shoot | Hold the Glamour

June 1, 2012

Work, castings, boyfriend’s and family waiting

Welcome to Milwaukee airport, WI

Milwaukee – Robyn Lawley and I in the car off to the studio

Milwaukee – in the studio after lunch

As I sit at my dining table writing this post, I have three roofer’s banging away repairing our skylight ceiling that leaked oh so many weeks ago. We’ve had an enormous amount of rain these last two weeks in New York so finally they are here… Leaks and roofer’s!

This week I flew to Milwaukee again on a 6.30am flight right after the Memorial Day long weekend, with every man and his dog traveling to and fro where ever they came from. The airports were a hot mess with people traveling it seemed to all places imaginable. All flights were full, there were lines and queues from the minute you walked in to La Guardia airport.

I got in my beauty rest for the duration of my flight which was about two hours. When I disembarked, I walked over to Starbucks and was hanging for my Caffè Americano… basically, a rich, full-bodied espresso with hot water in true European style. It was a good kick-start to my morning… now I was ready for work!

In line for my Americano, I saw a male model I knew whose name was Gary and then I saw the beautiful Robyn Lawley. Robyn not only is a supermodel but someone I’ve known since she started her phenomenal career in Sydney a few years ago. She started shooting Sara for Ezibuy with me and we worked together for about 18 months. It’s been awhile since I saw her so we had much to catch-up on.

We shared a car ride to the studio… I felt sorry for our driver as we didn’t shut up and continued our talks throughout the day and night. Work was great. Had lingerie shots to get all sexy for… you should have seen my big Texas hair! Comical really. It was a steady day for the both of us.

A model shuttle took us back to the airport (there was five of us returning to the airport). One girl was flying to Miami the rest of us to New York. We bonded, chatted and laughed all the way in peak hour traffic to Milwaukee airport.

Once we checked in, went through security and had our wood fire oven pizza for dinner, the four of us walked over to our gate to discover our flight home was delayed by three hours. It was due to severe weather in the New York area which included Washington and Boston. There was a band of thunderstorm activity blocking our path home and the three New York airports were on lock down! No flight in or out for hours. What now?

We hung out in the lounge and found Gary waiting to get home on the same flight. The five of us bonded over ridiculous work and travel horror stories. Boy, we could have written a book. We all had our tales of woe, frustration, stress and tears at trying to get home after work was done.

We hung in there. One of us was always going up to the gate agent on a regular basis and asking what the update (if any) was. We were told an hour after our flight was scheduled to depart, that we’d have an update soon. Our update was that we would board shortly and hope for the best! If air traffic control gave us the green light, we would be lucky to land by midnight. That was the case. We were so happy to have made it home we didn’t care how late it was. Work, castings, boyfriend’s and family were waiting for us the next morning.

No one was prepared for the taxi line-up however! Unbelievable… I’ve never seen lines that long at all taxi ranks in 10 years of living in New York. Nor had my fellow models. I arrived home about 1am and had awoken by 3.45am the day before… It was a long day filled with fun, glamour, stress, frustration and relief.

Who said glamourous miracles can’t happen!

May 22, 2012

Say ‘cheese’ to the cowboys

Welcome to Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee – This was my view for three hours

Dallas – Self-portrait once hair & make-up were done

Dallas – the shoe department

Dallas – behind the scenes from our set

Airports, airports and more airports this week. Work took me to Milwaukee, Wisconsin (known for its cheese, Harley’s and beer) with another 3.45am wake-up and a 6am flight out of La Guardia airport. It’s not easy for this night-owl to be in bed and asleep by 10pm the night before however, I do try.

My beautiful friend and co-model Marquita Pring and I were on the same flight. As usual, we both slept on the flight and caught-up on some much-needed beauty rest. We were picked-up by a car service our agent had arranged for us and we went straight to the studio. I was first-up in the hair & make-up chair (there were about five of us ladies, all different shapes and sizes)… Yeah baby!

We had a great day, took some lovely shots and headed straight back to the airport for a flight home to New York. I had to wait three hours for my plane so I kept myself busy, as I’ve gotten so used to doing. Marquita and I were happy to be going home and off to sleep after another glamourous day at work.

From the yummy cheese in Wisconsin to the cowboys of Texas, I found out the afternoon before I had to fly out, that I had another job to go to in Dallas and yet another 6am flight out of La Guardia. It’s three-and-a-half hours each way and I slept pretty much the entire journey there. My driver Sam picked me up at Dallas/Fort Worth airport and we headed straight to the studio where I had a full day of work ahead of me.

Hair & make-up didn’t take too long as my client prefers the more natural look. I wore tops, jeans, swimsuits and dresses and yes, I was lingerie/swimsuit ready! It was one shot after another… The crew and I were a machine of lights, flashes, quick wardrobe changes and hair & make-up touch-ups.

At the end of my day, Sam picked me up and took me back to the airport. I spent another three-and-a-half hours on the plane and arrived home late. My sweet family was sound asleep… Just how I left them almost a day ago.

What are some of your travel stories? Do you have any advice to share? Is there glamour to your travel?

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May 8, 2012

Vogue, airports and Film noir

New York – final touches before I get on set

Canada – I love shoes and these were HOT!

Canada – self-portrait after hair & make-up

Congratulations to Vogue magazine! Last week they banned models who are too-skinny and under the age of 16 from its beautiful pages. According to Conde Nast International, “the 19 editors of Vogue magazines around the world made a pact to project the image of healthy models.”

Well done indeed! I certainly applaud the changes and welcome a healthy beauty being promoted, regardless of one’s size (as long as it fits in to a healthy range). This is an industry first and hopefully others will follow suit sooner rather than later.

Also last week, I worked away in New York City. Had fun and laughs with some wonderful people in the industry who I’ve become friends with. We made fashion magic happen.

Towards the end of the week, I flew to Canada for a few days. I finished up on one of my days in the city and headed straight to La Guardia airport only to discover there were only two flights that afternoon/evening on American Airlines. One of the flights left as I was approaching the check-in counter, the other was departing in four-and-a-half hours. OMG!!! Not happy.

I sat in the club lounge making calls, emailing etc. then thought I’d ask if the newly remodeled lounge had a shower. It did. So I washed my hair and had a shower at La Guardia airport in the Admirals Club Lounge. I never would have thought that I’d be one of ‘those’ people however, you got to do what you got to do and secondly, the shower was clean and new. I readied myself for work the next day (thanks goodness I had my Havaianas with me)! It was going to save me 45 minutes once I checked in to my hotel at 11.30pm. It was late enough and a long day of work and travel.

The shoot was amazing and terribly exciting. I spent my day’s shooting for catalogue that looked like it was an editorial out of a magazine. Film noir move over. I cannot wait to see the Fall catalogue come out. I love it when I can play and act out a theme… play a part if you will. It is refreshing and it certainly looked very glamourous.

After my busy week of work, I spent a further two hours at the airport waiting for my flight home to New York. Thank goodness for my Ipad that not only kept me busy but entertained.

I came home late on Saturday night to my wonderful husband, a glass of red wine and a delicious meal that he had prepared for us. A perfect finish indeed.

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May 1, 2012

Castings, campaigns and space shuttles

New York - Florentina and I with Alberto our hairstylist

New York - Florentina and I

New York - Space shuttle Enterprise does a flyby past our studio

Last week I went to a casting that was held over three days… I went on day one within the first 90 minutes of the casting starting and discovered approximately 150 models waiting to be seen. There were women and men, full-figured and straight-sized models… All shapes and sizes if you will. I had to see the client then and there as I couldn’t return later or at another time due to work commitments.

So, I asked this guy who was by the door if he knew who was next. He told me it was him. I asked him if I could go next and mentioned my reasons why (I jumped the entire queue in a matter of minutes and it was legitimate). I knew some people frowned upon such behaviour… So what! I’ve let people in before and certainly appreciate being let in. I saw the client, told them this very cute guy kindly let me in and off I went… Off to my next gig. It was a beautiful day in New York! So far so good.

My next gig was a fitting for a shoot the next day. I walked in to the Broadway building to another massive casting. It was my client looking for a straight-size model for another days shoot. Once I walked in to the conference room I took off my gear, tied my hair up in a ponytail, took off my jewelry and then I put their clothes, shoes and accessories on for my fitting. A tailor pinned the clothes where necessary and he was going to sew the samples later that day to fit my body perfectly for the shoot tomorrow.

The next day at the shoot, my fellow model Florentina Kuhl and I meet at the hair and make-up station at 8am, clean and clear as we call it (no make-up on, clean hair, nude or clear manicure and pedicure). This is how we are expected to show up to our shoots (although some do not). We shot for the clients fall print campaign. It was a great day and before I knew it we were done and it was time to go home and finalise my tax preparation… YUK!!! Where’s the down time? I was exhausted.

My last shoot for the week was also in New York with another straight-sized model. We meet at 8.30am at the hair and make-up station… It was the U .N. as we called it. The hairstylist was from Greece, the make-up artist was from Canada and the two blonde models (me being one of them) were from Russia and Australia. We saw space shuttle Enterprise fly fast our building TWICE in a matter of minutes. Everyone was going crazy at the sight… Me included (see the photo above). It was a long day in dresses and heels standing on cement however, we were all so happy that it was Friday afternoon and the weekend was here. My hair and make-up was done and I was ready for Mila’s pre-school art auction that started at 6.30pm.

Another good week of glam!

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April 24, 2012

The week that was

: Texas – On my way from the airport to the studio

: New York City – Studio being set-up for the print campaign

Last Monday morning I woke at 3.45am only to discover once I got to La Guardia airport that my flight to Texas had been delayed by TWO HOURS (the crew couldn’t get to our flight on time)… Great!

I slept for most of the journey to Texas with air plugs and eye mask ready, which was almost four hours long. Thankfully, I can sleep on airplanes. When we landed, I grabbed my Starbucks Grande Americano coffee and my driver Sam was waiting for me. He took me straight to the studio where the hair and make-up artist was ready to give me my ‘make-over’.

Lunch was served at 12.30pm. As soon as we ate, it was a quick five-minute touch-up before dressing in my first outfit to start shooting the clothes on the rack for the day. I dressed, was looked over by the stylist to ensure the clothes were looking fabulous for the camera and then when all was good to go, we shot about 50 frames on the front of the garment and approximately 50 frames on the back for all our shots. Most of the shots were head-to-toe whilst the others were thigh/waist-up or waist down (showing no face at all).

My work day ended about 5pm Texas time (6pm NY time). Sam drove me to Whole Foods for a quick shop (an organic/natural supermarket in the U.S. that I love) so I could buy my dinner, breakfast and snacks for the next few days. We also stopped by Walgreen’s so I could buy my many bottles of water for the duration of my stay… I have to stay hydrated and I love to drink water!

I checked-in to my hotel room which was quiet, clean and fitted-out with a small refrigerator and microwave. I basically bunkered down in my room after work. I make an effort to go to the gym or for a swim in the pool if the weather is warm enough, other than that, I stay in my room and make calls, return emails and take care of ‘business’. I don’t watch a lot of TV when at home so it’s a real novelty for me to be able to have it on when away on trips. I also try to get to bed early where possible. At home, I have many distractions to keep me from going to bed early, especially since I’m a night owl and I love the quiet and solitude of night.

The next day, I woke at 7am and had fruit and yoghurt in my room before being picked up at 8am. I bought my coffee on route to the studio every morning… It’s important to me to have a good cup of coffee at some stage of the morning or afternoon. At home, I make Turkish/Yugoslav/Greek coffee – whatever you want to call it. It’s all the same! When I’m away, I don’t have the luxury of making my own so it’s Starbucks.

This routine goes on for the next two days. I manage to catch an earlier flight home on the third day so I get a chance to see Mila & Levi for 45 minutes and read them a story before bedtime. It’s always a special treat for me to see my children after I’ve been away… I cannot wait to see their little faces filled with joy and excitement. My heart starts racing.

Job number two for the week is in New York – The fitting was scheduled for an hour and I was there for almost four. I sat around on a couch in the studio for most of it. I was shooting a print campaign with seven other models (all straight-sized) the following day and we came in at different times of the day to try on a bunch of clothes to see what was going to fit and look good on us individually and then in a group shot. The stylist didn’t bring enough options and choices for me in my size. The client wanted more than one solid option.

The day of the shoot, I was up at 6am as my call time was 8am. I was asked to bring some tops and jeans from home and the stylist brought a few more clothes from her second trip to Bloomingdale’s. We go with my own clothes which is not typical on a shoot. I ended up sitting around for most of the morning, chatting to the other girls and patiently waiting for my time to hop in the hair & make-up chair. Four of the girls were shot in the morning, the rest of us in the afternoon with group shots taken just before finishing. Our day ended at 6pm with my feet hurting and throbbing from wearing four-inch YSL black Barbie heels for most of the afternoon. Ouch!

It was a good week.

Tag: shoot