Fino's May bedroom event

True quality is timeless. Whether we are talking of a beautiful piece of furniture or a tradition that has been passed on from one generation to the next, it is easy to recognise the stamp of excellence.

The Maltese are renowned for being the best at what they do, a quality that is being highlighted beautifully when creating photo shoots for Fino monthly events.

Throughout these past months Fino photo shoots have celebrated the talents and successes of brilliant people hailing from a diverse range of professions. The concept honours Maltese tradition and culture at its best. In a departure from past photo shoots, which focused on art, wine and theatre, this month turned its attention to one of the oldest Maltese professions. Fino is focusing on the 'farmer' personified by Thomas Zahra. Thomas, also known as Majsi il-Gabillott, is part of one of the most crucial aspects of Maltese heritage - farming.

The location for the photo shoot was a field in Baħrija, within the limits of Rabat. The choice of topic provided an added challenge for the outdoor photo shoot and an exercise of this scale can never be expected to run 100 per cent smoothly.

One of the most difficult aspects of this shoot involved achieving just the right lighting, but thanks to a 40K generator, it proved to be easier than imagined. Transporting all the equipment and the furniture through a very narrow country pathway, on the other hand, turned out to be slightly trickier.

Working with Majsi turned out to be an interesting aspect of this photo shoot. The 64-year-old, who has been living in Baħrija all his life, still remembers when the whole village consisted of a mere three houses. Quite a difference from the bustling village of today. Farming has been the family trade for over 250 years, which translates into at least five generations.

The family started off with some 700 tumoli of land - sadly, today this has dwindled down to about a 100. Being the last of his generation, this land will probably end up being rented out. If Majsi has anything to do with it, however, this will not happen before a long, long time - in fact, although he is a pensioner he still works in the fields regularly and refuses to give up his passion.

Setting up the furniture on the farm was not simple, but within the space of an hour the team managed to create a stylish bedroom - with a double bed and two bedside tables - in the most unlikely of locations. Only the finishing touches were missing. Things started getting more exciting when Majsi turned up with his traditional plough. Although beautiful, it lacked a rather essential part: a mule to pull it.

Luckily, he managed to locate a motor plough just in time for sunset, when the sky started turning a beautiful blue that was just the right shade needed for the photos. Against all odds and despite the amount of people and complicated logistics involved, the team managed to pull off a stunning photo shoot in the short span of time between sunset and twilight.

So the stage was set for an unforgettable shoot which paved the way for another month of Fino events. This time round, as the theme suggests, this is Fino's May Bedroom Event. This month, there are some delightful offers on main and spare bedrooms. With hundreds of combinations and finishes to choose from, the choices are limitless.

Among renowned brands in its bedroom department are Rossetto, Tomasella, Ligne Roset and Europeo. One can also find Semaflex, specialising in mattresses and an assortment of lighting and accessories to make the bedroom... perfect.