Aaron Riveroll | Photographer

No matter what we do in life, I think we all need to have some sort of reason or purpose for doing it.

Now, I don’t mean to get to all philosophical this early in a blog post…but I was just sitting around here thinking about a possible blog or podcast topic and this popped into my head…

As I sit here in my studio space, I can’t help but notice all of these magazines I have piling up. A lot of them are just because I like magazines with pictures of hot chicks…I mean, who doesn’t? But I couldn’t help but realize that I am published in quite a few of them. There’s something really cool about holding a publication in your hand with your work or seeing a photo that you took just chillin’ there in the public eye. It’s pretty cool.

Now, I understand not all of us have the fortune of being published like that (and believe me, I consider it a huge honor and fortune), but that aside, I think we should all have a purpose for doing what we do…and as a photographer, that means having a purpose for what we shoot.

Not all of us do this for a career. I know a lot of us do this for fun because we love photography and we love the art of creating something. But even if we do this for fun, it’s good to have a purpose or some sort of goal we are working towards. After doing this a while, I can honestly say that going out and shooting just for the heck of shooting is fun, but sometimes you get to a point where you are struggling to find a meaning behind it.

Not every shoot has to mean something. Sometimes we just need to pull our camera out of our bag and shoot something just for the sake of shooting. But it’s nice to have a purpose. Shooting commercial work and print work, sometimes it’s really easy to find something…you have a client that is directing your vision. You know what your images are for, where they are going, how they are going to be used. But you can still achieve the same result without having the backing of creative directors or clients.

Whether or not you have the ambition or desire to get published, push yourself to get publish-quality images. Develop projects with your favorite models and shoot it…maybe collaborate on a series or some sort of coffee table book. There are so many services out there where you can self-publish. Books, calendars…the list is endless. Or why not put together some images to submit to publications. At the very least, there are local publications that can use various forms of art work…and you’ll never know unless you put yourself out there. Or just simply take your photos to the local print lab and get some prints made up. Hang em on the wall…

I have several of my shots in my office and at my house…my buddy Mike Prado (Pradofoto) has work hanging all over his studio. Not only is it pretty to look at, it’s nice to have it displayed for clients and others to enjoy. Pictures shouldn’t be locked up…they need to be out for people to look at.

Or put them in a portfolio book. I don’t even know if people use these anymore, but I still have a print portfolio. I haven’t updated it in a while, but I still use it. Like I mentioned earlier, there is something cool about being able to hold a print in your hand.

With this move to digital, I think we have lost a little bit of the magic of actually holding one of your prints in your hands. It’s a totally different experience. Sure, digital is a great way to share your work with more people, but having your work in print is pretty special and even if your images aren’t for magazines, go and get some of your work printed out and I think you will enjoy it a little more.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that.

Happy shooting. ☺

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

Again, I am going to do my best to try and keep up with this blog thing. I swear I’m not a slacker!:)

Another recent Hooters photo shoot I did was with Chelsea from Hooters of Riverside. She came down to the beach for her calendar submission photo shoot and we got some amazing shots! More on that in a second. I have to just say that occasionally, I suck and make mistakes. Lord knows I ain’t perfect… :)

Now, I’ve mentioned several times that you can’t let the client know about your mistakes or screw ups. You have to know what you’re doing at all times, or at least LOOK like you know what you’re doing. And on this particular day, I had changed camera bags from my usual Crumpler shoulder bag to my DaKine camera backpack. I like the backpack better than the shoulder bag, especially when I’m doing a shoot on location or at the beach because it’s easier to carry all of my camera gear plus lighting equipment on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Crumpler shoulder bag, but it’s a little awkward and heavy. Like your mom.

Well, I had managed to get all of my essential camera equipment into the backpack…except for my CompactFlash cards. Dude, I didn’t even have one in the camera! At this point, everything was set up, but I had no memory cards and I was totally stressed because I had forgotten something so small, yet so essential. I had no idea what I was going to do! Chelsea was getting finishing touches on her hair and makeup and was pretty much ready to shoot. To drive back home and get my CompactFlash cards would have meant losing about 45 min. to an hour of shooting time…not to mention looking like a moron and making my model wait for me. I tried calling friends to see if they could run me out one of their cards, but reception on the beach is terrible and no one was answering their phone anyway. I told everyone I was going to run to my car for a sec…and as I was running back to my car I remembered something. The stereo in my car has the ability to play MP3s. And these MP3s were stored on CompactFlash card. I grabbed the card out of the player, ran back to the beach, reformatted the card, and was ready to go.

The moral of the story: don’t forget your CompactFlash cards. I was really really lucky that day. But don’t ever let your clients see you sweat either. Wear deodorant. :)

Now, about the shoot. I have to say that Chelsea was amazing to work with. For being her first photo shoot ever, she was pretty damn awesome. She definitely brought her A-game. I was totally impressed. You could tell in her attitude and conversations we had in preparation for the shoot that she was really serious about what she was doing. She went and hired one of my best make up artists for the shoot as well as getting a bunch of brand-new, super cute Chynna Dolls bikinis to shoot in. The end result were pictures that I can see definitely being published somewhere. Needless to say, we will definitely be shooting again soon!

Anyway, here are a few shots from the shoot. Hope you enjoy!

Gianna Mazzon, one of my good friends and homies, and I shot recently for some publications…and she also recently entered Playboy’s Miss Social contest.

Here’s one of the shots from our shoot…and info on how to cast your vote for her. :)

Stay tuned for more pics and video from the shoot. :)

Click here to vote!

Yesterday, I had a great shoot with model Janice Michele up in Oxnard, California of all places. Seriously…Oxnard? It’s pretty funny just saying it, ya? :) Anywho…I met some AMAZING people…and Janice is pretty amazing herself…beautiful, motivated, and super fun to shoot with. We got some amazing shots…which, of course, aren’t ready yet. But stay tuned for those. :)

But Janice reminded me of something yesterday that I thought I’d share with a lot of you photographers and/or models who are shooting portfolio content or fun projects. This could also apply to commercial work…but more often than not, when there is money involved, people want their cut. And that’s understandable. But this is more for those fun, personal projects or portfolio shoots.

So, a few years ago, I was out in my hometown of Ramona with my good friend Ennis and our friend Laura. We were planning on doing a “country girl” themed shoot and since I had spent most of my young life in this little country town, I thought it would be a good place to start. We scouted around for a little bit until we stumbled upon this farm, complete with hay, cows, and a few barns.

We drove up the driveway and found the owner and offered him a couple Andrew Jacksons if he would let us shoot there. His response was a pleasant, “Sure!” but it didn’t come without a brief look of confusion, as if to say, “why would you want to shoot HERE?” His daughter was helping tend to the animals and she offered to move bails of hay for us or get us anything we needed. It was pretty amazing how nice and accomodating these people were for a few random strangers who wanted to shoot on their farm.

But the moral of the story is this: it doesn’t hurt to ask.

A lot of photo portfolios have gorgeous models…all shot in the same location. To me, this shows that yes, you can take a good picture of a beautiful model…but do you have any creativity to make something different? Think outside the box? Make something that someone hasn’t seen before? Yes, I realize that many concepts have been done…but that doesn’t mean you can’t do them differently…and one of the ways to do that is by trying to find new and different places to shoot. For instance, I do a lot of beach photography. It’s pretty straightforward…and there are several different locations that I LOVE shooting. But it’s the beach. It looks pretty much the same no matter where you are…but there is so much beach to shoot at and when I shoot, I always try to shoot at new places along the way. One of my favorite spots in La Jolla, California, has about a mile or so of beach…and so I try to change things up once in a while by picking different spots along the stretch. You’d be surprised the way you can make the shots look different.

So yesterday, Janice wanted to shoot in a boxing gym. She had an idea for some super sexy and colorful shots. So she called up a local boxing gym and said, “Hey, I want to take some shots in your gym!” So the owner gave the okay and we made it happen. The guy that was running the gym was super accomodating and helpful and might be hiring me for some other shoots down the road. Janice also wanted to shoot some stuff in an old fashioned ice cream parlor. So…she found one in her town, called the owner, and asked if we could shoot there. The owner said “yes,” and we got it done. The girl behind the counter was totally sweet and basically helped us with anything we needed. She made us tasty ice cream cones for shoot props…and to eat, of course…and had her iPod going with some cool tunes too. :) When the owner came in later, he was super cool, loved the shots we took, and also may be calling for future work.

I learned that honestly, it really doesn’t hurt to ask someone if you can use their store, house, or even ice cream shop for a short, fun shoot. If you can get it done quick, fast, and in a hurry, most people don’t mind the small inconvenience…and may even enjoy watching the makings of some fun pictures. :) And when you think about it, what is the worst that can happen? They can say, “No.” No biggie. No harm, no foul.

But if they say “yes,” you’ve got a fun place to shoot something different…and you usually meet some really super cool people too.

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. :)

So, here’s another blog post about basically nothing. :)

I’ve pretty much been a blind four-eyes for as long as I remember…and I don’t think I really became completely cool until I got my first pair of prescription sunglasses.

This pretty much became a necessity when I started driving…and even though I would love to be able to buy and wear a normal pair of sunglasses, Lasik is a little pricey and contacts are annoying. There’s just something about shooting a laser into my eyeball or sticking a piece of glass in my eye. Both sound great in theory…but until you actually do it, it’s another story.

So instead, I opt for overpaying for a ridiculously expensive pair of prescription sunglasses. And because I want to be cool, I wear Oakleys.

Now, whenever I’m out and about, I carry them in this ridiculous steelish looking carrying case. People ALWAYS ask me what the case is since it looks like a bomb.

I assure you it’s NOT a bomb. Or a time capsule. Or any other futuristic device of mass destruction…

It just carries my sunglasses.

:)

Today was a lazy day. Last night, my pal London Andrews and her friend Tracy were in town modeling and needed a place to crash…so they crashed at my casa…after some pizza and a few crazy roommate stories.

Prolonging sleep as much as I could, I woke up mid-morning and we resumed crazy roommate stories, then headed to IHOP for a late breakfast/early lunch.

The strawberry pancakes were divine…and I enjoyed the fact that I was able to be sitting in an IHOP in the middle of the day. Who knows for how much longer. :/

I snapped this picture of London looking longingly at this palm tree just outside the restaurant on the side of the freeway. When I interrupted her gaze, she said it would be nice to sleep naked under that palm tree. I’m not going to disagree…but it might be hard to nap with all the cars whizzing by.

I was in strawberry pancake heaven. The only thing that would have made it better is if the pancakes were waffles. But alas, there is no IHOW…in a perfect world, there would be. And also, in a perfect world, London could sleep naked under that palm tree whilst I stuffed my face with waffles.

So, I just had to share this little gem from Brian’s blog…

Apparently, my best friend and his lady have stumbled upon this street in Ensenada.

Yes, it is my relative.

My great, great grandfather was quite the balla back in the day and owned quite a bit of property down in Meh-hee-coh. So yeah, I guess it’s pretty cool having a street named after me.

Well, not ME…but you know. :)

• Brian Mounts | Yo Riveroll.

I came across this on Facebook today…and I just had to share. It was one of those laugh-out-loud moments. :)