There’s a cat on the cover!

It’s not often a cat (let alone a serval cat called Tula) makes it to the front cover of a magazine, but then Peppermint is not your average magazine! It’s a showcase of style, sustainability and substance, and I’m proud to be one of its contributors from way back. Last December I was lucky enough to shoot a fashion story at the Werribee Open Range Zoo with photographer Brooke Holm and model Grace from Giant – plus the stars of the zoo, of course.
If you’d like to see how the shoot turned out, please grab a copy of Peppermint from your local book/magazine shop (in Australia, and also some places like Tsutaya in Japan, and other countries, I think!). If you’d like to see some behind-the-scenes shots though, scroll on down!

Grace attracted a fan club of boy giraffes as soon as we got out on to the savannah…

Sitting back while Brooke does the hard yards on the cabin of the safari vehicle…

The zoo staff had to bribe some of the bigger models…

Grace: “Come ON, work with me here…”
Rhino: “I’m hungry, leave me alone…”
(The rhino then proceeded to sharpen her horn on the ute tray. Grace did not freak out at all. We were all super impressed! We were, however, super worried when she thought she had to get into the den with the lions when we were trying to get photos of them. Naturally, we restrained her! But big points for enthusiasm, Grace!)

How do you get a serval supermodel to pose (look at that gorgeous tail!!!)? 

The secret: cream cheese. The keeper has some in her hand and Tula was very obliging with the posing once she knew she’d be rewarded with it.  

We got to pat Tula when she wasn’t working. I have to say this is one of the highlights of my career in fashion!

Tess (Peppermint‘s deputy ed), Brooke and Grace were so engrossed with checking the shots that they didn’t notice Tula’s very obvious photobombing…

They say never work with animals, but I can easily say I have never had more fun on a job. Hope you enjoy the shoot as much as I enjoyed styling it! 

普段の仕事ではライターや校正をしていますが、たまにはファッション撮影もしています。去年の12月にWerribee Open Range ZooでPeppermintというエコファッションやライフスタイル雑誌のために撮影のスタイリングをしましたが、 これがその現場で撮った写真です。サファリ気分になって、「仕事」とは言えないぐらい楽しい一日でした。掲載されたストリーもかわいくて、是非機会があれば見て下さいね。日本ではあるツタヤ支店でしか販売されていないと思いますが、オーストラリア国内ならMag NationとかReadingsで売っているかと思います。