What a day of firsts – Our first time shooting for Alturus, my first time as creative director, and the first team get-together (away from skype/facetime!) ….. It was incredible!
I’ve been unsure for weeks about how this would go, mostly because of my inexperience in the photography world. But as a wise businesswoman told me, when you don’t know something, surround yourself with people who do. And surrounded I was. Meghan Giboin was our photographer – with her fashion photography work featured in stores across London, I knew I wanted her on this project.
As we start our shoot on a chilly morning in Shoreditch, she’s accompanied by her husband & fabulous assistant, Andy. Together, they are the ultimate creative dream team. She whips up images and he edits, prepping various equipment as they go.
As Meghan clicks her magic camera, in comes our model. Ndidi was scouted initially by nothing other than my pure girl-crush. We had mutual friends on Facebook (that happy-stalking site) and I daydreamed of having her as our cover girl, at this point unaware of her profession as a model.
It was a tall order – since Alturus is so different from anything else out there, we needed a different model, different emotions, a different look. And that’s where Ndidi excels at all. She is a teacher, an archeologist and a model – she handles it all and still looks breathtaking at 10am on a Saturday morning. I wanted everything and the kitchen sink from the final image; strength, power, natural beauty, confidence.. the list went on. She took it all in her stride and delivered.. well, everything, as you can see from our home page.
Add into the mix my wonderful boyfriend/filmmaker/photographer and Yasmine, my business development guru and go-to-woman for all things Alturus, the team could not have been more perfect. I’m not clued up on fantasy football, but if we’re working on the notion of acquiring dreamy team members, then these people would absolutely be my top fantasy creatives.
Is there a chance that I’m over-exaggerating? Not at all. If you’ve created something, and had others support it, you understand. I’ve never been a person that thought I could ‘create’ something (no violins needed, promise!) But I didn’t think I had it, the ability to make something appear out of thin air. To then see these incredibly talented people, volunteering their Saturdays, because they support Alturus and the need to make it happen.. I’m definitely not exaggerating.
So, in the grand scheme of the Alturus creation, we’re about 12 months into the dreaming, planning, and writing – the cover image was one of the final pieces of the puzzle. We’re moving, we’re hustling.. What do you think – what do you see when you look at the Alturus cover image?
Onwards and upwards my loves,
Nicole
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