Villa Days
Kate Kitten talks poolside chemistry, borrowed bikinis, and why the best shoots feel like a day off with a camera nearby.
Some shoots feel like work dressed up as play. This one was the reverse. Shot over a single sun-baked afternoon at a private tropical villa, this set finds Kate Kitten trading the usual studio backdrop for a lounge-and-linger pace ā pool tile, palm shade, and a rotation of triangle bikinis in every shade of a summer sunset. She shares the frame with a second model throughout, the two of them clearly comfortable enough with each other to let the camera catch the in-between moments instead of just the poses.
The location did a lot of the work on its own ā white latticed walls throwing hard stripes of shade, gold-toned carvings catching the afternoon light. But it was the wardrobe rotation that gave the set its rhythm: cream knit into pastel pink, then straight into string bikinis in hot pink and cobalt blue by the pool. “I love a shoot where the outfits tell their own little story,” Kate says. “Cozy and soft first, then full sun-and-water mode. It felt like an actual day, not just a set list of looks.”
Cat House Meow: This one’s a duo shoot start to finish. How does that change your approach compared to solo work?
Kate Kitten: You feed off each other. If she leans in, I lean in ā it becomes a conversation instead of me just hitting marks alone in front of a lens. Some of my favorite frames from the day weren’t even planned, they were just us reacting to each other in real time.
CHM: Any favorite moment from the day that didn’t make it into the “serious” shots?
Kate Kitten: We kept stealing each other’s sunglasses between setups. Completely unusable footage, but it’s what actually happened between every “real” frame you see here.
CHM: The poolside set has a totally different energy than the cabana shots ā more playful, more movement.
Kate Kitten: That’s the water talking. Once your feet are actually wet you stop thinking about posture and start just existing in the moment, and somehow that’s when the camera likes you best.
CHM: What do you want readers to take away from this set?
Kate Kitten: That confidence is contagious. Half of why this shoot works is that neither of us was competing for the frame ā we were just enjoying being in it together. That’s the whole vibe I want people to feel looking at these.
By late afternoon the light had gone soft and golden, the kind of hour photographers chase all day and rarely get handed for free. The pool sequence closes the set on exactly that note ā bare feet in the shallow end, wardrobe down to its brightest colors, both models loose and unbothered by the camera in a way that only happens once everyone’s stopped performing and started just existing in the moment together.
Behind the Velvet Curtain
A sneak peek at two frames reserved for Cat House Meow subscribers.
Kate Kitten’s next feature is already in the works ā expect a very different setting and a lot more attitude. This kitten’s just getting warmed up.
