Anicca , a good friend of mine who was second runner up Miss Belgium 2020 was born in the Seychelles and came to Belgium when she was 12 years old. After the Miss Belgium contest we decided to go to the Seychelles together with my wife and her mum on Holiday in May 2020. Everything was arranged and booked but in March that year we had the Corona lockdown. We had to wait until 2022 and used our vouchers.

Last year Anicca Van Hollebeke decided to launch her own swimwear: KOKO swim. I offered her a shoot in the Seychelles. Anicca booked two models and off we went.

I took some Godox gear with me but she asked me to shoot as much in the golden hour. It was one of the few times I decided not to use flash because it would take to much time. The reason I use flash outdoors is because most of the time I shoot towards the sun. The model is beautifully lit from behind and I combine the ambient light with the right amount of flash light.

We arranged two shoots. One on the Island “La Digue” and the other one on the main island “Mahé”.

The weather was very hot with little wind and humidity was high, even when the sun went down. I sweated a lot but is was worth it.

I can’t imagine a more beautiful place to shoot swimwear. Maybe Thailand comes very close but I am really impressed with the beauty of the Seychelles beaches and the Indian Ocean. It sounds strange but during the week you see very little tourists on the beaches (even in high season) so it is another reason why the Seychelles are a fantastic location for photoshoots.

We were even invited by the president himself when he heard about our shooting and he absolutely wanted to meet Anicca. He was a really nice person and the meeting took more than an hour. I was allowed to photograph the man himself, Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan

In the Seychelles you will find trees with the biggest seeds in the world. It takes 7 years for a “coco de mer” to grow. Hence the name KOKO swim. The coco de mer only grows in the Seychelles! You can buy one and it costs 350 Euro. (You have to buy one with certificate! They check the certificate and bill at the airport!)

Photo below is a “coco de mer” painted in gold.

I was allowed to photograph the president Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan in private for a few minutes.

The two models were experienced and I did not have to guide them at all. I just told them where to walk or pose and I made the shots. I put my Sony A1 in AF-C, 10 fps with fast shutter speeds. I only used one lens: The Sony G 24-105mm f/4. It would be crazy to shoot lower than f/4 with such a beautiful background.

Back in Belgium I selected the best photos and started post processing them. As requested by Anicca I color graded with accents of gold. I use a gradient layer in Photoshop to get this result.

Here are some pictures of the shooting cropped to Instagram format: