Last month, I had the honour of observing Ohvola‘s first outdoor shoot of the year. Dee of Souldeelight Photography was engaged to shoot the girls’ Lookbook, January album to be featured on their Facebook page.

The call time? Bright and early at 1100hrs! Okay, so maybe not that early but we were banging on ample natural light for the shoot to go well! To complement their series of Chinese New Year launches, the scene was the oriental Chinese Garden with Mandarin relics and a luscious landscape.

Chinese Garden.

21-year-old freelance model, Sherena, was to model six outfits that were to be launched in the next two months. In light of the festive period, these launches featured lots of dainty lace and feminine florals.

Outfits for the photo shoot hung up against a railing.

Joining the girls was Desiree, friend of the Zhou sisters and resident makeup artiste of Ohvola. Sherena must have felt like a princess with people fussing over her outfits, hair, and makeup all at once! The girls were experienced and worked quickly; all the prep work was completed under half an hour.

L-R: Desiree, Sherena, and Lucinda.

All done!

I learnt that photo shoots were extremely exhausting affairs. Try posing in the sweltering heat (and Singaporean humidity ahh help) for 3-4 hours clad in fanciful frocks, towering heels, abundant hairspray, and a thick cake of makeup! Hats off to you, babe!

Sherena worked really well with Dee and would swiftly alter her poses after every click of the camera. Sessions were periodically interrupted whenever a strand of hair flew out of place, or if the way natural light fell on the model/apparel wasn’t flattering. That made for lots of walking back and forth all afternoon!

Lucinda tidying up Sherena’s hair before the next series of shots.

In between shots, the girls took every opportunity to snap candid shots and trade laughs. Apart from Dee’s super (huge and) professional looking camera, everyone else was clad with a compact or a camera phone in hand!

Desiree snapping a shot of Jolene and Sherena.

We moved around Chinese Garden quite a bit, seeking out different angles and backgrounds to shoot at. Among our favourites were a red Chinese bridge, a white concrete bridge over a tiny lake, trees by the lake, and a tarmac footpath lined with bushes. Psst: bet you couldn’t tell Sherena was actually balancing herself on really muddy and unstable ground in this shot!

.Sherena showing off the pleated flare of this self-manufactured dress from Ohvola.

Here is Dee, our hardworking photographer for the day, reviewing shots with Sherena.

Sherena and Dee.

Mama Zhou painstakingly brought this frilly umbrella over as a prop! She explained that they never had an occasion to use and thought it would suit the CNY theme well.

Sherena and Dee under a nice resting point we eventually made camp at.

More candid shots!

And everyone’s favourite shot of the day. Such wonderment.

Sherena was trying to channel Mary Poppins. I think.