If you know me, you know that sunset is the best part of my day. The tranquility, the colors, the mood, the tone…everything about the day – stress, problems, worries, deadlines, drama – seem to melt away like the sun melts into the ocean.

In today’s show, I talk about some tips and tricks for getting that perfect sunset shot with a swimsuit model. I’ve shot many-a-lady in front of the gorgeous sky…and I have to admit they are my favorite kinds of shots.

One of the photographers I mention in the podcast is Christopher Hartman. A genius when it comes to achieving a perfect light balance on his gorgeous models. Check out some of his shots here.

And here’s the show…

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And here are some pretty sunset shots I’ve taken…

So, I have a lot of things in the works…I’ve been busy planning over the past week on things that need to get done…I’ve been working on a slight rebranding, a business plan that is going to involve some new things, and a possible redesign of my web site. Also, a much-needed and DEFINITE redesign of my portfolio.

Learned some things…and these things confirmed what I already knew…the portfolio has got to go!

I’ll be fixing it up all nice and purdy over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

And while you’re at it, listen to the show…

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And while you’re at it, you might want to take a look at some of the cool stuff mentioned in the podcast…

• For instance, the web site of commercial photographer Nick Onken.
• Or you may want to pick up a copy of The Photographer’s Survival Guide: How to Build and Grow a Successful Business
• And finally, you should really give the new Broken Fingers album a listen over at MySpace or ReverbNation (search Broken Fingers)

I had a GREAT weekend…the highlight of which was a shoot with my pal, Sol.

After our shoot, we got to talking…and she got me thinking about what I love shooting and why it’s so important to shoot things that you like and the stuff that you’re passionate about.

Here’s the show:

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There are infinite numbers of ways to use the sun…

On this particular day of shooting, I tried 3 of those ways.

Here are some pretty pictures of Brianne…

Natural light, back-lit…

Natural light, front-lit, with reflector

And here are some with artificial light as my key light and a reflector as an accent edge light….

Some of the geniuses I talked about in the podcast…

• Nick Onken
• Andy McFarland

And here is the show…

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In this episode, I lament the end of daylight savings time…and talk about the pros and cons of using a tripod.

They are cool. Really.

Okay, maybe not. :)

But maybe we can overcome the uncoolness.

Here is the show…

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Here is the video we did up in the snow, in case you want to check that out.

My hot friend, Monica Renee, and her kick ass dude, Jason are a couple of THEE coolest people I’ve ever met. So, when they asked me to come up and do a shoot with J’s 69 Chevelle, how could I say no? I mean seriously…hot girl…sweet ride…automatically makes for some sweet photos. :)

So I headed up to Temecula for the shoot. Funny story…we had the cops called on us.

Now, it wouldn’t be an Aaron Riveroll photo shoot adventure if the cops didn’t show up…so we can definitely tuck this shoot under that category. But the cop (who was a lady) was a little confused as to why she was called since, after all, no laws were being broken. She gave us her blessing to continue our shoot…so we did.

“It’s not against the law to take pictures in your front yard in a bikini…” the cop informed us.

Tell us something we don’t know. :)

Monica even helped out by sharing,”My clothes have been on the whole time!”

The cop just sort of looked at us, not amused. :)

Anyway, it was fun…and we got some great car washing shots…but if you will notice, Monica got a tad bit wetter than the car did…actually, I don’t think we got even one drop on the car…

J’s uncle, Tim, was kind enough to let us shoot at his place…and he has the house and backyard decorated pretty sweetly…complete western theme, with tractors and a faux outhouse which he built himself. So we had to do some sexy western shots…

Anywho…for the nerds…did some standard glam lighting in these shots…

For instance, the ones of the car, I used the typical two-light deal…threw a third light with a blue gel under the car…used the 6 ft octa as the key light.

The western shots were pretty simple too…high key light angled down and then a light on the door of the outhouse, un-gridded.

Now, a lot of you know I’m a booty guy. I also am a brunette guy. However, sometimes brunettes are difficult to shoot in front of a dark backgrounds because their hair blends into the background. You need to have some separation otherwise it just looks funny. If you have the means and the gear, by all means use a hair light. Duh. But if you are a minimalist, or limited by your gear or circumstances, a tip is to rock your light up a little higher and angle it down. You still get coverage on the front of your subject…but you also get coverage on your model’s head, thus giving you a little separation between her hair and the dark background.

Enough said. Enjoy the shots…and hope everyone had a rockin’ and safe Halloween. :)

I got to thinking about the things we can do to make our photo shoots a better experience for the models we work with…and it all boils down to one thing: stepping in their shoes for a bit and realizing what things are like on the other side of the lens.

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While a popular technique for wedding and event photographers who shoot indoors using hot shoe flashes or speedlights, I gave this rather basic technique a try with bigger studio strobes.

Here’s a shot of Nikol bouncing the light off the ceiling of her home studio…

I also used the bounce flash technique with this shot of another Niki…

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Links:

• Chase Jarvis | Making Subtle Light

Having a process that you follow when it comes to storing and archiving your images is so important, as I learned a couple weeks ago when one of my drives decided to crap out on me.

Equipment is man-made…and like a lot of things…it can break, get lost, stolen, etc.

When your storage solutions are down and there’s no way of working on your images, it can really throw a monkey wrench into your plans and really put life at a standstill…especially if you have to repair, restore, etc. It’s funny how we depend on our gear to get us through the day.

With good storage solutions, a proven workflow, and playing it safe, you can minimize your downtime, stress, and make sure you client is always happy knowing that you are taking precautions to keep your most valuable assets safe: your images.

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I spend A LOT of time at the beach…so when I saw this silly, yet effective, way of protecting my iPhone from sand and surf, I just had to share it.

Thanks to Chase Jarvis for this brilliant tip!

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!!

So Brian and I met for Chicken McNuggets yesterday…and we got to dish about a lot of things, including some business related to our company. One of the high points of our talk was our conversation about SEO, or Search Engine Optimization and making sure we can find our company web site on the internet. More importantly, we want to make sure others can find us on the web as well. After all, we won’t make money if people can’t find us or know we exist. :)

Brian posted this little ditty on his blog yesterday…

And then I found this very interesting little video for photographers and how important SEO is for their web sites and their business.

There are a lot of key points in that video that people don’t realize or understand…and a lot of misconceptions as to what makes a web site work to its full potential. Definitely interesting to check out.

So my good friend Kimberly, whom I’ve shot with several times and known for a few years now, is getting back into modeling. She took some time off because of school and work and, well, life, basically. But she loves being in front of the camera…and being a successful model is one of her dreams…so she’s really pursuing it and getting things done as of late.

One of the things she’s doing is working with as many different GOOD photographers as she possibly can that will really add to her portfolio.

One of the photographers she’s going to be working with is one who’s work I really admire. I was like, “yeah, you should definitely work with him.”

Now, I don’t expect people to know about me. It won’t bruise my ego to know that someone has never heard of Aaron Riveroll. I mean, it’s unlikely because I’m pretty much the man (just kidding…), but seriously, I won’t get offended. But when Kimberly met up with this photographer for the first time the other day to discuss the shoot, and the conversation went to past work, etc…she mentioned my name and asked this photographer if he had heard about me.

He had, in fact, heard of me. He was like, “yeah, doesn’t he shoot a lot of girls in bikinis?”

Ouch.

Yes, I do shoot a lot of girls in bikinis. But this was the first time I had ever been typecast before.

That can be a good thing and a bad thing. Here’s why it’s a good thing: people recognize your work, your style, your niche and the will go to you when they want that look.

Here’s why it’s bad: people will go to you when they want THAT look.

It’s great and all that I’m in business. People see the shots and they are like, “Wow, I want HIM to shoot me in a bikini.” So they come to me for that. And I’m not gonna turn them down. But eventually, that becomes all you do. Beach shots.

Believe it or not, I can shoot lingerie. I can shoot dramatic stuff, happy stuff, colorful stuff. I can shoot people in clothes too. I like to shoot everything…and I do.

But yes, people mostly come to me for beach shots.

This is why it’s important to think outside the box sometimes. And not just wardrobe-wise and style-wise…it’s important to stretch yourself as a photographer and be as versatile as you can possibly be.

I was having a conversation the other day with my friend, Jon, who is also a photographer. We were discussing commercial work…and I was telling him about how important diversity is. I tell all my models this…how they should have as diverse a portfolio as possible; and the same is true for photographers. Take for instance one of my idols, commercial photographer Nick Onken. He is known for his lifestyle images…but if you look at some of the ads he’s shot for, they look nothing like his usual style…but they are still amazing. He can shoot with natural light. He can shoot with artificial light. He is versatile. And I think as a commercial photographer, or any photographer for that matter, it makes you more marketable if you can shoot lots of different things.

So my word of advice is just to think outside the box.

And if you must shoot girls in bikinis…don’t limit yourself to the beach.

I found this video the other day of Ennis and I scouting locations for the January Revolt Ten on 10. I was prepared to shoot this at the beach. It’s safe. It’s comfortable. I know how to light it. How to shoot it. It’s not a challenge. I know what the results will be. When I showed up at Emily’s house to shoot, she asked me where we were shooting. After thinking a bit, I knew we needed to be different than all the other beach shoots. Where could we shoot? A boardwalk? An alley? On a boat? Yes, yes, and yes.

In retrospect, shooting in a place you aren’t familiar with makes you think a little more about the shoot. You aren’t going through the motions anymore…you are actually putting your skills and knowledge to work to create that great image. And I like working sometimes. Because the harder you work, the more amazing that image will be. It will be a standout. And you walk away from the shoot feeling pretty damn good. I know I did. :)

Anyway, here are the endless ramblings of two photographers…and if you want to see the shots and the behind the scenes video with Emily, give it a look.

So as of late, as much as I hate to admit it, I’ve been REALLY bad at keeping track of stuff. We’re talking keeping on top of projects, remembering to email people back, forgetting meetings and even photo shoots. I’m glad that in those instances, the other parties forgot too or needed to reschedule. But had they not forgotten, I would have looked like a major ass. I’m not gonna lie. And that’s so not like me. I usually have it together. So I’ve decided that I’m going to be using my calendar more religiously. I just hooked up my Google Cal with my iPhone via Google Sync…so now any changes I make on my phone are reflected immediately in Google Cal and everything is synced over-the-air.

To keep on top of my to-dos, I’m going to start using my Remember The Milk account again. I stopped because I was being horrible at getting things done and didn’t want to deal with stupid lists…which is funny because I do love lists oh so very much. There is now an iPhone app for RTM…so no more web interface. It’s an actual app. All you need is a RTM pro account and seriously, if you love lists, why wouldn’t you have a pro account?? But I seriously got back into it just a little bit ago…cleaned everything out…added my new tasks to the list. And now my lists are longer than ever. LOL. But I felt so productive today, so I’m sure il blaze through these lists in no time. :)

I gotta keep it together…and with things being so crazy and hectic these days, I can’t afford not to be organized. :)

I also have a little notebook I carry around for jotting down ideas for shoots and other stuff, convos, etc. So valuable to have something you can write stuff down in. Pen and paper…who would have known?!

Anyway, I’m tired. It’s been a long, productive day. Looking forward to a great shoot today with Jackie, one of Crystal’s friends she met at the Playboy photo shoot in Miami, and then In and Out afterwards. ;)

More later!!

So, I’m pretty stoked that Google finally came out with it’s Picasa photo software for the Mac OS. It’s in Beta…so I’m giving it a whirl. So far, it’s the Picasa I’ve come to know and love on the PC, with quick correction tools and it’s awesome sorting abilities. You even have the ability to upload directly to your Picasa Web Album.

Download it here.