Dia

So, day one in Thailand had been pretty exhausting. I’d visited Ayutthaya and I’d also done a night shoot with Tegoshi Miwa. I wasn’t done yet though as for day two in Bangkok I had a second portrait shoot booked in!

I thought I’d start things off a little easier though and after a lie in, I spent a chilled morning getting breakfast and a coffee whilst people watching along Soi 4 (trust me, even in the morning there’s a lot to see!).

I’d found Dia on Instagram. I can’t remember exactly how now, but I suspect she popped up on a hashtag search I’d run when having Thailand withdrawals. Dia had close to 100, 000 followers and I thought it was unlikely I’d even get a reply to my DM but I did and before I knew it, a shoot had been arranged.

The plan had been to spend an hour or so doing some street/fashion photography before then returning to my hotel to try some boudoir/lingerie shots. Dia unfortunately was held up at an earlier shoot which meant we started a little later and the light was rapidly fading. On top of that, my hotel room (contrary to the previous year) was overlooked by a car park and had little natural light!

Regardless, we decided to plow ahead with the plan and to see what we could get. If I’m honest, it was a bit stressful. Dia clearly wasn’t enjoying herself. At the time she told me she was uncomfortable with the area we were in and didn’t want to be mistaken as a working girl. Later on she told me she’d been fighting an illness and felt terrible. I had begun to get worked up as I could tell Dia was unhappy, but thought it was down to my poor photography and social skills rather than anything else!

By the time we got to the hotel it was nearly dark, so my plans to use natural window light were dashed. Fortunately I had a Manfrotto Lumie LED light which I used to help lift the shadows. Whilst I’m not thrilled with the shots, they turned out to be full of mood and I’m pleased overall with what we go. It was a superb learning curve.

Dia was kind and complimentary after I sent over the photos and apologetic for feeling unwell. We’ve kept in touch via Instagram so you never know, we may shoot again one day and if so, I’ll aim to do even better!