I Never Knew Creating This Zodiac Project Would Be So Emotional

This was my first creative series I completed. I did a model call on Facebook and spots filled up really quickly. I was excited and nervous. I’m not a very social person. Just the thought of conversation makes me anxious, but that’s the reason I did it. Alanah Perera White, a childhood friend that I reconnected with as a client, messaged me “was thinking.. an astronomy themed shoot would be soooo cool. If you ever do I volunteer as scorpio lol.” And so it began. I had no idea how much time or money this project was going to take, but I knew if I was going to make it in this industry I had to push out of my comfort zone and (aaahhhhh) talk to people. No more hiding behind my keyboard, where I seem like an outgoing person who has her life together (social media can be tricky like that). I was dedicated to this project. I created a group chat to coordinate with all of my girls. Through this group chat I got the pleasure of learning the different personalities of each one of them. Some I have known my whole life from a distance.

Some I met the day of the photoshoot. I was so nervous for shoot day…. so I bought lots of margaritas for everyone. That will take the edge off, right? Shoot day was so much fun. I did makeup. They did makeup. We even had makeup and hairdresser Arri Martin there saving the day with her skills and wigs! (Thank you again, BTW) We drank, we laughed… it was a good time. Nothing like all the disastrous scenarios I pictured in my head the night before. Thanks social anxiety. As I completed an image I would post it to our group message and the models would get excited for the next one. I had two signs left to shoot. I shot Aquarius at Arri Martin’s home. Look at her saving the day again ;) Now we all were waiting for the last one, Pisces. I scheduled and rescheduled that shoot and eventually the model was replaced and shot on a tarp full of pink milky water in my backyard. I was so excited that I edited that one the same day and posted the whole project to Facebook the next day. I will always cherish this project. I made great friends and lost a great friend, RIP Kayla Marie Guerrero. Losing her hit me hard. She was so full of life. Kayla modeled for me often. I had known her for about 10 years at that point and when I was around her I was completely entertained by her charm, beauty and aspirations. She wanted to be on TV and of all the people I know she was most suited to be a star. Her suicide shook me so hard. My father and grandpa both committed suicide. I felt like I should have seen the signs. It put me in a really dark place for a while. I questioned if I should even post my project out of respect for her but then I remembered the things she said in our group message. She couldn’t wait to post it to make certain people jealous. She was proud of her image. This is for you, Kayla. Fly high, my friend.

More info: tashazeringue.com