Who Stole my Camera?
How come right before a big day or a big decision things always seem to take a turn for the worst? Yall know about Murphy’s Law right? Everything seems to be a green light and in favor, then BOOM. Here comes the side hurdle at the most inopportune time ready to mess shit up. Let’s be real. Sometimes the universe be working overtime just to go against the grain and all the things strategically planned.
So boom. After a very long journey of getting my first collection of merch through production, it was finally time for me to put together a small team that could help me promote my brand in the best way. I cultivated an amazing group of 4 people that could help me push this project in the most efficient, effective way. Someone that was a pro at product placement, a creative genius, and two style gurus. I would be in charge of the whole shoot, using my personal camera. So the day before the planned shoot, everything was all set and good to go. My team was on point, the studio time was set, the merchandise all accounted for. Only thing left for me to prepare was charging up my camera so I can be ready to go by the morning time. So I’m looking through my bedroom in the spots were I would normally place my camera down. No camera. Usually I would begin to panic and flip my bedroom upside down, but this specific evening I actually had a date so I told myself I’d comb through the crib once I got back. On my way to my destination, I did a thorough check in my car because I was almost sure maybe I just forgot it in the backseat or something. Still no camera. At this point I begin to get nervous. Not because of my date, but because I use my camera almost every single day and I couldn’t fathom where the damn camera could have been if not by my side. So I just convinced myself it was somewhere in the house and my focus was to be on my date.
When I came back from my night out, the first thing I did was flip the damn house upside down. Every crack, every crevice was checked. I had a full on melt down because if there’s no camera- obviously there’s no shoot. The level at which my blood was boiling my skin was on the verge of melting. Here I am at 3am having to text the elite squad that there would actually be no shoot because my camera was missing. I spent the very next day checking almost all the places I work, hang out, and go to often. I had to take a moment to pause and really think back to the last moment I saw my camera. Then it hit me. Three days before, I went to one of my friend’s pop up shops for NYFW. I brought my camera with me to vlog his event and I ended up putting my camera down during the event so he could snap a pic of me on his phone by his grass wall. I instantly remembered that I never picked my camera back up after. I was so sick. Funny enough- my friend was also apart of the elite squad I whipped up to help me put together my photoshoot. I hit him up with the quickness to ask if he’d seen it and he said unfortunately he hadn’t. I have my reservations about who was around my camera and who might’ve picked my shit up. But ultimately I have to take the L because I should’ve remembered to pick my camera up.
That whole week was very heavy. Having to part with my expensive camera, and not to mention all the memories that I had saved to it. Vlogging trips I’ve taken, intimate family gatherings, me sewing dresses in my bedroom. The thought of someone going through my memories felt so invasive. I’m still sick about it. But being the boss that I am, I definitely went and bought another camera the very same day of my cancelled shoot. It took me a week to gather myself and cultivate a new team of people. If things couldn’t get any worse people began to cancel and drop out of the project left and right. Literally everything was going wrong. I had to remind myself that God doesn’t make any mistakes. So even if I was the only person to show up to my studio session, I was gonna make it work for me baby. Luckily, it didn’t result to that because my good friend Danielle and my cousin Ian pulled up to help me with production, hair and makeup, product shots, creative direction, styling, modeling, and everything in between. We ran that studio time up to eight hours, but we came out with the perfect content. Even though everything was taking a turn for the worst, I still came out on top. WE still came out on top. Danielle and Ian, yall are seriously the best. Thank you. And I hope yall enjoy this drop!!