photo shoot.

A few months back, an Indonesian friend of mine approached me and gave me the news of the universe.

She offered me to model in a Muslimah e-magazine in their community.

I was beyond speechless, I thought that was so nice of her :) She said the purpose of the magazine is to show the Muslim teenagers in Indonesia (female especially) that being beautiful doesn't mean exposing your skin. That even if you're a Muslim and covered up, doesn't mean you are not pretty or beautiful. She said the youth in Indonesia now have very different understanding as to being fashionable/pretty/beautiful doesn't allow you to be decent or covered up.

I think the purpose is so pure and honest. I, myself, sometimes really need reminders like that to stay true to my belief and faith; thank God for Islamic groups on Facebook and the many Islamic websites on net we can refer to anytime.
That's why I agreed to help her. 

Bad, bad choice. I can hardly model. As soon as the photographer said 'ready!' my face turned into something weird instead of smiling, I can hardly act like those skinny girls we see in magazines. It was so bloody hard, I now have renewed respect for them.

To make matters worst, I was rushing that day as I've just finished interviews and had to rush to prepare myself to the shoot and ended up wearing the wrong clothes and hijab, as you can see in the pictures.

Nice, Atil, first time photo-shooting and managed to ruin the experience. Pfft.
My friend didn't satisfied with the shoot and decided to have a shoot again this summer holiday. 

I might have to take smiling-in-front-of-camera class and pretending-to-laugh-happily class after this. Or risk making a fool of myself again.