My Day As Jay

I've mentioned before that I watch "America's Next Top Model."  I've gotten past the age where I like the drama of fifteen pretty, moody, perpetually hungry girls, so I tend to tape the show and fast-forward through the bickering to get to the photo shoots and judging.  The closeted fashion designer in me still gets excited about the photo shoots, and I love everything from the concept to the styling to the directing to the final photo.

The creative director for these shoots is Jay Manuel, or "Mr. Jay" as he is sometimes known.  His job as creative director is to help the photographer and the model(s) get the perfect shot.  (Stick with me, there is a reason I'm talking about Mr. Jay).

A few months ago, Amanda emailed Jason and me to ask Jason to take some pictures of her so she could give them as an anniversary gift to her husband, Joe.  Jason is a brilliant photographer, but his usual subjects are dragonflies and flowers, so he agreed... but under the conditions that he was there to take the pictures, nothing more.  Amanda and I would have to do the rest.

So over the next few weeks, Amanda and I began planning -- she as the model, me as creative director (ahhh, now it's all connecting, isn't it?).  She wanted an outdoor location, preferably in the woods somewhere.  While Jason and I live about two seconds from Umstead, we decided that Eno River State Park would give us more variation.  We sent several emails back and forth, from location ideas to wardrobes to reminders to bring lots of bug spray (the less glamorous side of outdoor photography).

After countless emails and a few white lies to Joe, we (Jason, Amanda, and I) headed to Eno early one Saturday morning.  I had a BLAST being creative director, especially because I felt Jason and Amanda were doing all the hard stuff.  I would come up with a place for the photo (we moved around in the park), tell Amanda where to stand/sit, and then let the magic happen.  Jason would take a few shots, get me to look, and we'd make a couple of adjustments, but really, Amanda was a natural!  All I had to do was come up with ideas for the next location and make sure her hair/straps/jewelry were in the right places.

My other job as creative director was to choose shots to send Amanda for approval.  This ended up being the hardest part, because they all turned out so well!  I think we ended up sending her about 50 to choose from!

Even though their anniversary isn't until mid-August, she couldn't wait and surprised Joe with some photos for above his dresser.  He loved them and said Jason should do this professionally!  Hmm, it was fun, but I don't know about doing it full-time.  Instead, I'd rather just be Jay Manuel for a day.

I know you're dying to see, so here are a few of my favorites:

Aren't they amazing?!?