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Kyle Freeland and a few of his Rockies teammates braved blinding sunlight and 40-to-50 mph wind gusts -- on their day off, no less.

Modeling can be a hard day’s work. Well, it was a hard hour’s work. But toughness leads to beauty. On May 19, Freeland, fellow pitcher Germán Márquez, utility man Connor Joe and second baseman Ryan McMahon drove an hour to Loveland Pass to join about 12 members of the Rockies' photography and social media groups to shoot video and still pictures for Friday morning’s reveal of the Rockies’ new Nike City Connect uniform.

Outfielder Charlie Blackmon also posed for an individual studio photoshoot.

The process was somewhat clandestine. The uniforms were under a strict embargo. So the shoot took place at just under 12,000 feet above sea level – about a fourth of the way up -- secluded in the dazzling Rocky Mountain scenery. But the Rockies completed it a day before the region was hit with a late-May snowstorm -- one that would cause the May 20 date with the Mets to be postponed. The players and the intricate shooting equipment survived.

“It was fun,” Freeland said before Thursday night’s game against the Nationals. “It was really windy. But it was good. We got some good views up there, and they got some real good shots as you saw on social media today.

“It was pretty bright out. Wind was going. It was a challenge for us and the photographers. But we got it done.”

Freeland is from Denver. He knew what to expect. Not everyone did.

“We got up there and it was extremely windy – but beautiful,” said Joe, a San Diego-area native. “I had not been to Loveland Pass before.”

Setting an image for a city and a region can be serious stuff, judging by some of the uniform reveals in various spots. But, hey, these guys are playing a game. So you had ballplayers, snow and baseball bats.

Why not a little batting practice? Having the “ball” disintegrate into flurries on impact didn’t do much for launch angle statistics, but it brought some smiles from McMahon and Joe, who smashed snowballs into flurries.

“It was fun getting up there with the guys, getting up there in the snow, up at Loveland Pass,” McMahon said. “It was a good time.”

McMahon lauded Rockies team photographer Kyle Cooper and the various photography and social media crews for a final product that left the viewer with no idea of the wind challenges. Cooper said the players giving up their time for the shoot made it special, so those producing and shooting held the process to one hour to get them back to their downtime.

“So just having the photoshoot, getting the buy-in from some of the guys to go up there – we could’ve taken the easy road, put them on a green screen and put a mountain behind them – it was pretty cool,” Cooper said. “They gave up their off-day to come hang with us.”

The scenery was beautiful enough that Joe didn’t want to leave. So he didn’t, at least for a little while.

“I liked it a lot,” Joe said. “The shoot lasted just an hour. After it was over, I stayed at Loveland Pass and my dog [Ellie May, a boxer] and I played. So I made a day of it.”

The process also highlights the modern ballplayer’s role as a model.

During Spring Training, photo day is not just smiling for headshots and basic baseball cards. It's also when those video shots at the start of a telecast, scoreboard motifs and even some of what you see on video games takes place. A player who is expressive captures the audience.

Some who are objectively good at it may not know how good.

“I’m pretty terrible at it,” Blackmon said. “I don’t claim to be any good at that, but I somehow find myself in those situations sometimes.

“I’ve got the standard lean-on-your-bat poses.”

But who is the Rockies' Next Top Model?

“I think Connor Joe did a really good job,” Freeland said. “He looked pretty sharp. Good-looking guy. He might’ve won that one.”