This was my second photoshoot with Dorka. I wanted to continue featuring my towels with athletes. I think real athletes best represent the active lifestyle and passions my towels are designed to complement. Plus, their rigorous training builds incredible stamina and work ethic, and that really shines through in the pictures. 

So, we recruited within our network and found these amazing models/athletes! One of the models is even training for the Waikiki Rough Water swim! For privacy reasons, I can't divulge much about them, but let me just say that I was impressed. All three of them worked so hard even though it was quite hot, and also made my towels look so good! Really appreciate you guys! Modeling is not easy!

This time around I mentioned to Dorka I wanted to focus more on getting video footage. I thought having more video would do well on social media as opposed to stills. From the last shoot, I learned that the quality of the video is so good that I can basically make still shots from them. This will allow me to capture the exact facial expression/body motion/towel fluttering I wanted. The only thing is that the video is less flexible with light, so I was warned that the colors may not look like the previous shoot's stills. She was right, so we are going to do another separate shoot for stills later. 

I prepped for the shoot by steam ironing all the towels and rolling them up carefully. I didn't want any weird creases on them. I froze gatorade the night before so everyone could enjoy ice cold hydration when they needed it. (Dorka also kindly made a bunch of musubis so that was super nice!) I also picked plumeria from the tree in front of our house to use with the Plumeria Canopy Towels. Lastly I printed out my desired shot list and was good to go.

During the shoot, I followed the camera around with all the towels hung over my shoulder. I was like a walking coat rack! I also tried to take as much behind the scenes footages as I could. The female model assisted me by carrying the cart with everyone's stuff in it (she is such an awesome human being!) We shot the male models for around 2 hours, and then female model had her own shoot afterwards.

I think the most challenging thing for me, is that I didn't always remember to style the towels. That's something I need to improve on for the next shoot. Dorka would remind me here and there, but I understand now, how for much larger productions they hire multiple people to handle various aspects of... well everything. Someone in charge of hair/make up, someone in charge of styling the props and products, etc. For mine I had me, Dorka, and a model who kindly dubbed as a cart handler. I hope to one day grow to a point where I can hire my own styling person to make sure every aspect is just the way it should look. If anyone is interested in volunteering for this position to gain experience, contact me!!

Note to self: One major thing I forgot to do was to apply sunblock!! I was so focused on getting all the props and materials ready that I completely forgot about myself! I ended up tomato red (as my son described it) and am still recovering from the days after the shoot while I'm writing this. Thank goodness I was at least wearing a hat!  Note for next time: WEAR SUNBLOCK!!

It was a hot day and I really really appreciated all the hard work Dorka and all three models put into making my towels look great on this website and social media. I pour all my creative energy into designing the towels, and it really is an amazing feeling to see them come to life. 

I love gifting the photoshoot towels to our models once we wrap - or as I learned they say, "Martini!" We piled all of them onto this athlete model, and they ended up looking just like a bunch of leis around his neck! Maybe these will look good as graduation leis?

If you would like to apply to be a model for a future shoot, use the contact form to get in touch! All ethnicities and genders are welcome!