On Wednesday, the JUZD photoshoot team did it’s first full production photo shoot. We had a make up artist and a wardrobe stylist from Elad style studio. I hand picked four of the hottest models in Toronto and chose a top fashion photographer, Igor Yu.

The weather forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorm at 9 PM and we were to start at that exact time because that’s when it gets dark. When speaking to Igor at 3pm he said we should postpone the photoshoot because the cost of the production is very high and it would be waste if we didn’t get any shots. Also there was a 60% chance of rain but being a risk taker I went ahead.

It was 7PM and heavy dark clouds were overhead. I spoke to Dale, the director of Elad, and he also warned of the rain but I didn’t get to where I am by avoiding risks. I figured if it starts pouring we can always wait it out, right?

The next day was perfect and sunny but with all the exciting development with JUZD and scheduling of all the talents I couldn’t really postpone another day.

Our first set of models were Evan and Vlada. They are top professionals and naturals. Igor really like their chemistry. We waited till it was dark and then we went to work! This photo was taken at an alley way by Bathurst and King. Look at the photo it doesn’t look like a typical Toronto location. All of a sudden we felt drops of rain. Maybe I’ve made the wrong decision? But luckily that’s all it was, raindrops.

We proceeded to our second location with a new set of models, Endri and Camila. They were perfect looking models – straight out of an ad for GUESS?. When we got to the second location it started to rain hard. It was cold and late in the game.

This shoot involved a very high end leather couch I got from my friend. It was very hard to find the leather couch because we needed something light coloured so it doesn’t blend in with the background. I wanted something classic Art Nouvelle which isn’t popular now but my friend had the perfect loveseat.

Luckily I was smart enough to ask one of my buddies to pick up a tarp before heading over to the shoot to help.

It was pouring hard, the camera was waterproof but not the flash so we couldn’t take any pictures. While it was raining I cruised around looking for a backup location. My firiend warned me that models and photographers won’t work as hard if it’s cold and they’re wet. It was almost 1am and we were all tired. We looked at every corner but didn’t see anything I liked.

Once we got back, luck was on our side and the rain stopped but then the ‘technical’ problem arose. The battery charging the light wouldn’t shoot properly. Natural inclination was once again whispering to reschedule the shoot. We considered all the options and I went with Igor using his camera flash attachment.

Overall there were many things that went wrong. Many times I felt like quiting. But that is with life and any business. What determines how successful a person becomes is not the things that go perfect, it’s about how that person handle problems and obstacles.

I noticed that with all the problems and setbacks that I’ve encountered building this label, and honestly it has been a lot, somehow I’ve trained my mind to feel great pain when I quit so it’s easy and natural to work harder and succeed.