Bella at Dive Motel | Nashville, TN

Whenever I’m doing a test shoot I often like to match the person or personality to the best of my ability with the overall theme I’m looking to accomplish. I’ve often found the images have a little more strength to them and feel a little more authentic that way. I found Bellas instagram page from her work with a local photographer here in Nashville and I knew she’d be perfect for this.

So I reached out to Bella earlier in the year with a mood board that looked just like this.

Mood Board

A lot of times when I’m making a mood board I’ll include a color palette so the client has a reference if I’m going for or being asked to fine tune something specific. It’s a helpful tool.

That wasn’t the case for the vision on this. It was mostly vibes I was trying to capture. A mood. A feeling that hits you when you look at it.

She loved the concept and we planned for November.

Fast forward to November…

We picked a few locations (because you always need a backup), solidified a time, and prepared to bring this mood board to life.

Bella in front of The Dive Motel Sign

Location #1 - The Dive Motel (Actually the only place we ended up using)

The Dive Motel is a Bar, Motel, Swim Club in Nashville, TN. They do comedy shows and have retro rooms with each one containing an individual theme. Although I’ve been to Dive Motel before, I actually haven’t stayed the night.. maybe one day for a future staycation.

Anyways, I kinda remember how dreamy the neon would be since I’ve been before.

I told her we might get kicked out but it could very well be worth it. Well whadda ya know? A Thanksgiving week miracle. They were actually closed and we were free to use the front/outside of their place.

I wanted to hybrid shoot this using film and digital cameras. I always bring more than I need lol. I brought 4 cameras. I used 3.

A Minolta XD-11 loaded with Portra 400. I love the “I wonder if this will look fire” on this film stock. Especially if it’s not one I use a lot. A Polaroid One Step - 600 color film. Last but not least my Sony A6700 for the digitals.

A few lenses. A Flash. Gloves because it was actually cold.

I love taking Polaroids. People open up and it feels way more casual when your pointing a Polaroid camera at them. You can capture some really organic, relaxed, authentic portraits that way.

Arguably the best part about it in todays digital age is.. a physical photo.

I love the way they fray on the ends from getting hit with a little light during development (AKA those few seconds between pulling it from the camera and sliding it into my nearest pocket). Yea, they really are that sensitive.

Gotta love em.

Overall, I think they really came out special and probably one of my favorite works to close out 2025. Bella was amazing to work with and we left with a mutual excitement to show these to the world.

Here’s how I ended up sharing the story of these images on Instagram.

Thanks for reading! Until next time.

My Instagram: @alejandro.onphoto

Bella’s Instagram: @bellaphanthavongsa