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As you all know, there was this amazing Shoot The Centerfold African adventure a little while ago and everybody keeps asking what on earth we did there. The time has finally come to reveal the first great photoshoot of our trip; a pictorial featuring Lana Petanic and photographed by Ales Bravnicar. “In my opinion,” says Ales, “Lana is one of the very best top models Croatia has to offer, which I photographed in what is said to be the land of the tallest sand dunes in the world.”

The preparation for this photoshoot took months – four to be exact – to produce and would have been much, much more difficult to make if it were not for the people who helped the STC team along the way. There were the permits, arranged by our friend, the Count (who has nine lodges in Namibia alone); the procurement of wild animals that had to be brought to the shoot by animal trainers; local guides, who willingly translated our needs to Herero (the language of the Himba people) and many, many more. I simply cannot thank everybody enough. One of the most important things when working in a wild, foreign place such as Africa – if not THE most important one – is a good team. Without a good team everything falls apart. Our STC crew was the best team a guy could wish for – everybody did their part and gave it 110%, even if it meant going completely out of their way to help achieving the common goal; creating the best pictures possible.

Jarmo’s skills and my location expertise blended in a seamless fusion of pure photographic pleasure says Ales. There was never a question, like, “Can I borrow your lens?” or “Will you hold a reflector for me?” – everything happened without the need to ask for it. Mary Alejo, who doubled as model and MUA, made Lana look spectacular and even Tina Brady (who models for Victoria’s Secret for a living and could have just been chillin’ under a palm tree watching everything happen) never even for a second hesitated getting her hands dirty. It was a dream team indeed!

My idea was to show the country in its full splendor; the legendary dunes, 1,000-year-old Acacia trees, beautiful waterfalls, dry basins reminiscent of lunar grounds, amazing rock formations, and the Himbas; whose women wear the traditional and iconic red body color and, just like women everywhere, go that extra mile to stay beautiful, even if it means smearing yourself twice daily with a mixture of fat and the powder of crushed red ochre stones

"IF YOU ARE WONDERING... YES, IT'S A REAL CHEETAH WE HAD ON SET WITH US."

The hard work paid off. Playboy Slovenia decided to publish Lana’s pictorial and several editions around the globe are standing by. I will post some more BTS material in the coming days, leaving you with a picture of a Himba woman in her native village smearing Lana with the trademark red body paint they use daily to look beautiful. We turned all our models into Himba women for a day and they loved every second of it!

Snippet from Cosmopolitan

Our trip to Africa is already making headlines around the world, including with our friends in the fashion world. Here is what the world famous Cosmopolitan webpage under the “Celebz” category has to say:

Lana’s dreams came true – she had wanted to visit Africa since she was a little girl. As a sign of gratitude, she dropped her clothes and showed why we desire an even tighter relationship with Croatia.

Lana enjoyed Africa just as she always dreamed; naked in the desert sun, exploring Etosha in a jeep, munched on zebra and antelope, walked through the eclectic Le Mirage castle in the middle of the desert and lived the adventure in a van.

The trip was straight out of a movie; the team brought 10 suitcases of equipment, some of which even strayed and did not return home from Namibia with them, just like the airline statistics say.

All the details coming up in Playboy August 10th.

Stay tuned for more…

www.ShootTheCenterfold.com