Here are a few shots of one of my favorite people ever, Monica Renee…and some stuff I learned from the shoot. :)

First, be prepared for the unexpected. Pros are able to get the job done with what they have and what they know…and are able to roll with the punches.

And, speedlights work in a pinch. :)

Here is the podcast…

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Or you can download the episode here.

And here are the pictures. :)

Obviously if you are a fan of the movie Zoolander, you know what Blue Steel is.

Or is it Magnum?

I love the fact that I get recognized for my infamous and ridiculously good-looking photographs…I love that models can rock the Blue Steel with me. Last night, as a matter of fact, I had a mom come up to me (seriously, this isn’t a mom joke…) and tell me she recognized me from a blue steel photo I took with her daughter, who is a model. :)

But how did it all start?

I have to say it was back in college when the roots of this phenomenon started to take shape…

I think it was around the time my buddies and I started frequenting the Mission Valley Hooters. Now, it’s common knowledge that a dude can’t take a picture with a hot girl and not end up looking like a total dweeb. Seriously dudes, have you ever seen a picture of yourself taken with a gorgeous girl and thought to myself, “Damn, I look good!” It can’t be done. It’s humanly impossible.

Unless, of course, you’re Derek Zoolander.

But I have yet to see a picture of a guy and a hot girl where the guy looks half-way decent. And Hooters is famous for their ridiculously hot ladies.

I had my picture taken back in college with the Ikki Twins. Now, if you know who the Ikki twins are, you know that they are RIDICULOUSLY hot. So ya, multiply that by 2 and divide that by the square number of Aaron-Looks-Like-A-Jackass and you pretty much see my point.

:/

So I started making goofy faces in pictures with hot girls since, well, I already looked goofy anyway, right? And that goofy look, my friends, developed into the Blue Steel look.

I honestly think Derek Zoolander stole the look from me as I was doing it way before he was. He was just more ridiculously good-looking than me…

But what really started it all was I was sitting in the Pacific Beach Hooters visiting my friend Stevie (notice how the epicenter of all things great just happens to be Hooters?)…and I thought to myself, “Self, I think I should make it my life’s work to Blue Steel it up with as many people as I possibly can.” To be a Blue Steel whore, if you will. So right there in that restaurant, my journey began…

And that, my friends, is the story. Pointless? Yes. But if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be an Aaron Riveroll story, now would it?

Here’s a short little clip from yesterday’s photo shoot with Mallory.

One of our sets was a cute little pin-up look in Mission Beach. :)

We like to be friendly to everyone here at AaronRiveroll.com…so if you are viewing the blog on your iPhone, Android phone, or other mobile device…you’re probably noticing a slight difference. :)

I spent a little time this afternoon installing a mobile WordPress theme on my blog today…so if you’re on the go and out and about as much as I am and want to keep up with the nonsense or look at pictures of beautiful girls, then you can definitely do so. It’s totally easy to follow the blog, my Twitter, and to leave comments too…so I definitely think you should. All the cool kids are doing it. :)

Hope you enjoy the mobile theme…I have to admit, I think it’s pretty sweet. :)

This past December, I got to work with Bikini Team San Diego in putting together their 2010 swimsuit calendar. It was an intense two days of shooting in downtown San Diego. I think we had something like 16 models in front of my camera those two days…but we had a BLAST shooting. And of course, all the ladies were sweet and sexy as heck.

I haven’t been able to post the photos…but you are able to check them out on their web site at bikiniteamsandiego.com. You can also purchase calendars and posters, which I definitely encourage…because they are HOT. :)

My buddy, Thuy Tran, was on-site with us assisting and I asked him to bring along his Nikon D90, which shoots HD video. It was his very first time shooting video at all, and needless to say I was impressed…with his shots as well as the footage that the D90 captured. I think it has inspired me to delve into the world of HD video on a dSLR. Oh, the possibilities. :)

Anyway, check out this 5 minute video highlighting the shoots we did…

Photo shoot with Bikini Team San Diego from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

Last summer, I shot the swimsuit issue for Revolt In Style magazine here in San Diego…and even though all the ladies were incredible and the locations were stellar, one of my favorite shoots from the issue was with my buddy, Casie Kimball. The weather was a little weird that day, but if you can remember from my OTHER behind the scenes of the behind the scenes video, it was still an awesome shoot. Casie was breathtaking…the suits we had her in were killer. As a matter of fact, when I drove out to Birdrock Bikini to meet Case, my jaw hit the floor as she walked out in that turquoise bikini. And we had makeup artist extraordinaire, Marisol Garcia, doing makeup for us that day and my talented pal Kyle Karges rockin’ the video cam.

An amazing team to work with…and a super fun shoot.

Kyle cut this little video out from the DVD he produced for the shoots so I could share it with the world, so a HUGE thanks to him for providing this clip.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy watching us photograph the beautiful Casie Kimball with the gorgeous La Jolla backdrop.

Casie – Swimsuit Video from Kyle Karges on Vimeo.

Videographer: Kyle Karges; Jonathan Fraser, editor
Music: Kill the Snake by Spero Lumina
Makeup: Marisol Garcia

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.

A few weeks ago, I got to shoot with one of my favorite go go dancers…the totally adorable Tiffanie Damian.

Not only did I get to shoot with her once…but I shot with her twice in one week.

We started around her pad…did some sexy fabulousness…

…then a couple days later, we splashed things up a bit and shot in a fountain near her apartment. Lighting the fountain was a fun adventure…and I’d be lying if I told you I stayed dry during the shoot. But no…I jumped in the fountain too. :)

Got a little video too…check it out…

Photo shoot with Tiffanie Damian from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

For the nerds out there, this is how we lit it…a medium softbox on a c-stand just to the right of the model…and on the back, a gridded, diffused light on the model. We also played with our new toy, a Matthews light clamp…which let us double mount two lights on one stand…so we splashed a blue gelled light on the back wall for a little color.

When I first started taking pictures, I had just got my first job right out of college at a bank. We worked long hours…and I can remember looking forward to summertime because the days were longer…and the sun was still out when the work day was over.

More time to play outside. :)

After work, I remember trying to get to the parking lot as fast as I could so I could get to the beach before the sun went down. At the time, I lived in Point Loma…about 4 minutes away from OB…so on the way home, I’d stop by the beach, toss off the shoes…and take in the sunset. It was a great time to unwind and enjoy the view.

I’d bring my camera along sometimes and try to capture the “perfect” sunset. But I soon realized that there was no such thing…they were all pretty amazing.

But sunset is my favorite part of the day…where hectic schedules and to-do lists and everything else from the crazy day downshifts into the slow rhythm of evening.

As a photographer, I’ve sort of been typecast into the “bikini/swimsuit/sunset guy.” I mean, I take pictures of other stuff…you and I both know that…but the swimsuit stuff is what most people know me for and what most people want to shoot with me.

And you know…I’m okay with that. I mean, I get to spend time at the beach with amazing people while taking in one of the coolest things God’s created. And after everything is done…I get to relive those times in photographs.

Tonight, I got to spend time with Emily…one of my most favorite people. We went up to Swamis up in Encinitas to shoot some beachy bikini stuff. When we got there, it was a little chilly and a little cloudy and grey…but we started shooting anyway…and all of a sudden, the clouds parted and the sun started to peek out from behind the clouds. This is what we got…

Who could ask for more? A beautiful sunset…a beautiful girl. Nothing could be better. :) A local surfer agreed…and as we were getting ready to wrap up, he said, “You have this amazing San Diego sunset and this beautiful girl…you should do some shots with a surfboard.”

So he handed us his board and we took a few So Cal surfer shots…

Definitely good times with Em.

I had a fun shoot with my pal, Kaitlin this week. The weather is starting to clear up a bit…and since we had some shizz we needed to shoot, we planned a little afternoon sesh.

Except, she upped the ante a little bit and went bikini shopping right before she came out…and she showed up with this hot little blue Diesel bikini. So…I took pictures of her in it:

Also, we took a little video as well.

Photo shoot with Kaitlin from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

Now, I guess this place is as good as any to mention my new toy…I’ve had it for a couple weeks, but only been able to put it to the test most recently…

Upon the suggestion of my best friend, Brian…I went out and got a Flip Mino HD.

Now, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, the Flip is one of the world’s smallest camcorders. About the size of a cell phone or iPod, the Flip fits in your pocket. I totally agree with the thought that the best camera is the camera that’s with you…and with the Flip, you can always be ready to roll video.

Ahem…HD video, to be exact. It records in 1280 x 720 video resolution. The one that I have holds about an hour, or 4 GB worth of video…perfect for snapping clips here and there. And it encodes video in H.264 MP4 format…ready for editing, or uploading a quick clip directly to YouTube.

So far….I LOVE it. I carry it with me all the time. It’s great to have in my camera bag too for impromptu moments during photo shoots. Still getting used to motion and getting smooth video…but it takes practice.

And, so far I’ve talked two of my friends into getting one…one being a pro photographer…and the other, being a pro HD videographer. Once he had it in his hand, he said it felt great…and the quality was just enough for those short, quick moments.

So there is my product endorsement. If it’s good enough for a pro HD videographer…the Flip is good enough for me. It’s gets the job done…like Bacardi and Cola.

Anyway, enjoy the photos of Kait…more soon!!

Wow, I’m a slacker. :)

I shot with Darrce Grace several months ago…and I’m just now sharing these with y’all. :)

Darrce is a supa-sexy go-go dancer and model here in SD…and of course, we got our shoot on at the beach…

To go with these lovely pictures, we shot a little video as well.

Check it, yo…

Photo shoot with Darrce Grace from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

Another fabulous hottie that I’ve had the pleasure of photographing recently is Tawnya. She’s another one of my Mission Valley Hooters girls…and again, I met her when I shot the Rancho Bernardo Hooters bikini contest last year. She was a finalist along with Natalie, who I got to shoot with a few weeks ago.

Tawnya is smart, funny, a little on the quiet side…but she has this confidence about her that makes her oh-so-sexy. We had a blast on our slightly chilly beach photo shoot…and here are a few pictures from the day…

Again, to share a little technicalness to the shoot, I always try shooting a variety of different styles during shoots for a number of reasons.

For one, power. I’ve sadly noticed recently that my Vagabond II is not holding the charge like it used to…which means it’s time for a new battery. A way to prolong battery life during the shoot is simply to shoot on a lower power setting, saving the power for later in the shoot when overpowering the sun is more of an issue.

To compensate, I’ve been challenged to use other methods of lighting…reverting back to my days where I used only a reflector. I had forgotten how much I LOVE natural light sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m not a purist. I think artificial light is dandy and can be amazing…but natural light should never be overlooked…and can sometimes be more amazing than artificial light when done right.

Also…and this is one of the awesome side effects to using different lighting methods during a shoot…the model ends up getting different styles of photo. Changing up light, location, clothing, and style really gives the client a variety of different looks…it ends up looking like the product of several different shoots…and ultimately gives you and the model variety and shows your versatility as an artist. So there you have it.

Some of my favorite shots from the shoot were the bright, natural shots of her in the white bikini…which was achieved by placing the light opposite of the sun, turning down the power, and shooting with a more open aperture. This blurs and blows out the background, making her the central focus of the shot. This also softens the image as well.

So there you have it. Anyway, Tawnya was a lot of fun….and we have an indoor shoot in the works, so stay tuned for that.

More later, folks!!

Last week, Revolt Magazine released its annual swimsuit issue, of which I was fortunate to be a part of. This year, Ennis helped out as a second photographer…as well as my good friend and videographer, Kyle Karges…who produced a kick-ass companion DVD.

A few shots…

First, our cover…with the gorgeous Sarah McDowd…

My good friend, Lara Hardy…

The beautiful Emily Deyoung…

And our Ten on 10 and centerfold, Casie Kimball…

The behind the scenes video is on sale now and is available on DVD as well as iPhone format. Shot in stunning high definition, the video highlights beautiful swimwear, cool San Diego locations, and of course, our gorgeous models.

Check out the promo video and order your copy today!!

So for the last week and a half, we have been shooting the Revolt In Style Magazine swimsuit issue, which is due out next week. We photographed seven BEAUTIFUL ladies in and around San Diego and had a blast. There were challenges getting everything together…but in the end, it all worked out…and the finished product should be amazing. :)

New this year, I brought in my buddy, Kyle, to shoot some behind the scenes and he’s putting together a DVD that we are planning on selling at the issue release party this Friday at Anthology. He just shot me over a brief clip…and I have to say, it’s pretty amazing. Shot in stunning High Def, Kyle and his second videographer, Billy, got some amazing footage of our amazing models.

I would be slacking if I also didn’t give a shout out to my buddy, Ennis, for being a second shooter on the project. I had a lot on my plate…and Ennis, as usual, was there to get the job done and get some amazing shots.

Last Thursday, we shot with my pal, Casie…and she was the last girl to be photographed as we went to print the following day. But Casie and I always have an amazing time shooting…and this time was no different.

I brought my Flip out to the shoot and shot some behind the scenes of the behind the scenes…really, it’s only a teaser compared to the stuff Kyle and Billy shot. But it’s fun…and Casie is so cute. :)

Photo shoot with Casie from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

And here’s our Blue Steel shot…

Be sure to check out the issue of Revolt later this week.

Had an AMAZING photo shoot yesterday in Laguna Beach with my foxy friend, Emily. She was absolutely stunning…the weather was amazing…and the sunset was perfect. Couldn’t have asked for a better day. :) I even rocked the OC collar pop. ;)

My buddy Kyle came out and shot some ridiculously hot video of the shoot, which of course I would love to share with you.

Check it out…

Behind the Scenes with Aaron Riveroll and Emily! from Kyle Karges on Vimeo.

Here are a few shots from the shoot…

And, our blue steelage…