A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to shoot my friend’s engagement photos.
Aside from being a ridiculously good looking couple…my homie Casie and her beau, Jeff, are super cool and lots of fun to hang with. We spent some time right around sunset at Swamis in Encinitas. Not only did we get an amazing sunset, but we got some amazing shots too.
Congratulations to the happy couple!!
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to shoot with the AMAZING Heather Shanholtz.
Heather is a ridiculously sexy glamour model from Florida…and let me tell you, no one is more up for an adventure than she is. We headed out to Malibu for our shoot…made some friends along the way…and had an amazing time taking pictures. She is totally cool…and totally hot…all at the same time. :)
Anyway…definitely shooting again sometime soon, so stay tuned for that…but in the meantime, check out her site for more shots of her and all her latest publications and news: HeatherShanholtz.com
But before you go, check out a few shots from our shoot. :)
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.
A lot of truth here Aaron :) Just had a very similar experience when I was hired to do a portrait and they wanted it in a gym – I called 1 place and the owner was totally helpful, enjoyable and I think he enjoyed watching the shoot too. I’ll be sending him a gift card or something because we took up his kickboxing ring for about 20 minutes…It was surprisingly easy to get permission!
Megan Daniels is ridiculously beautiful.
Just sayin.’ :)
A while back, we had a super fun, last-minute photo shoot. Those kinds of shoots are so unexpected, but really are the most fun. And especially with someone amazing like Megan, they are soooo chill and laid back. I love shooting with amazing people and amazing friends….good times hanging out, shooting the shiz, and taking pretty pictures.
Amazingly, we did the shoot in some pretty small spaces…her dining room and back patio…it’s really pretty amazing where you can get amazing photos. And of course, when you have a gorgeous girl to take pictures of, they will be amazing. :)
Here are a few…
Pretty sweet work as always Aaron! Especially like the 3rd one, how you have the light raking across her back to highlight the curves.
Questions for you – for your back light, about how far away and what modifiers did you use? One of my recent shoots I was getting a good rim light on the hair and body, but started to lose it below the waist of my model. I didn’t use a modifier since I had the light directly behind her. Was thinking maybe I should have used a 2nd background light. (Or maybe I’ll try the ringlight as the rimlight next time…..)
Thanks so much Todd!!
In these shots, I think I used a bare reflector with a little bit of diffusion paper on the front. It’s probably a few feet away…it was actually sitting on the dining room table next to her. lol.
The trick is getting even light, so I totally understand where you’re coming from. You want to get the light a little ways away…but not too far away. Just enough to where the light disperses evenly.
A new toy I’ve added to the arsenal recently is a medium strip box. I LOVE it. I’ll be posting some pictures soon where I’ve used it…but noticed a HUGE difference in the way the rim light is shaped and thrown at the model…and it’s much softer too. It really is a cool tool to have.
I’ve got two of the foldable Alien Bee strip softboxes myself that I use in studio – I’m kicking myself now for not thinking to use it at that time on that location shoot.
I hate getting senile… ;-)
Again, getting back into the swing of blogging. :)
A few weeks ago, I shot with two of my favorite people in the world, Elle and Samantha. Cruised up to LA and shot at an AMAZING house in the hills. Elle had to bounce early, but before she left, we got some incredible shots in the backyard. There are lots of shots from the shoot to share…so stay tuned for those…but here are some shots to hold you over.
The bikini is a Pure Rodri bikini designed by the very talented and beautiful Pam Rodriguez.
I like what you’ve done to the look of you blog – I look through the feed but haven’t clicked through in a while and I must say it’s clean and inviting.
…and as always your photo’s are looking great. I like the plug for the swimsuit designer too. Nice add.
I’m neglecting the blog again…so here is a quick update with one of my all-time favorite ladies, Camille.
If you remember, I shot with Camille a while back for her Hooters calendar submissions…and I knew we had to shoot again. So we did. :)
This time, we took the hotness out to a ranch in Temecula, where we did some country themed shots. Nothing beats a girl in a bikini, daisy dukes, and not much else.
Lighting was pretty basic throughout the day…my basic two-light setup. I’m pretty surprised that the Vagabond stayed charged throughout the day running two lights off of it…but it did…and it was awesome.
And Camille was awesome too for trekking out to the country with me. :) We wrapped the day with a quick trip to Chipotle, which is our new tradition…so I hope we shoot more often. lol
We actually got a few other special projects in the works…but patience, my friends. In the meantime, I will leave you with a few shots from the day…
Simply incredible! What a dream shoot. BTW, do you bring a fan or was that a natural breeze? Or just great hairstyling?
Honestly, I think it was great hairstyling. Camille always looks amazing! We did have a nice breeze that day…it was a little warm out, but still nice. :)
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.
Awesome shots as always, Aaron. Never thought about using my ringlight as an edge/rim light. Was there a reason for using the ringlight as a rim light? How does the look differ from using a regular strobe for a rim light? Or was it simply a case of “it’s already in the right spot for it, let’s use it as a rim light” ;-)
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. :)
Nice work with Megan and great use of lighting to change the mood to match her look. What modifiers did you use on your lights?
Thank you sir!
Just softboxes on both lights. I think one of them was gridded. Kept it simple. :)
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…
[audio: adapt.mp3]
Or you can download the episode here.
And here are the pictures. :)
Great podcast and amazing shots as always, Aaron.
I try to always bring backups to a shoot – extra bodies, cards, batteries, flashes etc. – you just never know what you’ll run into on a shoot.
And I share your pain on the Alien Bees. Most of the time they rock, but there’s always that once in a while where they seem to have a mind of their own.
When you went to your speedlights, did you have any modifiers on them or did you work them as is? Whenever I use my 580s, I tend to shoot them with the Fong Lightsphere or the Lastolite Ezybox.
Thanks Todd!! Really means a lot!
When I work with speedlights, I usually use them with my Fong Lightsphere I find that it gives me a softer effect.
You can do amazing stuff with speedlights…but I don’t have to tell you that. :)
You never know what you are gonna get when Elisabeth and I shoot together. It’s like fireworks. :)
She is someone I REALLY look forward to shooting with…and can’t get enough of…but our shoots last like 5 minutes because we get the shot so quickly.
Well, 5 minutes is a little bit of an exaggeration. But it’s amazing how well we work together. She is amazing.
Our shoots are also pretty impromptu…so we met up night last November for a quick fashion shoot…and got some amazing shots. As always, I came with all of my gear in tow…and only used ONE piece of lighting gear: my newly acquired ring flash.
At the time, I hadn’t had the opportunity to use it, so I was pretty excited to test it out; not only as a ring flash, but also as another off-camera strobe. I was impressed with it’s versatility as well as the effects it could create. It instantly opened up a whole new realm of thinking, lighting, and scene creating.
I’ve had the the Alien Bees Ringflash for the longest time and haven’t really played with it that much. Maybe I’ll need to start working with it more often. Did you use yours with a modifier or just bare?
It really is a great light…as a main light or even a kicker light…
I mostly use it with the reflector that comes with it…however, I tried using it bare the other day because I saw another photographer using it that way and it worked pretty good. Not fully sure of the differences there…I’ll have to try a few more tests.
I’ve been wanting to get the moon unit..but I’m not fully convinced from the web site examples. Waiting to hear and see samples from some other photographers. :)
These two look like celebs in a national jeans/perfume/sweater ad. Love it! Ironically I was just about to message you a friendly and humble plea for some fresh blogness!
BTW – where is this bank vault I’ve seen in some of your shots? It is super cool.
-B
Haha!! Why thank you! They are definitely a very photogenic couple…and super cool people as well. :) I appreciate the props.
The vault is at the nightclub On Broadway in downtown. Apparently, I saw another photo taken with a similar background and found out that particular shot was a nightclub in LA…these places used to actually be banks and they converted them to nightclubs and kept the heavy vault accessories as part of the decor. :)
Cool. That is fun stuff!