I’ve said it once and I will say it again…sometimes, you have to work really hard to get the shot…and I think these are the best kinds of shots. I love the shoots that challenge me.

Headed out to Cardiff by the Sea last weekend to shoot with two of my favorite ladies, Emily and Natalie. We set out to do some fashion/lifestyle stuff…and if it’s something you don’t shoot a lot of, it can sometimes be a struggle. It’s at these times you realize that going through the motions isn’t going to work. It makes you think a lot more about composition, lighting, and all those things you sometimes take for granted when you are doing the same old thing. And honestly, I love it. I love being challenged and thinking a little more than usual. It makes my head hurt, but I love it. :)

These shots were taken at a park near Em’s place…and the totally hot wardrobe are some hot pieces by my gorgeous friend, Elisabeth King.

After shooting at the park, we headed out to Swamis in Encinitas for some sunset beachyness. And even though we got there a little late, we did get some super sexy evening shots…

We always have fun shooting…the next challenge is coming soon, so stay tuned. :)

Now that I have the time, I finally went through some old stuff and put together the behind the scenes video from my shoot with Mallory Clark this past summer.

It’s a little shakey…but she’s so hot, I think you can overlook that. :)

Photo shoot with Mallory from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

With Christmas just a few days away, just wanted to share some holiday goodness with everyone. Recently, had the opportunity to shoot with my good friend, Casie, and as always, we had a blast and took some pretty pictures…

After finding out about my obsession with hot boots, we decided to shoot a little bad-assness too…

Stay tuned for more sexy stuff coming in the new year! oh-ten baby!

I go through these cleaning sprees which involve taking out all the crap in my closet and throwing away garbage I haven’t looked at in years. I ALMOST threw away this whole entire binder filled with school papers when I saw the top paper was an article I had written for my conducting class. Reviewing a conducting article entitled A Portrait of Successful Directors, I realized a lot of the points the writer made paralleled what makes a successful photographer…and a successful anything, for that matter.

I thought I would share some of the points here since they are topics I have been talking about with other photographers for the past couple weeks.

No links or notes for the show…but hope everyone has an awesome Christmas this week. Ho, ho, ho!

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Or you can download the episode here.

Holy crap, this is too cute not to share…

So, I have a lot of things in the works…I’ve been busy planning over the past week on things that need to get done…I’ve been working on a slight rebranding, a business plan that is going to involve some new things, and a possible redesign of my web site. Also, a much-needed and DEFINITE redesign of my portfolio.

Learned some things…and these things confirmed what I already knew…the portfolio has got to go!

I’ll be fixing it up all nice and purdy over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

And while you’re at it, listen to the show…

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Or download it here.

And while you’re at it, you might want to take a look at some of the cool stuff mentioned in the podcast…

• For instance, the web site of commercial photographer Nick Onken.
• Or you may want to pick up a copy of The Photographer’s Survival Guide: How to Build and Grow a Successful Business
• And finally, you should really give the new Broken Fingers album a listen over at MySpace or ReverbNation (search Broken Fingers)