When my Mentor, Scott Robert Lim, posted his blog post about the “Making of ‘Beauty in Beijing’“, I wanted to share the joy with the world.  So here I am, reaching past the AM’s of the night and getting over a cold when I should be sleeping… but I’m way too excited and want to share what happened behind the scenes in Beijing at Hotel G!

After we just finished a week long workshop in China with Scott and CM Leung, some of us (Zabrina, Jeremy, Riz, David, Tara, Scott, Jenny) from the workshop stayed in Beijing for a few more days and moved over to Hotel G in Beijing.  (A few more stayed with us, Hermes, Chyna, and Mindy too!  but we missed them on this end of the trip) …can I tell you how AMAZING Hotel G is?!  The moment we checked in and got into our rooms, Jenny, David, Riz, and I spent 2-3 hours just shooting and having fun!  Ok…back on track.

It was Halloween night, and we walked past a strip of clubs filled with Halloween decorations and blaring music, wanting to party.  As we walked back into our hotel from dinner, people were already dressed up in the bar area, so we were ready to have our own fun too!  Zabrina was already in the lobby as Scott was shooting her.  Jenny and I rushed upstairs to our room, got ready, then stopped by Jeremy and Zabrina’s room to pick up the Xi Paos (Chinese Dresses).  After we put them on, we realized we still weren’t done!  I helped Jenny curl and put her hair up quickly, and finally, we headed downstairs to find the guys.  By then, it was past midnight, the party in the bar area was done, and the guests had already left.  Our lobby area had a pool table, and we took a few shots there until we got kicked out.

So, we did what we did every night that past week, invite everyone into our room!  (Another side note – Hotel G is amazing, because it has an iPod deck!!  Ok, there are many more reasons why I like Hotel G, but this is one of them!).  I turned on my music, my “ghetto” hip hop with some techno mixed in, we danced and partied a little bit, then got down to more business.  Zabrina, Tara, Jenny, and I did a couple shots on our beds and around our bed frame area, which turned out really nice.

Come 3am, I knew we weren’t done.  I thought about how I helped Jenny curl and put her hair up earlier that evening.  I admired and thought about how much work Zabrina put into this past week, stylizing and dressing models up with outfits and accessories.  I thought about what girls love to do when they’re with each other – beautify each other by dressing each other up and putting make up on.  And then it clicked.  I asked Scott, “what if...”

It was dark outside.  Everyone looked tired.  My adrenaline was still going, and heck, awesome music was still playing!  Riz and David were just standing and thinking of what to do.  All our gear was spread around the room.  And then we said OK! We pushed a couch aside, a huge canvas that was leaning against the wall, cleared all the crap that was all over the floor, and we used Hotel G’s wallpaper as our background.  Scott set up his settings, and we four girls stood there, like we were helping each other get ready.  We kept adding Scott’s Strobie’s, one by one, right behind us, to bounce the light off the walls onto our backs.  Riz and David observed in awe and helped patiently on top of the sofa with Scott while he shot, and thought about what could make this image better.  Zabrina helped reposition our poses to make it look better.  We kept glancing back at his viewfinder to see if he captured something great.  I quote Scott,

“We wanted to create a masterpiece, we didn’t care how long it was going to take us but we wanted something we could be proud of”

Yes, it’s 110% true.  Somewhere in there, after we kept trying and trying to get it right, the magic happened.  We knew, because Scott was ecstatic!  We rushed over and was extremely happy to know that this was the one.

This picture is worth a thousand words.  After seeing the masterpiece Scott captured, I was so happy and amazed, for this was now my favorite shot from our workshop!  WOW.  This image was beyond his four elements of WOW – this included like, TEN elements of WOW!  Six elements which are still in the works of creation ;).  This masterpiece went beyond my expectations.  This “Beauty in Beijing” is and will always be special because:

1. It was taken by A World Class Photographer and my Mentor, Scott Robert Lim
2. some of my most favorite girls are in it – Zabrina, Jenny, and Tara (Tara’s an awesome model that is teachingEnglish in Shanghai!  I miss you Tara!)
3. our SR Community, Riz and David were there to observe every moment and we were there to enjoy their presence
4. the emotions, bonds, friendships, and memories we all have of one of another is priceless
5. …and last but not least, these are some of the greatest people I love and cherish.

These people have a huge passion, drive, strength, and love for the same things I love to do, and I’m blessed to be a part of their lives.  I’m blessed and thankful that they’re a part of mine.  Thank you.  Thank you to the SR Community too, for everyone is supportive in each and every way.  Scott, I thank you, once again for everything.  You’ve changed my perspective in life, given me a taste of what the extraordinary can be like, and you’ve taught me an abundance of photography skills I wouldn’t be able to learn in such a small amount of time on my own.  Hence, why I’m glad I chose to invest in you, educate myself, and in turn, always want to tell the whole world about you and how great of a person you are.  I know 2011 is slowly creeping up on us, so WORLD, I hope you’re ready for us!!!

Oh yes, and to add one more thing to add to our story after Scott shot this remarkable masterpiece.  This night didn’t end after we finished our shoot.  We all changed and got foot massages!!!

So if you haven’t already done so yet… READ SCOTT’S BLOG POST about this!  Making of ‘Beauty in Beijing‘