Behind the Scenes with Cheryl Itamura

My Checklist

_X_ 1 slim backless beaded halter gown

_X_ 1 blood red velvet cocktail dress

_X_ 1 flesh tone dinner dress

_X_ 1 bamboo green spaghetti strap dress with white flower design

_X_ black 3″ heels

_X_ white 3″ heels

_X_ flesh tone sandals

_X_ makeup bag

_X_ print out of Google Maps directions

_X_ 2 ripe bananas

Everything is packed, checked and I’m ready to head to the photo shoot.

You know those photos, the ones in the glossy travel magazines — the ones that show happy couples sipping fine wines together on the deck of a perfect bed and breakfast inn in a secluded resort town enjoying the good life, perfect weather, crisp linens and bountiful arrangements of fresh flowers everywhere, and a water view of a tree lined river, with birds flying over head as the faint aroma of a gourmet meal made with locally grown organic produce being prepared by a classically trained chef wafts its way to a dinner party of good, close, extremely photogenic friends with shockingly bright eyes, pearly white teeth, fantastic smiles and eerily perfect posture, who in combination happen to match current marketing demographic trends, each with flawless skin, perfectly coiffed hair, and French manicures and pedicures (yes, even on some of the guys), wearing new Tommy Bahamaesque tropical shirts, ultra-cool over-sized sunglasses, and color coordinated everything, all of whom are discussing their upcoming golf trips and band gigs, the TV shows and theater productions they are currently working on, the movies they just completed, and where to party after the photo shoot is over – well, those photos are real.

It happens. It really happens — at least in Sonoma wine country it does.

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The photos from the aforementioned photo shoot taken on location at the Village Restaurant and Inn in Monte Rio, California along the Russian River, will appear on the website, in brochures and magazines, and in new promotional materials for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau beginning this fall.