A vacation, or an imaginary lust story?
We'd just finished our first Grand Central Holiday Fair. Exhausted and accomplished are the first thoughts that come to mind to describe how we felt. It had been months since we shot anything new for PHLD, as our main focus was making sure we made a mark with our Holiday debut. At one point during the fair, Ebony joked with a customer who asked if we were going to take a vacation after the holidays. Ebony answered saying, "I wish but we'll probably just keep working".
Right there I wanted to tell her that we were booked for a two-week vacation back to Siesta Keys, Florida and... Like last time our friend and photographer Stephen would be joining us for three days to shoot content! Ebony began feeling nervous about creating content and would complain that too much time had passed causing her to fall behind with creative work. I waited for another week...
One night after having dinner in our hood, Ebony tells me that she hasn't heard back from Stephen confirming our first shoot of 2020. I could tell she was upset! I did the worst thing you can do when someone is upset, I told her to calm down. Very quickly after this, very quickly, I said, "ok I have to tell you something." "I know why Stephen isn't responding". At this point, Ebony is giving me the death stare.
I confess that I booked a trip back to Florida weeks ago and that Stephen is coming for three days to get all the content you could ever need! No fucking way! Ebony screams, laughs and playfully pushes me. I could see her mind trying to piece it all together. Thank you! she says with a sweet kiss. Now it's up to you guys to create something Dope, I told her in a laughing voice.
How to create something totally different in the same place and at the same time as before? The answer is simple, you don't. And so we didn't.
Almost exactly one year ago we shot on siesta key beach, wore bikinis, had an audience and nearly died by the unexpected heat. It was amazing of course, but if we're being honest here, it was our first time as a team and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. So that we're clear, we still created Dopeness. Just that with this time we all wanted to be completely comfortable and take our time.
A lot happened in a year. Jon designed an entire line of luxury stones and leather bracelets, while I finally finished my first ever women's ring collection (2 years in the making). We had new things to show the world.
It was like a PHLD reunion, we had a blast! Stephen is like family to us and knows how to capture our moments in the Dopest way.
We didn't want to feel like we were copying ourselves so, instead of going to the same beach as last time, we rented a small boat and visited small beaches nearby. And to really top it off, we planned a night shoot on a private beach, yep we risked it all!
Our return to Florida was nothing short of Dopeness and very much needed. We are thinking of making this a tradition. In between working and shooting, we rode bikes through town, went swimming and, enjoyed the amazing view from our penthouse we called home for two weeks!
The video you are about to watch is one of the Dopest stories ever told! Sexy, funny and, inspiring, it will leave you in awe and wanting more! Watch the entire video to see if you can connect the dots!
*Warning! Watching this video may cause side effects including; Repetitive watching, telling your friends about it and, getting Dopified!
Filmed & Edited by: Stephen J. Mihalchik
Starring: PlayHardLookDope
