Shooting a hot cover in the cold waters of Cape Town-a Mega Modelz exclusive
Making of the cover
It was a fantastic experience to shoot with Kerri; she is such a great model n fun person to be with. I still remember clearly the first shot we took-The white waves dancing around her appeared to me like lava of melting snow and as she sat on her knees gazing at some far away illusion- she appeared to me one of the most exotic girls I had ever shot with. As I gazed at her through my lens for her face close ups, I realized her piercing blue eyes can cut through any defenses you might hold against such body -beautiful. The camera loves her and you love her.
She embodied within her the wildness and sensuality of South Africa.
They say about South Africa- one world one country!
That even India is.
We have almost everything that one can see in the world. But if they were to say the same thing only about Cape Town- I would completely agree with the statement. I have been shooting around the world but never been to a place before that’s got such a range of locations within an hour of the main city. You could be up on the Table Top mountains or be playing with sea-waters in next five min. From white sand beaches to extra-ordinary rock formations around –Cape Town has just got everything a photographer would want. I could have shot for the cover anywhere, in any corner…And thankfully Kerri is a fabulous model-the pictures just can’t go wrong. Great body…great looks...And a great attitude! Have I said this before? - can’t help it if there are so many stunning girls around!!!
Atul didn’t think twice about putting her on the cover .An excellent choice for a magazine that has made consistent efforts to get the best of the models for its cover. Just check out her body of work from across the many nations she has modeled.
We had decided to shoot at the beach side ; I had earlier crossed this particular location n loved the rock formation, though being too close to the city, I wasn’t too sure how feasible it was to do a shoot at that spot, but my friend Niel assured it was fine. Niel has been such a great help throughout my Cape Town stay. All thanks to wonderful Yasmin Mohamed that i met him.
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Clothes and colors make a lot of difference in outdoor shoots. Kerri has a great sense of style -I dropped the idea of hiring a stylist for the shoot and asked her to carry a short dress in red and a bikini. Shanaz had done astonishing make-up ….the blue eyes just stood out and I just couldn’t wait to start clicking. All I had briefed Shanaz about the shoot was to accentuate her eyes. The inspiration behind the make -up on Kerri was to bring out the color and shape of her eyes by using deep sensual purples. She kept her skin fresh and dewy by creating illusion and adding light and then her lips pale to emphasize her eyes.
We were ready for the shoot !
But the sea was not.
It has a mind of its own-n it always decides how much of itself to give to the world- from the apparent calmness in the morning, its temperament changed dramatically – the waves rose as high as twenty feet and it looked awfully scary to get anywhere close to them. Though Kerri was an absolute sport insisting up on shooting there but I can take risk with my bones but not with the model. We kept on moving from spot to spot till we found a relatively safer place. Yet again we were forced to move.
The shoot was madness, where I slipped, Kerri slipped- the guy holding the reflector slipped-n I hopelessly saw the only reflector I had slip away into the waters. I must admit Kerri took on the waves head-on (literally!) Most waves got gentle by the time they reached her, the force broken by rock formation, yet few were furious enough to toss her around –bruising her body n cutting the knees. She cursed, screamed, shouted, laughed, smiled, mocked at the sea n punched imaginary things …but didn’t move till I was done with my shots.
If I say that water was cold- don’t trust me- as the water was much more than that- it was freezing cold! She didn’t complain once and I could see what goes in to the making of a great model- the level of commitment n the madness required to shoot extra-ordinary pics…
You must check the entire series of pics in the latest issue of Mega Modelz and if you think you got what it takes to be on the cover then don’t hesitate to get in touch with Atul- he is cooler than Cape Town waters…even if the magazine covers are hot like that of Kerri-Lee Miller !
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