Aaron Riveroll | Photographer

Okay, the title is a bit of an inside joke…

While we were doing this shoot, a drunk dude walked by the club and asked for a beer. Unfortunately, the club was closed so because he wasn’t able to get his beer, the dude told us to continue our shoot and that we were “so Hollywood.” Whatever that means. :)

Apparently Ally and I were just too damn Hollywood for him. Too much sexiness does that to you.

So, it had been about a year or so since I had the chance to shoot with Ally. Last year we had a fun beach shoot…so when she hit me up a few weeks ago for a shoot at Bar West, uh, hello…of course I was down.

We ended up shooting some super sexy swimsuits and some foxy fashion/casual stuff too for some submissions she has coming up. All in all, we got some killer shots…

Hopefully it won’t be another year before you see some pictures from us again.

In the meantime, enjoy these.

Photographers, we all have our dream photo shoots…models that we dream of photographing…people that would be amazing in front of our cameras. Ever since I picked up a camera and started shooting glamour and fashion, I’ve wanted to shoot with Jessica Burciaga. Call it a bucket list item, a dream photo shoot…whatever.

So needless to say, when Playboy’s Miss February 2009 called me up a couple months ago and said she wanted to shoot with me, I nearly passed out.

Okay, so I’m exaggerating a little bit. :) But seriously, I can now die a happy man.

Jessie and I met up in La Jolla on a gorgeous January afternoon…just days before my birthday. We wanted to do something a little more fashion-related…not just your typical glamour at the beach stuff. So, we set out to do just that. Her first look, which was a super cute teal Chynna Dolls crochet bikini, fit perfectly with the scene. I blew out the background a little and did my typical faded fashion look in post for a 70′s SoCal feel. Sorta dreamy, but totally sexy.

Second look was a red crochet one-piece that we set in front of the gorgeous sunset. It really set fire to the beach.

Our last look, as it was getting colder, was a simple pair of jeans. And no one wears them better.

All in all, it was an amazing shoot. Not only is she totally beautiful, she’s super sweet too. Thanks, Jess, for an amazing shoot!

My homie, Ennis Rios, was on location as well capturing a little video…so hopefully I will have that up soon to share as well.

Check out the pics here and on a post over at TheSmokingJacket.com.

And follow her on Twitter too. :)

It’s rare when I can go out on a shoot with JUST a camera and have it be so laid back that it becomes a “two friends hanging out” session rather than a photo shoot. Occasionally, we’ll take a picture here and there…but it’s an effortless sort of deal. In the end, we have some pretty awesome pictures…but we mostly just had fun hanging out.

Last week, I had a shoot just like this with my beautiful friend, Camille.

We spent the afternoon at Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, shared the sunset, and took some pretty pictures. With nothing more than a camera and no lighting equipment whatsoever, she lit up every single frame on her own.

It’s can be a challenge sometimes to use “natural light,” and to use it CORRECTLY…but it’s a challenge that all photographers should do now and then, even if they have all the lighting equipment in the world. Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE shooting high end glamour with strobes and gorgeous models. Knowing how to use lighting correctly is a challenge in itself…but I will always say there is something about taking a picture and being able to capture a great image with nothing more than a good eye and your camera. That’s where it starts.

It also helps when the person you are shooting is just so naturally beautiful. These shots I got with Camille are probably some of my favorite images ever. I hope you enjoy them too.

One of my favorite “sorta” recent shoots was towards the end of last summer…

Mary Cherry, aka VH1s Platinum, came down for a weekend visit…and when she hit me up to shoot, I didn’t hesitate to say, “yes!!”

We had some amazing weather…lots of people were out on the beach enjoying the beautiful sunshine…but we got some amazing shots and a killer sunset.

The last couple sets were by far my favorite from the shoot. Lighting was a little sexier and dramatic…and the colors of her outfits and the sky were pretty awesome.

Anyway, enough talk. Check out some of the hot shots from our shoot…

Also, check out Mary in the latest ShowGirlz Latina issue, which should still be on newsstands…and follow all the sexiness on Twitter at twitter.com/Vh1sPLATINUM

Just so you know, my affections can be bought with cupcakes. And my homie, Stephanie, must know this since she brought me some when we shot a few weeks ago.

Man, they were goooood too. :)

Anyway, back to the point of this post…I got a little distracted. :)

Stephanie is from Hooters of Burbank…and I was sooo flattered when she came down to La Jolla to shoot with me…especially since she had JUST returned from a trip to Florida. But as always, this gorgeous girl brought it and we got some amazing shots as always. With her gorgeous smile and adorable personality, she is definitely a ray of sunshine…and one of my favorite people. :)

Check out some of our favorite shots from the shoot…

So, I think I mentioned shooting with Janice Michele last October. Not only did we shoot some super cute themes…but she was awesome enough to score some awesome locations to shoot at up in her ‘hood.

We did a super sexy boxing theme at a local gym…and then we dashed over to a cute ice cream shoppe for more sexy pictures (Notice the extra “pe” in “shoppe” lol)

Anyway, our goals for the shoot were obviously cute and sexy…but also fun and colorful…and I think we definitely got the job done. ;)

Janice is an AMAZING model to collaborate with…and I am looking forward to our next shoot, which will be soon hopefully. In the meantime, check out these shots from our shoot…

Check out Janice’s Facebook fan page…and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/janicemichele

Another gal that brought her A-game during this season of Hooters calendar submissions was Shelley from Hooters of Riverside.

Shelley and I shot a little earlier in the afternoon, which brings about its list of challenges…including, but not limited to, harsh light and shadows. But we definitely made do with what we had and made it work to our advantage. In the shots with the gold bikini, I worked on getting a little lens flare and softer light to create a more “angelic” goddess-like look, which I think came out pretty awesome. :) And of course she rocked the red bikini and animal print bikini too.

Shelley submitted some of the shots to Axtion Magazine… so check out the issue here.

The totally hot swimsuits used in the shoot were provided by Crispy Bikinis.

Here are the shots:

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!

One of best, but painful, parts about watching American Idol is getting through the first several episodes. You know, the ones featuring the casting auditions around the country. The show’s ratings thrive on highlighting the not-so-great singers and their sour notes. But the sad thing is a lot of these people *think* they are really, really good.

I may not be American Idol status, but having gone to school for and trained in voice and classical music and having been a singer nearly all of my life, I can honestly say that I can carry a tune much easier than some people. I’ve tried singing off-key on purpose just for fun…and it didn’t work. Call it near perfect pitch or the result of having been trained all my life…it is hard for me to suck. :)

Well, the other day, I tried my hardest to suck. And I think I was successful.

Suck is an exaggeration. But I did try my hardest to make pictures look less than pretty. For a guy that shoots mostly polished fashion and glamour images, it’s hard sometimes to get that gritty, realistic, grungy look in photos. I appreciate photographers that have a polished gritty look when it comes to shots that are dirty, in a good way. :)

My buddy, Monica Renee approached me last week saying a UK-based magazine was in need of some images of her…so we set out to do some shots for them. We looked at their website and put together a shoot that would suit their style, which is more of a real, natural, and unpolished look.

In preparation for the shoot, we thought simple wardrobe was best…vintage tees, booty shorts, knee socks. We got some simple props for the shoot like some 45s and decided to shoot at my house with some crappy hand-me-down couches that I got from a friend of mine. I live with two other guys…so needless to say, our apartment is pretty crappy. :)

My thought process was also pretty simple; I was going to use one light to get the job done. Most of the shots on the magazine’s web site featured what I like to call “the boyfriend shot.” You know…shots that look like a guy with no photographic experience grabbed a camera and started taking pictures of his girlfriend…trading expensive lighting equipment for simple, on-camera flash and trading the studio for cheap furtniture in small living room.

I played with a couple different variations: first, on-camera flash. Then a speedlight on camera. I also tried a beauty dish right above my head. I ended up settling on the ringflash since the position of the flash was straight on and harsher than any of the other methods. All the others, including the on-camera flash, looked too “pretty” and professional. The ringflash looked pretty too, but I think it gave me the edginess that I was looking for.

In post, the editing was simple too…basic, but minimal skin retouching, and a few filters to add a little warmth, desaturation, and tinting for a vintage look

And here are the shots. Enjoy. :)

Also, check out Monica’s Facebook fan page when you get the chance. :)

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!