. While you're there, you can click the Send Me a Voicemail button and let me know exactly what you're thinking. Your message just might be on an episode of Topsail Insider. You can email me at Krista at TopsailInsidercom, or call or text me at 910-800-0111. Thank you for listening and supporting Topsail Insider and our local businesses and nonprofits. These are our neighbors and our friends and together we build a mighty and a beautiful community I'm super proud to be a part of. I'll see you around, topsail.
