Be Aware of What You Wear...

"When you get up in the morning, be aware of what you wear, because if you die today, that will be your ghost outfit forever".... 
I had a giggle when I read his social media post, and when planning ideas on photographing Kharl for my exhibition, this quote jumped to mind.  Even if it is so hot, you were cooling down an outside bathtub, you would still be dressed fabulously, if you were Kharl Wirepa... and have a bottle of bubbly, and a fashion magazine as well.

Kharl Wirepa is a fashion designer who has his runway show this week at the NZ Fashion Week, so I thought it would be a good time to showcase his portraits from the exhibition.  This image was my poster image and book cover for the whole exhibition.  I thought it portrayed the hot summer / cool photos well.

THE WHERE 
My vision required an outdoor bathtub, and I didn't have one.  A call out on social media, and Robyn said we could use hers, and it was perfect!!  So this was taken in her backyard.

THE HOW
The water was cold, out of the hose, yet he handled it with ease and without a single goosebump.  It was great that the bathtub was next to a veranda, so I was able to get my step ladder on top and get some birds eye view type shots.

I had to work around the sun.  Half the bathtub was in the sun and half is the shade, so a reflector was used as a shade, and a speedlight on a softbox was used to light his face on the shady half.

Camera:  Canon 70d with the pop up flash triggering the speedlight.
Lens: Canon 24-105mm set at 28mm
ISO 100
F/5
1/250th sec shutter

THE THOUGHT PROCESS
As he is a fashion designer, I wasn't going to tell Kharl what to wear, but told him the theme, and  whatever he chose to wear, it was probably going to get wet.  His outfit of choice a fur vest (a Mereana Ngati design), sunnies, a hat, ripped black jeans and a pair of silver heels, from his massive collection that he has for his models.  This is Kharl Wirepa, fashion designer, entrepreneur, larger than life, but still humble enough to collaborate and inspire and encourage others.

I have a ticket to see his show, so I will post some pics on facebook and instagram as it happens.  I also had the opportunity to photograph some of his collection and models for his look book.  So I post some images after fashion week is over.
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xox
Calico Jo