Photo shoot at Cathy's house

This is the photo that appeared on the cover of Blackfly magazine.
Nice, huh? Notice the tent in the background?
(Credit: Bev McMullen)

I was watching The Devil Wears Prada again last night. It's one of my favourite movies, not just because Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway are fabulous and I love the song that opens up the movie, but because it perfectly portrays what my life is like working for magazines here in Muskoka. Glamourous models, exotic photo shoots, oh yes, it's exactly like that.

Just a few weeks back my own front yard became the location for the cover shoot of a new magazine. It was an impromptu affair – I nailed down two reporters from work to volunteer as models, I shanghaied our company's best photographer to drop by in her spare time and I begged Dave to leave work early to help set up the tent.

The theme for the shoot was glamping, which is a high-end spin on low-end camping. It means bringing your fanciest china, your best bedding and your stash of caviar and champagne to your camp site. Apparently it's the latest thing.

My idea for the cover was to have two models dressed to the hilt with fancy accessories in front of a tent. A contrast of upscale and way down-scale. We set it up in no time flat. Photographer Bev McMullen and I went to the dollar store and bought all kinds of tacky jewellery. I dug my old Big Pink Nightmare dress out of my closet (which was so big on model Jennifer that we had to pin it on her using clothes pegs.) Roland drove home and picked up his suit. Bev picked lilies and wildflowers from our garden. I opened a bottle of wine and Dave set up our tent in front of the river.

One important note: Dave didn't peg the tent to the ground. He figured, why bother? The shoot was only going to take a half an hour, and it certainly wasn't windy. That's what he was thinking, anyway...

The shoot went well. Jennifer and Roland looked awesome and were such good sports. Bev is a true professional – an award-winning photographer who has travelled the world taking pictures – and she came through with flying colours. We were having such a good time.

When suddenly the wind picked up ...

Wha? Is that supposed to happen?

Should the show go on? Do tents float?

Dave Webster! To the rescue! And no, apparently tents do not float.

Meanwhile, Bev keeps shooting. She's a true professional!

And models Roland and Jen really had something to laugh about!