Diet Pepsi turned Perks of Being a Wallflower

Well, this was fun! I often find a lot of my inspiration for shoots (whether that be vibes, poses, or locations) from music or films. I think music is such a powerful storytelling tool that really has the power to transport you to a totally different place. And films do that same thing but their storytelling is highly visual. So when I saw Addison Rae’s music video for her song “Diet Pepsi”, I knew I had to have a shoot heavily inspired by it! I then had to think of who I wanted to model for me in this shoot and I almost instantly thought of my friend Iz and her boyfriend, Jordan! Luckily, the two were down to make some magic!

In the music video, there are some really beautiful shots of Addison hanging out the driver's window while she's sitting on a guy's lap and he's driving down the road. While I don't doubt Jordan's driving skills, I knew this was a shot that we'd have to manufacture a little bit. So, we had Iz get into Jordan's lap while he pretended to drive. Meanwhile, Iz had her head out the window and I told her to shake her hair around. And the magic really happened when I had my husband, Hunter, on the ground shining a light from his GoPro up at Iz's hair! It was a lot of moving parts but they all came together so perfectly.

Now was the part that I told Iz, "This might turn out super cool, or it might not turn out at all." Luckily, Iz is also a photographer & videographer (follow her at @_izmerrillprojects) and she understood that sometimes, you gotta just trust the process to get "the shot". So I had Iz and Jordan on speaker phone in our car while Hunter drove and I sat in the backseat and Jordan drove beside us. I would give Jordan and Hunter instructions to either slow down or speed up and tell Iz to go out the window. And you guys... WE GOT IT!

I truly was expecting for like maybe one or two shots to turn out but we got SO lucky with so many of them coming out perfectly! As we were driving and laughing at the ridiculousness of this shoot and I saw Iz with her arms up in the air, hair blowing, and carefree, I felt a shift from the "Diet Pepsi" inspiration I had initially felt. I was suddenly reminded of the scene from The Perks of Being a Wallflower film adaptation where Charlie, Sam, and Patrick are driving down the highway and Charlie finally stands up in the bed of the truck as they drive through the tunnel to their "tunnel song".

This movie has always been so important to me and in that moment, I felt such a connection to it. Not only did it visually remind me of that particular scene, the sentiment behind the scene I think really captured the playfulness of this shoot. The words that Charlie says really stuck out to me and I think perfectly encapsulates this vibe this shoot was giving. I hope you all enjoy these photos and maybe even get inspired to watch The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

"I know these will all be stories some day, and our pictures will become old photographs. We all become somebody’s mom or dad. But right now, these moments are not stories. This is happening. I can see it. This one moment when you know you’re not a sad story. You are alive. And you stand up and see the lights on the buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And you’re listening to that song, and that drive with the people who you love most in this world. And in this moment, I swear, we are infinite."

- Charlie Kelmeckis - Stephen Chbosky, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower