ON THE HORIZON: NEW ENGLAND TALENT COLLECTIVE

Over the past several months we’ve been hard at work for the launch of one of our behind-the-scenes passion projects: New England Talent Collective, a program dedicated to making it easy and worry-free for businesses and creatives to find models who showcase and elevate their high-quality work.

Last Saturday we met up with three of our program's first round of models in Cape Elizabeth for a headshot session (you can find a quick recap reel of our adventure here). We headed over to Fort Williams Park early in the morning to beat the crowds, but since we’re in beautiful Southern Maine we couldn’t avoid tourists trying to get a glimpse of Portland Head Light. We had to work around any photobombers.

But the crowds were the least of our worries and just our first obstacle of the morning. The next hurdle: extreme heat. Maine isn’t known for having the hottest summers, but the ocean breeze let us down. With backs drenched in sweat and nothing but water bottle refills to fuel us, we pressed on to make the most of the day.

Our final and most challenging obstacle of the day: the sun. While blue skies have been a rare and welcomed sight this summer, the harsh lighting of broad daylight challenges even seasoned photographers, like Noli French, our hired partner for the day. Luckily, we found some shady areas to diffuse the light so we could finish the session. Despite the light, heat and crowds, the team walked away one step closer to launching the program.

Are you a business or creator interested in local talent for your content, or an individual interested in building a professional modeling portfolio while supporting businesses in your community? Good news, we're very close to launching NETC. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know when it drops.

Check out some shots from the day and a lesson from Luna about what you can do if you find yourself in a similar sunny situation!