The Namibian desert. Full sun. High heat. A camera and one light. Doing fashion within the dunes of Namibia’s incredible Sossusvlei.
Corporate videography- and photography are the main disciplines of Kaimara, most work falls under the corporate type of setting, as well as some commercial- and documentary work that has me traveling to all areas in Africa, but this trip was special in the way that it had me visit an incredible landscape, whilst enjoying a bit of a holiday.
Traveling together with Yolandi Jacobsz from Loci Photography, who is known for her creativity and elaborate ideas, we went to Sossusvlei one morning before the worst of the day’s heat fell upon us, and set off to Deadvlei to photograph her as model, showcasing pieces from her new business venture that has been two years in the making already, called KittyKink Apparel.
Sossusvlei is a salt- and clay pan, surrounded by many gorgeous red dunes and is a stunning attraction when visiting Namibia, and the last few km’s can only be traversed by a 4WD vehicle.
KittyKink Apparel is a sensual apparel brand, especially created to bring out the inner sensuality innate to all women. Not all women are comfortable in their sensuality, many feel inherently shy and so many women just feel exhausted having to exist under the layers of life that goes and lays on their womanhood, squashing it down somewhat, making it hard for that part of themselves to easily appear as life just becomes another day after another day. Yolandi carefully curated and designed these pieces with that idea in mind – to start a brand that uplifts, empowers, and just makes you feel hella sexy when you wear it.
The full-grain tan-colored leather coat she hauled all the way up a sanddune to have us do a shoot in, isn’t one of KittyKink’s sellable pieces but one of its statement garments kept in archives for the use of dramatic shoots. The quality and stitchwork are impeccable, and it has that lovely crunch that is true to a real leather garment.
Using one lightsource from supplier HD Global, the SMDV B500 TTL HSS Battery Flash, together with the FLIP44pro light modifier, an easily collapsible modifier that clicks open, made the image pop and truly gave her tanned skintone such a rich color that blended perfectly with the color of the magical sand all around us, as well as echoing the leather coat’s hue.
Trying my hand at fashion photography turned out to be a great creative challenge, one I enjoyed and skillfully succeeded in. KittyKink Apparel was represented strongly, as well as Yolandi’s keen posing- and self-direction skills made the shoot a stunning one, the results were phenomenal.
