Ailana’s Journal—2026-04-29 (Patreon)

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Part of this post is DUPLICATED in the Crossroads storyline. Izzy Duffy is a main character there, and her chapter is published separately there for the sake of continuity.

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GOOD MORNING

Day two arrives and we are already working. We feel like we need to move quickly today if we want to get everything on the list completed.

The product in these shots is a niche fitness energy drink. The idea is 100% natural fruit juice locally sourced and infused with organically derived vitamins.

Apples, pears, and peaches grow around the St. Louis region. They are harvested and juiced, then the extra vitamins are added. Each bottle comes in around 200 to 250 calories depending on size and variety.

The pitch is that it’s natural nutrition and energy. The contents label reads like a bottle of juice and a multivitamin. It tastes like I’d expect fruit juice to taste—so no complaints on that point. I’m in no position to judge how organically derived vitamins compare to other vitamins, but the promise that it is all natural is appealing.

The downside is that it’s a small company with distribution to a few specialty sellers. But it seems like a good idea.

One last note—I’m wearing a prototype fitness top from Clay and Sasha’s new company. This would be for the Phase II idea spinning off of SwimFit: GymFit Apparel.

We’re done here for a while, so I’ll wrap up this post and get going. See you soon.

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CITY STYLES

We are at City Museum shooting a fashion collection ranging from street casual to posh office. There’s a lot going on, but I thought I’d jump in and share one of the shots.

Part of the trip logistics was rental vehicles. We have a van configured to seat eight, plus a small RV motorhome for wardrobe changes.

Geoni, Jasmine, and Kaylee are in the van, and they’ll work out wardrobe changes using blankets and bathrooms. Josh is driving for them. Sasha, Izzy, Jason, and I are here with the camper—we have more outfits to model while they have more places to visit.

For the shot of Sasha, I used an off-body speedlight that Jason held off camera on one side and a bounce reflector that Izzy held on the other. This is a pretty useful and versatile setup for out-and-about work.

The light here is pretty good to start with. If it were weaker—or if we wanted a different effect—we could use more than one speedlight. They are not as fast or as powerful as a stand-mounted studio flash, but for applications like this, they get the job done.

Next up, I need to give Jason the camera and take Sasha’s place for a few shots. Once we’re done here, it will be Izzy’s turn to get into wardrobe and start posing, but that happens somewhere else. I’ll be shooting her, while Jason and Sasha connect with the other group.

At some point, more SWAG shots need to happen. I’m losing track of it all, but I know I have some poses to do later on.

How about this? Stick with us and see what happens!

SAME THING, BUT NOW by Izzy Duffy

For years, I was booked as a sports, fitness, and swimsuit model. I’ve lost track of the times I appeared at sporting events or did promotional appearances. From farm teams to the major leagues, I’ve been in more baseball stadiums than I can remember. Today? Iconic Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals.

This shoot is for the St. Louis tour company Ailana mentioned earlier. As far as we can tell, they have a game-day tour that starts with visits to several locations, continues with a meal, and ends at the game.

We actually don’t need to know that. We just have a list of shots and a wardrobe.

Sasha and Jason have worked out a pretty solid call sheet. Some of the fashion shots can also be done at the tour company’s list of locations. That saves travel time.

Ailana is shooting me right now. Geoni has Jasmine and Kaylee somewhere else; Josh is with them. Sasha is about to drop Jason off at the hotel so he can finally finish up the SWAG shot, then she’ll be back here to pick Ailana and me up to go to the next location.

Busy, busy, busy, but you know what? This feels kinda nice, for a break in the routine. In no way am I saying I’d go back into full-time modeling, but this has been fun.

I guess that’s it for now. Watch for more later from Ailana.

ALL ABOARD!

I’m fully aware that the “all aboard” expression is train jargon, not boating. I’m okay with the mistake.

I’m not even going to try to go into details about why we’re here. The tour company has this on their tour. We came to take a picture.

The trick was to get the angle right so that the boat and its entrance were appealing. There was some discussion and some trial and error. Once we got the angles right, I had to pose in a way that sold the venue.

This is a case where a little effort changes the final image dramatically. The wrong angle leaves the viewer asking questions or feeling unsure about what they are seeing.

I was talking to a novice photographer about capturing those iconic images in a travel magazine and he said, “If I were standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon as the sun set to the west, I could have taken that image.”

While there is technique and skill in setting up the camera and composing the shot, there is some truth in that claim. Because he wasn’t standing there, he couldn’t capture it.

A great photography tip that goes all the way back to my high school photography club was this: “zoom” with your feet.

Move around until you get the angle and crop you want. That might mean standing on a picnic table or climbing a ladder.

And after you take a couple from wherever you start, move and take a few more. Then move again.

Mr. Schnider, the sponsor for our photography club, often gave us challenges to get us to try different things. Once, he had us take 10 pictures of an orange, but they all had to be from different angles and perspectives.

If you like photography, give that one a try! It doesn’t have to be an orange, of course!

That’s probably more than enough for this post. I’ll be back later for a goodnight post, so see you then.

GOOD NIGHT

Another night in the hotel, another night in a pink bathrobe. Trying to keep things simple and easy…

Today was busy and productive. We are definitely on track for wrapping this up. But it has not been as smooth as it could have been.

One thing we decided is that two small RV motorhomes would have worked better. I’m not talking about super long, fancy models. The one we rented is about the size of the smallest U-Haul, so parking isn’t a problem. The big win is having a place to change outfits and store wardrobe.

With one more day to go, I think it’s safe to say this was a little too much for us. Not counting the fact that Naomi provided the wardrobe crew, just getting everyone to all the locations at the right time with the right outfits has maxed us out. We’ve had some double-backs and “redo it later” moments, but we’re going to get it all in before we leave tomorrow.

We have a contingency where we send Kaylee back with Jasmine so she can be there for her cleaning business when the bulk of her jobs hits while the rest of us stay another day and finish up. I really don’t think that will be necessary, but the option is on the table if needed.

I’d say this is a case where past successes led to a challenging new opportunity. In the big picture for AGI Creative, it’s a good thing. We’ll get it done and be better prepared next time. 

May your experiences today help prepare you for the future, ever stretching you into new and better things.

Good night.

Be your best you!

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