Hi everyone! How are you all doing today?
As I was logging onto the internet for the day to check notifications, I decided to pull one of my old cosplay photos to share. The costume I selected for today is an original design titled 'Emerald Siren.' The photos were shot at Victoria Beach in Laguna, CA back in 2020 by Michael Burian - the same photographer that did my Red Sonja photos.
This shoot was doomed at the start, but we managed to get a few photos out of it. The reason? Well, to start with, the day was extremely cold though it was supposed to be warm, as I had checked the weather all week. The photographer and I still agreed to go, and drove to the beach, which was an hour away.
By the time we got to the beach, the tide was high, which was something the photographer and I didn't think to check before going. We had been to that same beach for a previous shoot a few weeks prior, and all went perfectly well. It was one of the most adventurous shoots we had together (until we shot Red Sonja last fall.) We didn't let the idea of the tide interfering with our shoot, so we went ahead and started shooting.
About forty-five minutes into the shoot, an unexpected giant wave crashed against my body. I was completely helpless as it knocked me down, dragging me across the rocky, barnacle shore. I was injured, with large scrapes across my legs, back, and arms. My headpiece busted in half, and the ocean claimed my staff as the waves receded. My photographer was also knocked over, and he came as soon as he could to try and help me. When we got to shore, I removed most of my costume (still being decent of course), and packed up. As we were getting ready to leave, a man who lived right above the beach cliffs told us that two weeks prior, a person had drowned at that same beach doing a photoshoot. After that, I had decided not to shoot at a beach ever again...or if I did, it would be on the shoreline. Also, when we left, I hadn't packed up my arm sleeves of my costume, leaving it behind on the beach. Just another thing that went wrong. I can't complain, as I lived to tell the tale. Below is the final shot of the wave that knocked me over. Enjoy!
