Wednesday, February 10 at 8:13 AM CT
So today is the day of our 1st anniversary photoshoot! It’s an exciting, yet nervewracking day for me. It’s been planned for weeks now. I’ve got the studio and models booked. I’ve written out the list of shots we need to get. The weather looks like it’ll cooperate today so everyone can get here safely. I’m blogging thoughout the day to give you an inside look at what goes on with models and a photoshoot.

The one year anniversary of Macho Rhino is March 3 and we’ll be debuting new features and the Macho Rhino Models! I’ve been holding on to these ideas for a few months now and it’s time to shoot to get some new photos for the site and upcoming ad campaign. I’ve got six great models lined up to shoot tonight so hopefully they come through and we get great photos for you to enjoy here at MachoRhino.com – The Cure for Male Pattern Boredom.

I’ve checked in with models earlier today so I’m hoping to hear back from them. I always like to check in a couple days before the shoot as a reminder and then of course the day of the shoot to make sure they’re still planning on attending. Based on past experience, I don’t count my chickens until the hatch so even if the model says she’ll be there, until I see her at the shoot does my nervousness end. I’ve had girls say the day before a shoot they’ll be there and then never hear from them again. You deal with a lot of flakes but you also deal with some great models. It’s always easy to tell who wants to be a model and who simply thinks they’re hot enough to do it. Modeling is about a lot more than simply being beautiful. You’ve got to be able to strike a pose and convey an emotion. You’ve got to look comfortable in front of the camera. Make sexy look natural for you. Trust me, most girls don’t realize what it takes to be a model. So appreciate those ladies who can go take tremendous photos on a regular basis, it’s a skill. For most it takes hours and hours of working on posing, facial expressions, dieting and exercise to create the images that are burned into your brain forever.

The weather hasn’t been great here in Mid-MO lately. We’ve had snow and freezing temps which have had me concerned for the past week or so. Some models are local and others are traveling from 30-45 minutes away. Luckily the snow has stopped but it’s still bitterly cold out. Roads should be fine for everyone traveling by tonight…or so I hope. I’m anticipating losing one model of the six for some reason. Hopefully I’m wrong but based on past experience I’d just about expect it. Okay that’s all for right now. I’ll be back soon with another update.

8:44 AM
Got confirmation from one model. She’s seemed to be with the program from the beginning and willing to jump at this opportunity. I’ve got a good feeling she’ll bring good energy and give me some great shots tonight. So that’s a good start to the day.

I’m going to start typing out the scripts for video and hopefully get them finalized. I’m always rereading them and changing a word or phrase here and there. I really like the concepts and hope the models can pull them off. If they do, these videos will get a great response!

10:05 AM
I scribble down my ideas on post-it notes or whatever paper I can find and then I let them roll around in my head a little bit before writing the script. I think I’m very creative so I try to come up with something originally but occasionally I like to put a different spin on something you might have seen. The ideas I have today are a little of both. I wrote out scripts yesterday and am ready to revisit and see if there are any last changes I want to make. I’ll get them typed up so they’re fresh in my mind and I can think about them for a few more hours before putting it down on cue cards this afternoon.

I’m going to test the ideas out too on people now and see what the response is. It’s hard to evaluate something while it’s just on paper because you can’t get the full effect but hopefully they can envision it and come up with some good feedback.

10:28 AM
Everything is typed up and overloading my brain right now. I think they’re good but I’ll read over them a couple more times to see if there’s any tweaks that need to be made. Hopefully we can pull these off tonight and they come out great!

Still no word from the other models. Hopefully I can get them confirmed by 2 PM or I might look at finding a couple more models. I don’t want too many to show up because we’re just shooting for five hours and if we have too many, there will be some just waiting. I want to keep everyone busy tonight. If we keep the energy up, the better the shots will turn out!

11:07 AM
My buddy was going to assist me but he just bailed so hopefully I can come over with an assistant for tonight. I really just need help with the video. Someone to hold cue cards and tell the girls where to go. Shouldn’t be too big of a problem to find a replacement…I hope.

1:31 PM
Been checking in with one of the models about the video and it looks like she’s ready to go tonight. Still waiting for confirmation from the other five. I’ll start making cue cards soon with the finalized drafts of the videos.

2:20 PM
Been running ideas by another person and getting a pretty good response. Got some great feedback from her. I’m ready to go. I wish 6 would get here already! I’m gonna go work out and then come back and write out the cue cards. The exercise will help clear my head and let me think over the plan for tonight one more time.

3:45 PM
I’ve gotten confirmation from two more models tonight so three of the six are checked in as attending. I just got a message from one saying she might not make it depending if she gets back to town. We’ve got three good ones though who should make for a good shoot. All are pretty much beginner models though so it might take a little coaching but I think once they get in the moment they’ll shine and we’ll make some great shots! Still waiting on the other two, so hopefully I’ll hear something or maybe they’ll just show up. The suspense builds…

5:01 PM
I’m basically planning on three attending since I still haven’t heard from the other two so it’ll just be a wait and see approach. I’m fine dealing with people telling me they’re not attending. I understand things come up or they change their mind. I hate when they just leave me hanging. Basically if that happens, you’re done. There isn’t a second chance. People who cancel can get another opportunity but those who don’t tell me they’re not are done as far as modeling for Macho Rhino is concerned. Well I gotta get going and pick one thing up and then head to the studio. Finally it’s about time to get this started. I’m just going to be updating from now on through MySpace/Facebook/Twitter so check those out throughout the night for the latest and tune in tomorrow for a recap of how the shoot went.