[MODEL MADHOUSE] Country Road Father's Day 2020

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As I pulled up in the car park at Maroubra beach I turned around to see a little girl out for the count. I had two choices, wake her up and risk a raging, devil child or let her sleep for a solid 45 minutes in the hope that a power nap is all she’ll need to strut her stuff for the camera. Luckily the client was happy to oblige and understood that a sleep deprived child was the last thing we needed on a time sensitive, location shoot.

I gently prodded her awake with caution, however, when the words “make up chair” were uttered it didn’t take much convincing for Valentina to bounce out of her car seat and get this show on the road. She was in that chair faster than you could say mascara. This is where all those hours spent brushing, plaiting and styling my hair have come in extremely handy. Sitting like a proper model she was in her element. Of course not much was needed other than a quick brush and moisturise but when told she could get down she turned to Sam the make up artist and said confidently “no later, Valentina eyelashes now.” And with that she took hold of the eyelash curler and “curled” her eyelashes. On completion of her eyelashes she proclaimed with a huge smile, “Valentina ready now.”

After a quick pep talk from her daddy she was ready for wardrobe. A gorgeous little white ensemble while Siddy was dressed in a white frill sleeve t-shirt with blue and white stripe dungarees. Today was a very proud mama day, not only was Georges shooting the 2020 Country Road Fathers Day campaign featuring fathers who are doing incredible things in our community, he was one of the fathers. It was time for Georges to shine in the spotlight for his work during the pandemic. When the country went into lockdown Georges was one of the first in his industry to take and have photos published internationally using FaceTime. But he wasn’t taking photos of just anyone, he was photographing and shedding light on the first responders and front liners in the fight against covid. The other two fathers included an emergency nurse at St Vincents working during the covid pandemic and the other who works with disadvantaged children. Hooray for dads!

So as you can imagine it wasn’t long before the 45 minute power nap backfired and Little Miss Performer became Little Miss Diva. The first shot required Georges to be shooting whilst holding, hugging and playing with the girls but Valentina did not want to play ball. What would usually take minimal persuading now required bribes and promises of treats, chocolate and the park. It was proving to be a challenge to get her in front of the camera but as we only needed two great shots we whisked the girls off to the second set as soon as we got the all clear from the client. How does that saying go again? Never work with kids and animals? Well give me a puppy any day after this……

Funnily (and also thankfully) enough a slight change of scene seemed to work wonders on our mini model. Having a canvas backdrop and an almost stage like set up Valentina began to flourish. Playing up to the camera, giving her sister copious amounts of cuddles and kisses and for the most part doing what was asked of her. I did of course keep a couple more bribes up my sleeve to keep the ball rolling and some very, very, very embarrassing overly enthusiastic mum dancing behind the camera just to help secure a few smiles (luckily no one got any behind the scenes shots of that….).

You would never guess watching Georges strut his stuff for the camera that he hates having his photo taken. I’m not sure how many people know but this is where his relationship with the camera began. Living in Singapore Georges was a very successful international model shooting for clients including Samsung, Nike, Nokia and GQ. His face plastered all over billboards and buses. I mean it’s not surprising, can we just take a moment to appreciate my hot hubby in the photo below.

It’s not often Georges gets photos taken with the girls. Mainly because, as mentioned previously, he’s not a lover of having his photo taken and he also doesn’t get the opportunity which makes this photoshoot very special on a personal level. Having some professionally captured images of my gorgeous family is a big deal. So Happy Fathers Day to the mostest, bestest, greatest dad in the whole wide world. We love you! And of course shout out to my dad too, one of the kindest, caring, genuine, generous, positive men I know, it’s because of you and the example you set that I found myself someone equally as amazing. Love you too!

Check out this link for Georges interview with Country Road talking all things fatherhood, his involvement during the COVID pandemic and what inspires him most www.countryroad.com.au

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