We headed out towards the winelands in the Paarl-Franschoek valley for our men’s fashion shoot. The early morning blue skies framed the Val de Vie Polo Estate. It was the perfect day and location for the preppy coral spring wear. It also turned out to be Warren’s, the model for the day, birthday.
To welcome us at the estate, Ryk Neethling popped in, he had just stepped off the Expresso show where he and Alexis along with Expresso presenter Ewan reminisced about the Top Billing July cover that we shot in Zambia a few weeks previously.
Ryk described the area and pointed out his majestic new home on the edge of the polo green. Alexis was in the Founders Lounge all ready to go with her never-ending rail of outfit options as Kate systematically steamed-out the wrinkles. I took a walk around and ear-marked the angles and possible areas for the shoot. I planned to shoot with the available light. Tiro took charge of the reflector to fill in the shadows and light the model. For the one shot we propped the model on the wooden fence around the polo green. Alexis changed his shoes as he precariously balanced on the wooden beam to stop the shoes from soaking in the dewy fertile grass. He acrobatically almost spectacularly fell off but Kate came to the rescue.
The peaceful and beautiful view added to the charm of the day. We laughed a lot and if you look carefully there is that glimmer of laughter in Warren’s eyes in the fashion photographs. We would’ve liked to have stayed on and have a picnic but before we left we took a quick look around and discovered the Ryk Neethling swimming pool…. This was starting to look more like ‘Val de Ryk’ – did you know that in February they launched the Val de Vie Ryk Neethling wine?
On set: Angie Lázaro – Photographer (@angielazaro); Tiro Sauls – Photographic assistant; Alexis Chaffe – Fashion Editor (@alexischaffe); Kate Russell – Fashion assistant); Model Warren McAslan from Outlaws.