Community snapshot: A friendship blooms

As soon as Gigi O’Dea let her friends, David and Heather Cassella through the door, the planning began.

The Cassellas’ daughter, Hailey, was ready for her 1-year-old photo shoot. Gigi pulled some ruffled rompers out of a closet, and she and Heather decided on a purple one with a matching headband. After Hailey was changed, the foursome headed out the front door.

Tugging a blue wagon piled with equipment, O’Dea, a professional photographer, led the way across the street to a colorful oasis, the backyard of her Country Creek neighbor, Norma Kisida.

“Her foliage and flowers change all year round,” said O’Dea. “It’s amazing. It’s grown over time. The clients freak out when they see it. It’s the most amazing little thing.”

Kisida has developed the garden over the last eight years, with a goal of removing every inch of grass from her backyard. She likes to show it off and loves when O’Dea uses it as a backdrop for her images, although she rarely stays to watch.

“I usually stay out of her way,” said Kisida, a master gardener with the Manatee County Extension Office. “I’m always really happy when she comes.

“It lets people see you can have an environmental yard that supports wildlife and it can still be beautiful,” she said.

Kisida created walking paths throughout the garden, so all areas are easily accessible. She doesn’t do any extra prep for O’Dea’s photo sessions, but her husband, Ken, installed hooks in the garden arbor, so Gigi could hang a miniature bench swing for her photo shoots.

O’Dea photographed Kisida’s grandson, Colton Meyer, in 2010. The pair’s partnership developed from that event. Previously, O’Dea used the wooded area in her backyard as a backdrop.

“I didn’t shoot very much outside,” O’Dea said. “It was nothing special.”

But now, she loves Kisida’s garden because it looks different nearly every time she comes. The different times of the year produce an array of colors because different plants are in bloom. This time of year, there’s a field of yellow flowers.

Kisida, an amateur photographer herself, loves the arrangement, and appreciates the photos of her grandchildren (Colton and Ella Meyer) that O’Dea takes as a tradeoff for using the garden as a backdrop.

“She’s brought ducks and rabbits, all sorts of things,” Kisida said, smiling while pointing to some of the photographs now framed in her home.

“It’s been fun,” Kisida said. “I hope she continues using it.”