HOW TO PICK-UP A MODEL

I’m willing to bet you’ve never heard of anyone trying to impress a model quite like this.

We were on location in Pacific Grove. One of the most breathtaking places on earth, and without question one of my personal favorites. The light was golden, and the Pacific stretched endlessly toward the horizon. It was one of those evenings photographers dream about.

The assignment was a sunset shoot featuring a stunning 22-year-old model. Fit, athletic, radiant, and effortlessly poised in tight cycling shorts and form fitting top. We positioned her on a bicycle atop the beautiful coastal rocks as the tide rolled in beneath her. The light was perfect and the shot ultimately became the cover of a major magazine. 

The publisher of the magazine had flown in from New York specifically to attend the shoot. He was a wealthy man. especially for his age. Confident, well traveled and admittedly handsome, with the kind of deep tan that suggests a life well lived. He carried himself with an air of importance, but he was also personable and gracious throughout the day.

To celebrate the successful shoot, he invited the entire crew to dinner at one of the finest restaurants in the area. The atmosphere was elegant, the wine flowing, the mood relaxed. It was the perfect ending to a productive day.

Then came the moment none of us could have anticipated.

In what I can only assume was an attempt to impress the model, the publisher began recounting how he had recently undergone surgery for gallstones. That in itself might have been mildly inappropriate dinner conversation, but he didn’t stop there.

With complete seriousness, he reached into his pocket, removed a neatly folded Kleenex, and carefully unwrapped it at the table. showing the actual gallstones. He displayed them proudly, as though unveiling rare gemstones rather than surgical souvenirs, right there in the middle of a beautiful restaurant.

I wish I were exaggerating.  I didn’t know what to say.  It certainly was one of the most surreal dinner moments I have ever experienced.

Now, to his credit the model did return to his hotel later that evening. Though I strongly suspect it had far more to do with his wealth and charm than his medical show-and-tell.

Either way, I’ve been on countless shoots in extraordinary places with fascinating people. But that night in Pacific Grove remains unmatched for sheer strangeness. Some sunsets you remember for the light. Others you remember for the gallstones.