Dream State Portraits: Inside a Conceptual Portrait Session with Catherine Bunch
Some portrait sessions tell a story.
Others simply make you feel something.
In Bloom, a dream-state portrait session by Catherine Bunch, is one of those sessions. Soft, colorful, and a little surreal, these images explore the idea of growth—not in an obvious way, but through feeling. Instead of spelling everything out, Catherine created a space that lets the viewer slow down and interpret the images for themselves.
Want to see exactly how she created this session from start to finish? Take the Course.
Growth as a Visual Language
The inspiration behind In Bloom was the idea that growth isn't always loud or obvious. Sometimes it's quiet. Sometimes it's messy. And sometimes you don't even realize it's happening until you look back.
To help bring that feeling to life, Catherine used oversized flowers throughout the session. They weren't just there to decorate the set—they became part of the story, surrounding and interacting with the subject in a way that felt natural instead of distracting.
The rest of the set stayed simple on purpose. With fewer distractions, the focus stayed on the connection between the subject, the flowers, and the light. Every piece worked together without competing for attention, creating images that feel calm, dreamy, and full of emotion.
Inspiration Without Imitation
This wasn't a shoot inspired by one photo or one artist.
Like most creative projects, Catherine collected inspiration from all over—Pinterest, movies, television, and anything else that sparked an idea. She loved seeing flowers become part of the scene instead of just another prop, and that concept shaped the entire shoot.
Color helped bring everything together. The soft pinks and purples created a dreamy atmosphere while still keeping the focus on the subject. Instead of trying to recreate someone else's work, Catherine used those inspirations as a starting point and made the idea her own.
Light, Tools, and Intuition
For In Bloom, Catherine worked with continuous lighting instead of flash. Since she could see the light in real time, it gave her the freedom to make adjustments as the session unfolded and fine-tune the mood she was after.
She also kept a close eye on color. Mixing white light with the colored lights softened the pinks and purples, helping the final images feel dreamy without becoming overly saturated.
Before shooting on film, Catherine photographed the setup digitally first. Testing the light this way helped her see how much detail she was keeping in the highlights and shadows before moving to film, where every frame counts. It's a simple workflow that made experimenting feel much less intimidating.
Creating the Dream In-Camera
One of the things that makes this session feel so dreamy is that most of the effect was created in camera, not in editing.
Catherine layered diffusion, halo, and ghost filters to add softness, glow, and subtle blur throughout the images. Instead of relying on Photoshop later, she built the look while she was shooting.
She also experimented with wide apertures, which helped exaggerate the effects of the filters and create even more depth and atmosphere. Some images feel soft and subtle, while others lean into the blur and distortion a bit more.
The goal was never to create a "perfect" image. It was to create something that felt the way she imagined it. Sometimes that meant embracing a little unpredictability and letting the creative process lead the way.
Why This Session Matters
In Bloom is a reminder that some of the best creative work happens when you stop worrying about getting everything "right."
Throughout this session, Catherine shares how she planned the concept, built the set, worked with light, and created so much of the final look in camera. But more importantly, she shows what it looks like to trust your ideas, experiment, and create images that feel true to your own style.
If you've been looking for a little creative push—or you've been wanting to step into more conceptual work—this course is a great place to start.
Step Fully Behind the Scenes
Inside Creating Dream State Portraits, Catherine Bunch takes photographers fully behind the scenes of this session — from concept and set design to lighting, shooting, and editing — sharing how to build immersive, emotional imagery that stays true to your vision from start to finish.
The course is available inside Unraveled Academy, alongside hundreds of artist-led classes designed to help photographers experiment, trust their intuition, and create work that feels honest.
