J Winery Photoshoot

So I finally made contact with the photographer regarding the J Winery photoshoot I did back in September. This was an awesome shoot that involved a lot of other models and took place in Healdsburg, California, which is pretty far out and filled with small towns and various wineries. J Winery is updating their brochures, fliers, website, and other promotional and marketing materials and hired us as lifestyle/commercial print models. I spent the entire day drinking wine and sampling the new meals on their menu. I can't say I've had a more pampered shoot! We literally spent the day drinking wine and eating. Who could ask for more? I'm not a drinker really so I took baby sips and eventually faked it (haha) but a few of my fellow models got pretty warm and fuzzy but no one acted out and the shoot went pretty smoothly. It was 90+ degrees out as well, but luckily they didn't have us outside for long.

I left super early to make the drive, which was a little over 2 hours from where I lived but totally worth it. I made a lot of friends with the other models, whom I still keep in touch with. The crazy thing is that one of the male models was a guy I knew from my hometown, who I hadn't seen in over 5 years! Talk about a small world! So we spent a lot of time catching up and everyone exchanged business cards and phone numbers afterwards. It was one of the best shoots I've done, hands down. The images haven't been edited yet but the photographer gave me the link to the gallery to see the pictures. He's going to let me pick my favorite ones, which he will retouch and give to me in high resolution so I can print it out for my portfolio. Sweet!

The people at J Winery were so wonderful to us and they gave us a goodie bag after the shoot filled with a bottle of their latest wine and special VIP passes for complimentary wine tasting and access to VIP treatment like menu sampling. Ah, the perks of being a model!

Here are some of my favorite shots from that day (I added a watermark to these images since they haven't been published yet):

(Yes, we did really get to eat the food...yum! If you think it's easy to eat food while looking photogenic, it's a lot harder than it looks!)

(It didn't make sense to try to drink the wine because with each pose they gave me a new full glass so that it stayed bubbly.)

(Me and my new friend in the industry, Aaron. To get the best candid shots, we told funny stories while taking direction from the photographer about which way to turn, how to hold the glass, etc.)

(Shooting outdoors. I don't think there was a time when we weren't laughing!)

(Another good thing for all models to practice: walking and posing at the same time.)

(Salu! Me and Aaron were always partnered together for some reason so it made sense that we became fast friends.)

(Indoor shoot. The woman next to me is actually one of the employees at J Winery. A couple of them gladly joined us to create a crowded atmosphere.)

(Group shot inside J Winery. The handsome guy in the gray shirt I'm smiling at is my buddy from my hometown. His younger brother and sister are my good friends from high school.We couldn't believe we ran into each other after all this time!)