Excitement and anticipation filled the Karina Dresses design studio as we worked and waited for the photographer, Nil to arrive. The office buzzed with the mumming chit-chat of planning, rearranging, and brainstorming. Who goes where, what will she wear, all the who, what, where questions formulated as we eagerly laid out a plan for what was to come. Lights, camera, action was on its way.
However the weather is seemingly not on our side today, as a rain storm has sprinkled throughout Brooklyn. Don’t let the rain fool you, it has not cooled the land. Rather created an unpleasant humidity, which every woman knows does nothing for one’s hair. So the team has moved the shoot to be exclusively indoors, safely tucked away behind air conditioned walls. Every photoshoot brings a sense of worry and curiously as for what the results will look like. Plan as you might, the best moments in photography usually happen by accident, and the best results are the biggest surprises!
I swear, the last hour of waiting for the models and photographer to arrive took a century. The seconds felt like hours, the minutes were days. We all held our breathe as we patiently waited for the models and Nil (photographer) to grace us with their presence. And then suddenly, there was a knock on the door and one by one, our charming models and Nil wandered through the door. Me, personally I have never felt a bigger sigh of relief in a long time, simply because now there was work to be done and fun to be had.
Nil, was truly a professional, she engaged us with thoughtful small talk as she set up her lighting and camera. She was a true joy for us to have again in the studio. As she quickly set up her equipment, the Karina Team greeted each and every model, as we went over what she was the wear. The day before, we have selected roughly six looks for each model, and had the dresses in their sizes ready to go. Once we had them dressed, there was a whirlwind of dresses, flashing lights and high energy that filled the studio. One after the other, they posed, the lights flashed, and then we kept moving.
“You’re up Chrisandra, now Lauren, Simone we need you, is Isabelle ready?”
And just like that, the sky opened up and the sun began to shine down on us. Thankfully, we were able to stick to our original plan and venture outside. As we scurried down the stairs, we were finally greeted with the sun’s warming embrace. Nil found her groove right away, once we hit the streets and our models fell right into place. Bushwick, Brooklyn was now the center piece in our shoot. There is so much for us to see and take part in, so we wandered from the park, where we captured some truly magical moments of our model, Isabelle and beloved pooch, Bodhi in action.
We ventured the streets of Brooklyn, scouting for interesting locations. We found that our local records store and bar, we the most interesting and snapped a few shots of each of the girls and before you knew it, time had run out. Just like that. The shoot was over. We had succeeded and sadly, it was time to say “Goodbye”, to our dear friends. We regrouped in the studio, thanked our beloved models and bid them adieu.
Thank you Nil for the wonderful photos and thank you Chrisandra, Lauren, Simone and Isabelle. You all were a joy to have in the studio and thank you for giving us your time and allowing us to enjoy your presence.
This Blog Entry was written by staff Writer and Graphic Designer, Kirsten Birmingham
Photos are by Karina Cousineau