The Making of a Goddess, pt. 1 (Patreon)

Originally I just wanted to do a simple Dia De Los Muertos shoot, but as I made the head dress, it became more and more elaborate, and soon it resembled something more Tibetan or Hindu than Mexican. So I quickly changed the idea and just decided I'd make something colorful and funky, though I wasn't still exactly sure how or even why.

I also desperately wanted my buddy Erika to be the model for this and she was very excited about it, but then her work schedule intervened and I had to look elsewhere. Several people have asked me about how I made the headdress, and apart from giving you the materials (my three constants of hot glue, cardboard, and masking tape) I can't explain it. I just made it. Mostly while sitting at my corporate office and watching Stranger Things on Netflix. Erika even stopped by once to try it on for size before her schedule changed.

At the last minute, after getting several non-committal emails from a variety of models including Zoe, Jenna Leos, and Whitney, I finally got Shaley, a woman I had done a test shoot with only a few days before, to agree to show up. Based on the video below, you can see we had a helluva good time. If you watched it yesterday and are reading this now, I recommend rewatching it. I doubled the amount of footage to the final video last night, mostly of the model dancing around in gold tape to The Brand New Heavies and They Might Be Giants while I laugh like a goofball.