For a long time, I have looked forward to the day I would be able to organise the first professional photo shoot for Bahari Blu.
The time had finally arrived to plan the beautiful, beach-themed summer photo shoot that I had in my mind's eye! I knew exactly which photographer I wanted to work with. Karolina Wiśniowska is a Polish photographer who I had come across 6 years before while I worked as a part-time model, and I absolutely love the natural, gentle photos that she captures.
We agreed on a date, hoping that the 25th of May would be a good bet for sunny weather in Cornwall. I then got busy planning mood boards and reaching out to other small businesses to collaborate with in order to create some beautiful outfits to match the jewellery in the shoot. A big thank you to Jaggery, EastbyEastWest, and Noctu Organic for lending your beautiful clothes.
I contacted two lovely models, Jasmin and Ruby, and it was beginning to look like everything might go smoothly...
As the day approached I began to feel a pit in my stomach as I nervously looked at the weather forecast. Heavy rain and crazy gales were headed our way. Unable to post-pone the shoot, I decided to cross fingers (and toes) and hope for the best. I drove down to Cornwall the day before to set up through glorious golden sunshine, and I tentatively thought that perhaps the forecast was wrong...
I was woken up the next morning by gale force winds shaking the little cabin we were staying at, and rain lashing at the windows. I lay there trying to think of solutions, despairingly Googling 'How to make an outdoor photoshoot work in a storm'. We had a white gazebo which would help with the rain, but it wouldn't stand a chance in the howling gale. Thankfully, Thomas (my boyfriend) who is a mad keen surfer had a bright idea. He got up his surfing wind app, and we scrutinised the coast to see if there was a sheltered cove nearby. It looked like there might be one very close by, so we jumped in the car at 7am to go and scope it out.
Amazingly, when we arrived at this tiny little cove, the water was smooth and flat. We had found a tiny pocket of calm, and we were able to construct the flimsy white gazebo to create a dry space for us to work. Not long after Karolina, Ruby and Jasmin arrived, and we all huddled under the cover. We had a short 4-hour window in this new cove before the tide covered the beach, so we got into an efficient system of rotating models, myself included, from in and out of the gazebo.
Thankfully, the rain slowed to a light drizzle which meant that Karolina could still work her magic without worrying about her kit getting too drenched. It definitely wasn't the setting I had envisioned, but I was still thrilled to be working with such a great team, and compromising to make things work.
After a few hours we lost the beach, and retreated to have lunch in the little cabin.
Sod's law was at play, as just as we lost access to the beach the sun began to peer through the clouds. However, we were all cheerful, and now that I have seen the edited photos I am thrilled with the result! The soft overcast light works well, and you wouldn't know that there was a constant fine mist of drizzle. We spent the rest of the afternoon hiding from the gales in the little cabin, constructing a make-shift studio from a sheet, drinking tea, and getting the last of the product shots.
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