Hot Day in Botanical Garden: Part 2
As the first part was written by the model from the shoot Natasha, the second part is written by the second model that day - Ilana! It is about her experiences that day. But since we had two shoots, the main focus of Ilana's article is on the second part of the day and our adventures.
This day was one of transformation for me. I started the day in a girly, pale pink dress with long hair and ended it in a crop top and skinny jeans with short hair. I must admit, I wasn’t really feeling myself in the morning. My hair was adjusting to new shampoo (thanks to Natasha for trying to mask the grease factory that sat atop my head before the chop) and it was kind of dead. It was also brutally hot, which I don’t cope super well with. While I was in the company of two excellent companions who made me comfortable, I didn’t feel as excited as I usually am during a shoot, which I think you can see a bit in the photos.
I had already been thinking about cutting my hair, but after such a hot and disheartening morning, I was beyond ready. I sat down in Natasha’s living room and she cut off about half my hair. After a wash and some finishing touches, I felt completely rejuvenated. Most of the dead hair was gone, and I was overwhelmed by the excitement of a dramatic makeover (an excitement that I am kind of addicted to as evidenced by constantly changing hair). With a change of hair came a change of outfit. My afternoon outfit consisted of a little blue top with white flowers and a pair of high-waisted skinny jeans. Not only was I feeling more confident about my hair, but this outfit was definitely a lot more me.
We headed out to Varv’s studio, where we encountered some car trouble. The car door absolutely would not close. After many failed attempts to close the car, we very slowly drove to Varv’s boss’s house to get some tools. Natasha, a woman of many talents, finally managed to lodge the hinge back into place, so we set off to take some pictures in a cool, industrial-looking setting. We took some really fun pictures there, and then went back to the studio for some quick bridal/mother-of-the-bride shots.
Varv commented that I was acting like an entirely different model during the second shoot, and I certainly agreed. In the morning I felt sort of timid and fairy-like, but in the evening, I was a boss ass bitch. It was surprising to see how much my clothing and hair can affect how I act and feel. I think there’s a lot more smiling in the second session of the day because I just felt SO much better about myself. For anyone reading who is feeling ‘meh’ about their look, I definitely recommend going for that cut/colour you’ve always been dreaming of. There’s no time like the present!
After shooting, we stopped for ice cream. One lovely thing about shooting with Varv was that she wasn’t acting like an authoritative photographer. We goofed around all day and it was a lot of fun. At the end of the day, we were just 3 women eating ice cream.
