POSTCARD FROM THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
What was the scandal at Salt Pond Bay? On location for DNA’s cover shoot, photographer Kevin McDermott and model Todd Sanfield share their behind-the-scenes tropical escapades…
TODD SANFIELD SAYS…
Before this trip, I can honestly say that I didn’t know much about the US Virgin Islands. The only thing I knew was that they were surrounded by coral reefs. Growing up I was an extreme fish geek, having at one point 15 aquariums ranging from 10 to 150 gallons. My first entrepreneurial venture was breeding and selling freshwater cichlids when I was 12 years of age. You now have an idea how excited and mentally prepared I was for this trip.
I knew the entire time I was going to be either in swimwear or naked, so I didn’t need to pack much. However, I did bring a few sample pieces from my new collection that had not been shot yet, along with a snorkel and a set of fins.
After I finished my clinical pharmacy rotation for school, we left the following
“I knew the entire time I was going to be either in swimwear or naked, so I didn’t need to pack much.
Wednesday. It was the beginning of December. This timing could not have been more perfect. Since the beginning of May, I had been studying pharmacy nonstop, taking my third year finals and starting the fourth year that following week, so you know I was going to take advantage of this trip and make some sexy ass photos.
After a five-hour flight with a brief layover in Miami, I arrived in St Thomas and met up with Kevin. At the airport they suggested we rent a jeep, which seemed strange until we got to St John. The entire island is a huge rock. Travelling to the resort, the roads were narrow and winding with hills leading to the top of giant cliffs. These cliffs overlooked the bluest water I have ever seen.
The place we stayed, the Concordia Eco Resort, is located on a hill overlooking some stunning topography and a bay called Salt Pond. The plan was to stay in a secluded area away from everyone and this was exactly that. The first thing we did was talk to the lady at the front desk about potential locations. We used two different maps of the island to take notes on. After I got done with her, I knew St John like the back of my hand. I could have been a damn tour guide for the week.
The next day, Kevin and I woke up at 5:30am to start shooting by sunrise. Salt Pond Bay was the first location. Once we completed a few hours of shooting, I threw on my snorkeling gear and started exploring. The water was so unbelievably clear with beautiful fish everywhere. Excited to be in the water, I lost my sense of direction and found myself right next to a giant sea turtle. Words cannot describe how I felt while swimming alongside this incredible animal.
Over the next few days it was all shooting and some snorkeling. We shot at Waterlemon Cay, Denis Beach, Trunk Bay, Drunk Bay, Salomon Beach, Cinnamon Bay and other beautiful locations. There was one roadblock during our trip when Kevin decided to chuck his only camera into the water like a baseball. I’ll let him explain.
Overall, this trip was one I will never forget. It is the most exotic place I have ever been.
KEVIN MCDERMOTT SAYS…
It was a particularly brutal winter this year in the United States, so when I got the okay from DNA to shoot Todd for his fifth cover, I ran two options past him. A snowy shoot at a cabin in the woods or b) a tropical island getaway. Guess which one he liked?
The US Virgin Islands are in the Caribbean east of Puerto Rico. The main islands are St Thomas, St Croix and St John. Sixty percent of St John is protected land, in its natural tropical state without development – the perfect setting for Todd to run around with little or no clothes on. Actually, running around naked is illegal on the islands, but we wouldn’t let a little thing like that slow us down.
The first thing that struck me arriving at
I saw one leg of my tripod collapsing and the camera plunging toward the water in one of those slow-motion moments.
St Thomas was the heat. Todd, hair freshly buzzed and sunglasses on, emerged from customs and we were ready to begin the adventure. We loaded our jeep and hightailed it to the dock for the car ferry to St John.
With warm breezes blowing through our hair (alright neither of us have hair, but you get the idea) we had a beer and admired the beauty of these groups of green mountainous isles in turquoise waters. Todd and I have become very good friends since our MOTEL | HOTEL shoot three years ago and despite a cool exterior, I can tell when he is excited. With this tropical paradise before us, I could see he was happy.
Once on St John, we drove to the Concordia Eco Resort at the far side of the island, which seemed as far away as I could get from the Chelsea neighborhood I left that morning. As the sun set over the ocean, Todd and I had dinner and planned our shoot.
Before dawn the next morning, we were up and started down to Salt Pond Bay. This was our routine: up before dawn, a short drive and a hike through the woods to a beautiful deserted beach. Todd was in a bathing suit or in his new underwear line for DNA and then in nothing at all for our book.
On our second day, at the stunning Denis Beach, we had great morning shoot and did some snorkeling around the reef (Todd is a huge tropical fish geek). The water was warm and crystal clear. As we got out and dried off, I decided to take a few landscape shots. Todd walked to the water’s edge to take some selfies. I walked to the water’s edge, planted the tripod and took a shot of him and then turned the camera toward the distant small islands. All of a sudden, a black bee, the size of a baseball, came flying out of the palm trees and buzzed around my head. I did a quick turn around and a hand sweep across my face to get the bee away. And as I turned, I saw one leg of my tripod collapsing and the camera plunging toward the water in one of those slow-motion moments. I reached down to grab it as the camera splashed into the water. I swooped it up, but too late. No power. I took the memory card out and it appeared dry. I was in shock. What to do? Here we were on a remote island far from civilization and my camera is dead.
We had two more days and a lot of money invested in this shoot. At our favourite lunch spot, The Tourist Trap, our waitress Cheryl told us there was no camera store on St John, but there was one on St Thomas in a large shopping mall near the port where the cruise ships dock. We called the store and they had the camera and the lens in stock. Hopping back in the jeep for the long trip back to St Thomas, Todd joked that there was, in fact, no bee and that I had simply been overcome by his beauty and dropped the camera. I appreciated some comedy at this point.
Five thousand dollars later, we were back in business and the rest of the shoots went smoothly: days filled with sun, sand, surf and skin. Enjoy the photos here and if you want to see more of St John (and a lot more of Todd), check out our next coffee-table book, Virgin Island. www.virginislandbook.com