Heidi Lane-Menéndez left her small hometown in Wisconsin and headed to the big apple to begin her 18-year modeling career with the prestigious Wilhelmina Model Agency. “I was very naive, I had $1000 in my purse plus 4 photos of myself and a dream. Thank God I got my first booking right away for JC Penny’s catalogue! This was in 1973 and I really stretched my next egg. We didn’t have modeling conventions then, I wish we had, it would have been so much easier to have the knowledge the kids get now from them!”

Soon thereafter Heidi’s face appeared in such magazines as Seventeen, Glamour, Mademoiselle and Italian Vogue, She was also the Loves Baby Soft girl for print and television, and went on to do TV commercials for Nair, Tickle deodorant, Sears, Lee jeans and many more. Later, after working in Italy, Tokyo, Germany and Paris, Heidi moved to Miami and acted in several episodes of the national hit series Miami Vice. “Back in Florida I started a modeling school with my mom Carole, a former dance instructor, and created a fashion accessory called Crazi-Net, which was featured in People Magazine. Within the year I was hired by the president of Esprit de Corps to be the director of visual merchandising in their main store in San Francisco. One day I received a call from one of my dearest friends to come back to Miami and to direct the New Faces division in his modeling agency. It was an offer I couldn’t resist! This was also the time when I picked up a camera to shoot the new girls in the agency and fortunately they began getting work right away with my photos. Suddenly I had started a new career that not only I loved but, allowed me to be creative and use all my talents.”

That was more than 15 years ago and Heidi hasn’t stopped shooting beautiful photos since. “With my photography I love capturing the moments in between the moment with my subjects. This is what I define as special sprit,” Heidi says, “no matter whom I’m shooting in fashion or portraits, there is always a quality of hidden inner beauty, and this is what I try to find and bring to surface.”

In 1994 Heidi was married in the mountains of North Carolina and at that same time felt a flash of inspiration that lead her to create Fabulous Fairies, photos of children in beautiful settings as nature fairies, which were distributed by the Chicago based Recycled Greeting Card Company in the US.

Besides working with models, she works with children outside the fashion business too. In 1999 Heidi was awarded the Role Model of the Year Award by the Big Brothers-Big Sister Organization for her dedication and service of many years. “Since I have no children of my own I love doing service work in my spare time, I’m very excited about my future trip this year to orphanages in China and Mongolia.”

Heidi’s work continues to evolve. She is currently represented by Blink Management, located in South Beach, and not only shoots for her advertising clientele but for the numerous schools that book her year after year.

Heidi states, “My first and foremost goal is for the person I photograph to feel special, comfortable, and to be very happy with their photos. There is nothing more rewarding than to receive a phone call or a note from the kids or their parents telling me how much they love their photos. That make my day every time!”