Behind the Scenes: The Story Behind This Image Of Ghia Vitale And The Unicorn Inflatable

One Magical Moment

By Christine Sloan Stoddard

It was a scorching August afternoon in Long Island the day I met Quail Bell senior editor and writer, Ghia Vitale, at her home. We had been discussing doing a photo shoot for months. The day had finally arrived and Ghia had ordered a vibrant red ensemble just in time. I also had an exciting offering. At the last minute before leaving my Brooklyn apartment, I scoped the hall closet and grabbed a box I'd never opened. It contained a unicorn inflatable I had probably bought three years ago. Though I vowed to use it in a photo shoot, I had yet to follow through on that promise. Watching Ghia as she applied her red eyeshadow and Miranda Sings lipstick to match, I knew that was about to change.

We left Ghia's house for the nearby beach. Then we suffered through the heat, working swiftly to minimize said suffering. Once we'd finally had enough, we went back to her house to rest. After hydrating and hanging out for a bit, we ventured to her backyard with props gleaned from her living room. I brought the unicorn, which I had huffed and puffed my way into inflating back at the beach. I also had yards upon yards of gold fabric. At some point in our improvising, Ghia got down on the fabric, which I had draped down a hill. She brought the unicorn to the ground with her, leaned back on it, and gazed adoringly at its big cartoon head. I knew I was about to take one of the shots that would make the whole day worth it. Often a photographer physically feels those kinds of moments. It is a satisfying sensation.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I've only edited a handful of the hundreds of photos I took of Ghia. But in the early editing stages, I already knew to look for that magical still of Ghia looking up at the unicorn with love in her eyes. I enhanced the colors and added a whimsical hot pink vignette for flair (not that it was lacking.) The end result was the photo you see featured here.