The Privilege Hotel Ezra Beach - Koh Samui

One Hot Mama

"And the Southern girls with the way they talk,

they knock me out when I'm down there." - David Lee Roth

 

She definitely has that Southern charm, but there is much more to her than meets the eyes.

Mary Kaitlin is an accomplished model, gracing the pages of Maxim, SI.com, manic.magazine, and Kandy magazine (cover #59). Mary Kaitlin was also Miss Bikini Model Alabama in 2017 and a finalist in the Las Vegas International Model Search in 2015. This blonde-haired, blue-eyed bombshell has over 300,000 followers on Instagram that can attest to how perfect she looks in a bikini.

However, her interview with SmartIsSoSexy.com goes beyond her modeling career and mentions her creative passions, real estate business, and fitness + nutrition brand. In between the typical model questions Mary Kaitlin talks about her faith, her values, and her family. These are the things that are most important to her. She is beautiful inside and out...smart and compassionate, too.

When I first met Mary Kaitlin in the Fall of 2017 I was a deer in the headlights; she has a strong, captivating gaze and is wonderfully mesmerizing when face to face. Her warm Alabama accent is as unmistakable as the taste of pecan pie or the scent of designer perfume. And of course in real life she is as sweet and as nice a person can be.

We were both in Koh Samui as part of the inaugural Meraki Photo Event in Thailand. A dozen models, a half dozen photographers, and an amazing makeup artist spent a week on the beautiful island. For me it was a great learning experience and I was really excited to work with top models like Mary Kaitlin and alongside some amazing photographers.

My shoot with Mary Kaitlin was the most efficient, easy, and peaceful set of the week. I'm pretty laid back to begin with, and that seem to suit her just fine. The weather had been testy most of the week but luckily the blue skies appeared once we got started. I really enjoyed working with her. My hometown of Pensacola is only 250 miles from Birmingham, so chatting with her was easy. Football, SEC, beaches, normal Southern small talk. It's ironic that we met on the opposite side of the world. The shoot seemed to pass quickly, too quickly for me, and I spent most of the time rearranging pool furniture. During that whole week in Koh Samui we really didn't spend much time together other than this one shoot, but it was memorable!

To see more of Mary Kaitlin and other models please follow me at: http://www.instagram.com/ericregaspi

#marykaitlinmodel #ericregaspiphotography #merakiphotoevents #canon #kohsamui #thailand #LVIMS #Bama #GoGators #SEC #instagram #DavidLeeRoth #SmartisSoSexy #bikini #models

Women's Quotes

Kat in a Tree

March 18, 2016

"I think that's her!" I said to Remy, as my model for the day drove by. "I really hope she finds a parking spot."

My assistant Remy and I arrived early at South Inlet Park in Boca Raton, Florida to scope out shooting locations for our natural light session with Kat. The sunny beaches up and down the South Florida coast were all crowded during spring break season. The weather was perfect, as usual, so parking was our only hiccup!

After about 15 minutes a parking spot opened up and we made our introductions with Kat at the parking meter. She had a calm, easy nature, tall and lanky, slightly disheveled...like meeting a real cat woman minus the (black) latex. "Don't worry about the stray hairs from my cats, I have a lint roller in my bag." Kat purred confidently.

Her dark hair, deep eyes, and intentional language was a refreshing change from the normal model shoot. There was an air of mystery about this one. On her modeling and photography website, http://www.iheartkat.com, Kat describes herself as a visual artist and muse. Muse to me always seemed like an ancient, idealistic, ephemeral concept but soon I would learn that modern day artistic muses do exist and walk among.

Our theme for the day was "Gender Fluid". To tell you the truth I'm not entirely sure what that means. Maybe it only means rough girls with short hair, wearing men's clothing...today's version of a tomboy or someone with androgynous or hermaphroditic qualities. Probably though, it's a much broader category of looks.

Terms like muse and hermaphrodite of course originate from the ancient Greeks. The original nine Muses of Greek mythology inspired literature, science, and the arts over 2000 years ago. These goddesses are fascinating to me...maybe one day we'll see a blockbuster super-heroine movie of The Muses. Wouldn't that be something? As for Hermaphroditus, son of Aphrodite and Hermes, who merged with the water nymph Salmacis, I'm not sure if most of America is cultured enough for that movie. Incidentally, Hermaphroditus was associated with weddings and helped symbolize the coming together of men and women in sacred union. Over 2000 years of history and existence but we've all not yet come full circle...only the enlightened ones.

But I digress...

Kat shows me her bag of goodies. After some (conceptual) discussions we settle on three different looks. In my mind I loosely had different areas of the park matched with the wardrobe but I was more or less winging it. The first look is a simple white tank-top with jean shorts and black boots. We shot most of this look on the north side of the park near the beach and in the mangrove forest. Working with Kat was amazing; she naturally blends into the environment and really becomes part of the landscape. She belongs in nature, on the beach, and in the trees, using the different settings to evoke emotions.

"Kat in a Tree"

"Verticality"

"Melancholia"

The second look was a bit more sophisticated, Kat changed the tank-top for a fringed blouse. We moved onto the boardwalk near the south side of the park and tried to keep under the shade trees. It was at this location that I noticed how Asian she looked. Many of the images from this look reminded me of sisters and nieces. Kat probably could pass as Native American or even Middle Eastern, too.

"Girl from Nowhere"

After the shoot I asked Kat the same question that I hate answering myself, which was "Where are you from...I mean what is your heritage?" Kat replied, "Well that is an interesting question, isn't it?" As she told me her story, bouncing from Jamaica, Chicago, Minneapolis, LA, and other exotic lands, I realized that Kat was like me, we really didn't know exactly where we are "from". We are Earthlings, we have that in common, I think. We're both introverts, too. While my heritage is easier to trace there is still quite a bit of uncertainty. Like Kat I've lived in many different places, too. In the end I'm not sure if it really matters where one is from as long as we can all relate to each other. As a model, Kat is able to transform herself easily into different looks, like a human chameleon, another word of ancient Greek origin meaning "lion on the ground". I like the idea of the chameleon as my animal spirit, but not enough to displace the gator (Spanish for "the lizard", but have roamed the earth for 37 million years). It seems that my heritage is reptilian while Kat's is feline. The Chinese Zodiac has contradictory advice on this sort of relationship, but in that scheme I'm actually a Dog of the Metal element. So yeah, my animal spirit is totally confused.

"Kat on a Swing"

A very interesting thing happens when you put a model on a swing...she becomes a kid again. For photographers, shooting a swinging subject is an interesting challenge that I recommend that everyone try once or twice. It's very fun but also technically tricky. When I shoot I usually grab focus once using the back focus button with the 1/2 shutter capturing just the exposure. Then I recompose and capture. Your shutter speed should be high, 1/160s or higher depending on your lens. Here I shot at F/4, 105mm, and 1/160s with my Canon 6D. You can get into a cadence with the model as she swings back and forth, either locking focus at the neutral (non-swinging) position or use AI servo or whatever focus-tracking setting you have on your particular camera to capture at the neutral point or whichever point serves your artistry. Click, click, click. You end up with lots of interesting images in a short amount of time. Eventually, real live kids kicked us out of the playground.

Learn Spanish in the park!

As we made our way closer to the beach we were stopped by a beautiful lady named Connie as she played her gorgeous, cute ukulele in the shade. She teaches Spanish for a living and was quite chatty and entertaining. There was a tinge of desperation in her voice as she told her story. I snapped a few photos for her, commiserated a bit, then Kat, Remy, and I moved onto the beach. The park was actually very crowded for the duration of our shoot but with patience and geometry one can easily avoid stray humans creeping into photographs and foster the illusion of solitude.

"The Muse"

The images of Kat sitting on the sand dunes next to the wildflowers and (Ammophila) grasses are some of my favorites. The wind blew south to north and Kat seemed to lean into the wind, moving and swaying in the breeze. Curled up like a cat, she felt the wind on her skin, twirled blades of grass, and dug her heels into the warm sand. In our daily lives we seem to rarely stop and smell the roses, not to mention trying to be a rose. In our information age there is a visceral quality the often is missing in our lives. Sit among the trees and grasses, smell the ocean air, feel the Earth, Wind, and Sun. It feels good to be an Earthling, right?

"Untitled"

We ended our session under a park hut, taking advantage of diffuse lighting. Here I used my Westcott 26" Rapid Octo Box with a small portable strobe. Kat sat on the picnic table for 5-10 minutes as we cycled through different poses and enjoyed the shade. We wrapped up our 2-hour session a few minutes early and had plenty of time on the parking meters. before parting ways we chatted a bit about creativity, modeling, artistry, and other typical topics in this industry. After two hours together Kat (@runciblekat on Instagram) seemed even more of a mystery to me, and I like that. Remy, who is even more introverted and quiet, remarked, "yeah, she was cool. can we go eat now?" Sure kid, you earned your keep lugging all the photo gear, let's eat! Runcible indeed.

Kyra, Wilton Manors, and Manatees

About a week ago I had the great pleasure of working with Kyra K. I've been trying to set up a photoshoot with her for over a year but for some reason or another our schedules never synced. I was close to giving up but with a little persistence we finally met up.

Kyra is a talented dancer and model with a beautiful face, tight physique, wonderful personality, and awesome hair. The theme for the shoot was "gender fluid", but in general the plan was also to have fun. We messaged quite a bit on the different outfits and looks using photos of Ruby Rose and others as inspiration.

We met on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Colohatchee Park in Wilton Manors, just north of Fort Lauderdale. Colohatchee Park is a small dog park on a river bank with mangroves and boardwalks that lead to the river and a grassy dog run area. A tributary of south fork middle river runs nearby and manatees congregate there in the mornings. There were several others in the park walking their dogs and exercising. We also ran into a sketchy raccoon!

Kyra is a joy to work with, her natural beauty mesmerized me, and her fun personality, confidence, and professionalism as a model made the shoot smooth and easy. I really enjoyed our collaboration and loved seeing her through the lens of my Canon 6D. I hope to do another shoot with her soon and hopefully take advantage of her dancing abilities. Photos were processed with Lightroom 6 and Photoshop CC.

 

Downtown Pensacola with Taylor Cherie

Over the July Fourth weekend I had the pleasure of working with Taylor Cherie in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida. Taylor is a young but very experienced and professional fashion model. She is very active in the Pensacola area.

After much discussion we decided to shoot in the picturesque downtown area of Pensacola near Seville Quarter and Palafox Street. I arrived at Seville Quarter early to scope out areas and backgrounds for shooting. Just a quick walk around downtown Pensacola area revealed several great nooks and crannies that would serve as wonderful backdrops. Like a true professional Taylor arrived as scheduled, prompt and ready.

Because of the unbearable heat we mainly stayed in the shadows, setting up in front of various doorways, brick walls, steps, and foliage.  We also ventured over to the nearby abandoned train tracks.

Throughout the shoot it was fun working with Taylor. She has a great sense of humor and a wonderful smile that she often keeps hidden. What surprised me most was her experience and focus. She's the type of person that will be successful in anything she chooses to do. 

I look forward to working with her again next time I visit Pensacola. Hopefully it will be during cooler weather!

The Jetties

The Jetties of Fort Lauderdale

I had the opportunity to shoot a wonderful athletic model this weekend at the north jetties of Fort Lauderdale. This was my first time shooting at the jetties and also my first time working with Jennifer. It took me a while to find the place, but I was able to find metered public parking near 2000 S. Ocean Dr. There are only about a dozen spots along the road.

Jennifer had never been to the jetties either, so we messaged back and forth since it's tricky to find. To make matters worse, there was a huge rainstorm coming from the west, so I was a little worried that she would chicken out. Thankfully she didn't, and neither did I. It's just a little rain, and my gear is somewhat weather-resistance...I think.

Once Jennifer arrived we walked over, with umbrella in hand, to find the beach access path...it's kinda hidden. The whole area is mostly private residences so it wasn't apparent where we needed to go, but the GPS said it's right over there behind these condos! Luckily, one of the parking guards directed us (well, Jennifer) to where the public access path was, literally right in front of us with signs and everything, and boom we were on the beach!

Jennifer is a great model to work with, has beautiful skin, looks younger than she actually is, and has a delightful mix of heritages including Caribbean, Central American, and Asian. She later mentioned that her mom kinda looks like me...maybe it's time for me to get a haircut, lol.

The jetties is a great spot for photography. Within a small area there are several different backgrounds and scenes to choose from. The long straight pathway to the beach is itself very picturesque with a lovely shade tree and some bougainvilleas. The beach itself was clean and uncrowded, I think there was less than 10 people on the whole beach during our 2-hour shoot. Over by the rocks was a lone fisherman, and a family with two little girls wearing pink swimsuits played in the shade against the white walls near one of the condos. Boats and ferries went back and forth and we could even see a large cruise ship. Palm trees dotted the area, too.

It was still raining but we decided to go for it anyway and started on the rocks. It's rare to find rocks on Florida beaches, and the grey rainy sky actually paired well with the rocks and Jennifer's black and grey fitness apparel. It's actually a photography style that I've wanted to develop for awhile but in Florida most of the scenery is bright and vibrant. We tried several different fitness and yoga poses, at times to rain came down harder but eventually subsided, stopped altogether, and the sun came out along with the mugginess.

In the end it was a very successful shoot and I was thrilled with the results and variety of looks we achieved. Jennifer was great to work with, and I look forward to working with her again.