Energy in Stillness: The Light Around Angel Pai

You know the light that hits Long Island City in the late afternoon? It’s not always bright, but it has this glimmering, almost magical essence that makes the whole city feel wrapped in a soft, beautiful cloud. We were up on a rooftop in the middle of spring, the Manhattan skyline lingering in the background like a shadow etched in detail. You could feel a quiet yet powerful frequency— something that grounded you while pulling you into its allure.

Then Angel Pai steps into frame wearing pieces from her Illumin Designs collection, each crystal intentionally handpicked from all across the world, each one carrying its own frequency. I’ve known her for many years and have journeyed with her from the playa dust of Burning Man to the waterfalls in the jungles of Costa Rica. She’s equal parts graceful, grounded, and purpose driven—a free spirit I’ve shared a thousand candid moments with. Within the snap of a photo, we naturally capture elegance.

As a cinematographer and photographer, I’ve always been obsessed with the idea that energy is the unseen language of a photo. Before the shutter ever clicks, there’s a transfer happening between the lens and the subject. I try to take pictures with intention—less about quantity, more about composition, meaning, and the story being told. Shooting Angel for this magazine cover was an energetic alignment born from years of friendship and trust.

Showing Up to Collaborate, Seven Years In

Every person in front of a camera brings a frequency, but with Angel there’s no warm-up. We’ve been friends for seven years, sharing everything from sunrises in Costa Rica to the chaos of Burning Man. I’ve watched her energy in a lot of different environments, and it’s never performative; it’s lived-in. This deep discipline and history is what makes our shoots feel so effortless and pure.

Angel doesn’t just arrive to be photographed—she comes ready to collaborate. Her intentionality and attention to fine detail are the same qualities that make her jewelry brand, Illumin Designs, one of the most sought-after among humanitarian leaders and spiritually minded creatives around the world. Her pieces are hand crafted, extensions of an inner desire to deliver purpose, love, and healing.

When the designer is also the model—and genuinely believes that each piece stands for clarity, alignment, and healing—the photo stops being just fashion and becomes a transmission.

It’s an Agreement, Not a Performance

So much of Angel’s life is driven by purpose: her humanitarian efforts with the United Nations, her advocacy for Asian representation, her acting, her public speaking, her collaborations. That entire history walks onto set with her. You can feel it in how she carries herself, how she respects the whole team, and how present she is.

Here’s what people often forget: a great portrait isn’t a performance; it’s an agreement. Angel understands that. She’s done the inner work and continues to give back to the world. When someone is that aligned, the camera doesn’t have to fight to find them. And when you know a subject as well as I know Angel, you can dive straight into the emotional core of the image.

On set, sure, we talked about light and angles. But we also talked about intention. We talked about Asian women in fashion spaces. We talked about how to show softness without losing strength. We discussed how one image can hold femininity, spirituality, and ambition all at once. That’s where the real photograph lives.

The Simple Lesson for Photographers

When you work with a model or subject who understands energy, shooting stops being a frantic “pose, pose, pose” session and becomes, “Let’s find that synchronized frequency.” Energy-aware collaborators aren’t just asking, “How do I look?” They’re asking, “What are we expressing in this moment?” That’s a completely different level of intentional image-making.

For those of us behind the lens, the lesson is simple: lighting is only half the story. The person in front of you brings their whole world—their beliefs, culture, ancestry, activism, and self-expression. All of that matters. If you don’t create the space to truly respect and honor that, your image will end up flat. It won’t carry the message.

Angel didn’t just show up to be photographed; she arrived with everything we’ve shared over the last seven years: the intentions, the purpose, the mission, and her spirit. When that kind of energy meets a New York rooftop, with the natural beauty of crystals glimmering toward the lens, you don’t just create a cover image. You craft a visual frequency born of deep friendship.