Aaron Riveroll | Photographer

As you know, I love behind-the-scenes videos of photo shoots. I just recently (accidentally) stumbled upon a website with a crap-ton of music videos, model videos, and behind-the-scenes videos. Actually, a video that I shot a while back ended up on the site… And I started perusing and couldn’t stop. Definitely check it out if you like hot girls and behind-the-scenes videos.

Model Invasion

So I know I am a few months behind in posting this, but I just got around to editing and finishing this video.

Back in June, I had the pleasure of shooting with model and Hooters girl Jenna Mondello. Total sweetheart. When she hit me up to take some photos for WestCoastHooters.com July girl of the month, I was totally stoked. I had the opportunity to meet and shoot with Jenna during this year’s round of bikini pageants and hang out during her Hooters Calendar photo shoot. Let me just say she’s a lot of fun! Definitely be looking for her in the 2013 Hooters Calendar!

But in the meantime, check out our photos and video…we definitely got some great shots.

And my buddy Zack was on location to shoot some behind-the-scenes video. Enjoy!

Photo shoot with Jenna Mondello from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

So models these days seem to be all about the behind the scenes photos.

Whether it’s snapping a shot in the mirror, grabbing one of my infamous Blue Steel shots, or grabbing some of the posing madness.

I have to admit I love behind the scenes photos and videos of my shoots.

Here are some things to make them look better.

And here are some links:

• Zacuto Zgrip iPhone Jr.
• Some of my behind the scenes videos

So couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to shoot with one of my favorite people, Thao. She was in town and got a suite at the Hard Rock Hotel downtown, so she hit me up to shoot.

We got some amazing shots…but I was also able to shoot a little bit of fun behind-the-scenes video. My new Konova K5 slider came in the mail, so this was the first opportunity I had to really use it. I’m pretty impressed with the quality of the shots I was able to get. Let me know your thoughts. :)

So, I found a few seconds in my hectic day to blog about a little something. A lot of people think that one of the most basic shoots you can do here in Southern California is a beach shoot. And quite frankly, it is pretty easy to head out to the beach shoot a gorgeous bikini model. But there is a little bit more that takes place behind the scenes… And the key to getting great shots is being prepared. Even if that means a little basic homework beforehand…

Here’s a little video I shot at the beach a while back on what I do to get prepared for a beach shoot, weather-wise.

Here are some links to some of the things I mentioned:

• Oakley Surf Report
• The Weather Channel
• Surfline.com

For someone who doesn’t like change, I sure do like changing things up a lot. I can remember when I was younger, I used to redecorate my bedroom every few weeks…I would move the furniture around, move stuff around on my shelves and my walls…a complete transformation. I don’t embrace change, but I do like trying new things out.

A few weeks ago, I was shooting with my homie, Monica Renée. About halfway through the shoot, I started to get bored. I say that in a good way, of course… Monica is amazing to work with and I knew we were getting awesome shots… it’s just that I felt like trying something new. I was inspired.

Most the time, when I shoot on the beach, I use a combination of artificial light and natural light. I use the natural light as a secondary light source, positioning it as a rim light. I use my strobe as the main, or “key” light, positioning that in front of the model. However, those of you who shoot with natural light know about the “golden hour” and how the sun is in a sweet spot around that time. The light is soft and warm…but, it’s also low enough to the horizon to act as a main light source and not create any funky shadows.

On this particular day, I flipped Monica around, shooting towards the shore and away from the water, using the sun as the key light. To add a little “something special” to the shot, I added a little artificial rim light. I placed my strobe directly behind and to the left of Monica; the strobe was modified with a diffused beauty dish. To add a little bit of “warmth”, to the strobe I added a yellow gel directly to the middle of the beauty dish. The effect was subtle…but I think we got some pretty awesome shots. Here’s the diagram:

And here are some shots of surfer girl, Monica, using this lighting setup…

I always encourage people to try and see things a different way and to not be afraid to try new things. And when I say “people,” that includes me as well. :)

It’s officially spring…and that means spring cleaning.

I always get myself into trouble because when I do actually get into these spring cleaning moods, I start finding old pictures, CDs, letters, and a bunch of other stuff and before you know it I’m doing a little more reminiscing and a lot less cleaning. It’s not a rare sight to see me reading old letters while sitting in the middle of a pile of crap. :)

Well, I was over at Ennis’s place today and he came across some old behind the scenes footage we had shot while shooting our homie Candace…almost TWO years ago! It was the first time we had shot with Candace…and we got some pretty sexy sunset shots together (click here to see the shots).

But I threw this video together from the footage we found…hope you like. :)

Photo shoot with Candace from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

So I just noticed that it’s been like two months since I’ve updated this thing. Good grief! Well, I do have excuses, but honestly, do you want to hear em? lol

Anyway, I have been ridiculously busy the last two months shooting Hooters calendar submissions…so while you may have missed my witty prose the last several weeks, at least you get to look forward to checking out some hot pics of beautiful Hooters girls. :)

So, I think we are going to kick things off with two of my favorite Hooters girls…and two of my favorite people ever…Tanya and Camille from Hooters of Mission Valley.

We decided to shake things up a bit and shoot in Ocean Beach…and we had an amazing sunset too….

We also had a chance to do a little behind the scenes video, so check that out too. :)

Photo shoot with Camille and Tanya from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

I recently got to shoot with the “Luscious” Elle Navarro. :)

She was in town visiting friends and family and called me up to shoot. So we met up at my buddy’s pad and did a quick and sexy pool shoot.

Mostly used two lights for this shoot: a strobe with a softbox and the ringflash. The ringflash, yet again, makes for a great rim light as well as a main light. Especially on a bright day.

And Elle, as always, looks amazing. :)

Photo shoot with Elle Navarro from Aaron Riveroll on Vimeo.

Megan Daniels is one of the coolest girls I’ve had the pleasure of shooting with. She is absolutely gorgeous! We had a blast shooting in my friend’s backyard a while back…and had some great weather to work with too!

The thing about Megan is she can pull off the soft and pretty look and then up the ante with the sexy bad girl look.

For the lighter pictures by the pool in her blue bikini, I shot open aperture, two strobes on low, and scrimmed her to let a lot of the light soak in.

For the harsher-lit shots, I closed the aperture and bumped up the power. I didn’t use more than two lights the entire shoot.

The thing about shooting mid-day is you have to play with the light that you have. Beat ‘em or join ‘em. If you want to beat ‘em, you have to have high powered strobes to over power the ambient light. If you want to join ‘em, you have to have light controlling devices like reflectors, scrims, and other such mods. But the fact is, you can get great results both ways and change the mood of an image entirely.

You gotta love a hot girl in a teeny, weeny bikini. :) Looking forward to working with Megan again soon…so stay tuned. :)