Photo by John G. BlairI do most of my beach modeling at Crystal Cove. It's really beautiful and isolated. We'll typically wait until sunset —there's not much time left, but you want perfect color. I've done a few sunup shots at the part of the beach near the park ranger station. Any time you go out for a shoot you need a permit. Usually the companies that sponsor the shoots take care of them, but sometimes they don't. The story the photographer and I usually give is that we're shooting for school. We have to keep it low-key without a lot of people. One time, this woman ranger kicked us off the beach. I guess she was offended at having women shooting in skimpy bikinis. Anyway, we waited until she left, and then we got a few more shots. But then she came back and was really pissed. That was in the morning. We ended up going to a park to finish the shoot. Then the cops showed up, but they let us shoot a few more pictures next to their car. They were really happy and let us stay. I mostly shoot for automotive magazines and swimsuit calendars. I've been doing this since high school. I started out doing hair shows and then just stumbled into modeling from there. Now I have my own website (www.cindypucci.com). I've done a few T&A videos, too. A few years ago, I appeared in a couple of Baywatch episodes. I didn't have any lines and was basically just a girl in a bikini walking on the sand. Basically, I was paid to sit all day on the beach. It was great. I did a video shoot last summer with another girl, the cameraman and the director. When the lifeguard came over, we told him we were videotaping for our vacation. The lifeguard bought it. These things happen all the time, and I don't really think about it. Sometimes I'll do a shoot in an area like downtown Huntington Beach at the pier on a Saturday. But the crowds of guys hanging around don't bother me. I just block them out and don't let them faze me. A lot of times tourists will come by, and I'll pose for their pictures. Sometimes cops will show up, but they just want pictures, too.
The best shooting I ever did was in Hawaii for some island girl calendar. We shot for a couple of days, all at sundown. It was gorgeous. But I never saw the calendar. Unfortunately, sometimes I never see the finished product.
I love the beach. I have to live by the water. I get freaked out every time I have to drive down Beach Boulevard past the 405—it's just too far inland for me.
—as told to Anthony Pignataro
