Which is funny because if you asked me before the shoot what I wanted that day, rain probably would've been near the bottom of the list. Actually...maybe not the bottom. Wind. Then rain. I don't know. Either way, we definitely weren't hoping for it.

This is probably one of the shoots I'm most proud of. Not because it was the biggest thing I've worked on. It wasn't. Not because everything went according to plan. Definitely not. I think I'm proud of it because it reminded me why I love doing this in the first place. We'd been getting ready for weeks. I honestly don't remember half the shot list anymore. I don't remember what time call was. I don't remember what we ate for lunch. But I remember one look. This long organza train. I was obsessed with it. The whole reason it worked was because it felt weightless. Like it was barely there.

I remember standing there watching the weather thinking, please don't rain. Not because I cared about getting wet. I couldn't have cared less. I was thinking about the athletes. I just wanted them to feel incredible. Actually...that's probably underselling it. I wanted them to see themselves differently. That's always been my favorite part of the job. You spend weeks obsessing over styling, hair, lighting...all the details. Then someone catches a glimpse of themselves on the monitor and you see this little smile. That's the moment. At least for me.

Anyway...it started raining.

My first thought wasn't about the cameras. It wasn't about production. It was, "Well...there goes the organza." I was convinced it was going to get heavy and lose everything I'd loved about it. Instead...it somehow became even better. I still don't really know how. The rain caught the stadium lights. The fabric moved in a way I don't think I could've designed if I'd tried. We watched playback. Nobody really said much. I remember getting chills. Literal chills.

What's funny is we'd talked about adding sparkle in post. Some subtle visual effects. We never even opened that conversation again. The rain had already done it. I've joked ever since that it was the best unpaid actor on the shoot. It showed up, did exactly what it needed to do, and left.

I've been thinking about that day a lot lately. Not really because of the rain. I think it's because I've realized how much of this job happens before anyone ever sees the final image. The conversations. The fittings. Trying things that don't work. Changing your mind. Helping someone feel comfortable enough to forget there's even a camera there. Underneath all of it was a shared belief of never settling for anything less than we knew what it could be. All of that happens before the frame.

And then every once in a while...reality gives you something you never could've planned.

I don't think that's luck. I think that's the reward for caring enough to notice it. Just caring enough about the invisible work that when something unexpected happens, you know it's worth keeping.