I met Amelie Lou on social media, and I’d been eager to photograph her for quite some time. She has this adorable baby face that I’m a huge fan of. So, when she told me she was coming to Portugal, I hit her up right away for a shoot I had planned for Playboy Netherlands.
But here’s the twist: the day before the shoot, Amelie—the star of the show—had a scooter accident! When I got the news, I freaked out. She was covered in bruises, and her knees had some pretty nasty wounds. For a moment, I thought, “Should I even go through with this?” But then I figured, “Opportunities like this don’t come around every day”. I’ve handled tougher challenges, so I decided to roll with it.
The next day, it was road trip time. Me, Amelie, and the crew headed south, chasing the sun. The morning was gorgeous, and I had a good feeling about how the day would turn out.
We shot on May 26, 2022, along the Alentejo coast in Portugal—one of my favorite spots for that endless ocean vibe. The beach was stunning, with deep blue water and miles of golden sand.
Now, here’s where things got tricky. I’d never shot there in the spring, and I was in for a surprise—and not a good one. During the shoot, a swarm of pesky insects decided to crash our party. They were everywhere! On Amelie’s skin, on our clothes, on the props, even in our snacks. It was chaos—a full-blown bug invasion. Managing that situation felt like a circus act, but the whole team pitched in to keep the bugs at bay between shots.
Thankfully, as we made our way down the cliffs toward the water, the bugs finally gave up. That’s when we caught a break and got to enjoy a peaceful, bug-free atmosphere, soaking in the beauty of the sea and the Alentejo coastline.
– Ana Dias
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Model: Amelie Lou; Photographer: Ana Dias; Producer: Gonçalo Jorge; Makeup & Hair: Olga Galkina – Team Raquel Batalha; Photography Assistants: Francisco Figueiredo, Duarte Gomes; Video: Filipe Figueiredo