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Posts Tagged ‘Jazmin Riley’

Minimalist Shooting in Hermosillo, Sonora

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Jazmin Riley - Hermosillo, SonoraJazmin Riley - Hermosillo, Sonora

Over Labor Day weekend I took a 4-day trip to Hermosillo, Sonora to visit Jazmin Riley before she started her semester at college. Since this was a social visit and not specifically a photography trip, I didn’t want to pack the car full of lighting gear. This trip, I specifically took only my camera bag.

As is typical for us, Jazmin and I are completely incapable of not shooting. There is a broke-down building she’s been driving by every day that casts shadows she’s wanted to work with. This was the first setup we did at the location. We intended to do more, but the heat started to melt the model. We selected a corner that had shadows she liked and was surrounded by other brightly lit walls that provided plenty of bounced light. The location essentially lit itself.

Jazmin Riley - Hermosillo, SonoraJazmin Riley - Hermosillo, Sonora

Because of the heat outside, we decided to do the next setup completely inside the house. To get our bright white glow in the background, we used a window that had a white translucent material covering it, with the sun beating down just outside. To achieve the front lighting, we used the overhead lights on the ceiling fan, accompanied with a lamp positioned up close with the shade removed. The indoor lighting was a bit low, but that allowed for the light from the window to wrap around Jazmin to provide the glow I was looking for.

A Road Trip to Sedona with Jazmin Riley

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Jazmin Riley in Sedona, AZ

I haven’t been shooting very much personal work over the past couple months. Tonight I decided to take a  look through my archives. I came across these photos.

Jazmin Riley in Sedona, AZ

Just shy of one year ago, Jazmin and I decided to take a road trip. We packed up the car with some food and cameras and drove up north. This trip was the first time I attempted to teach Jazmin how to shoot a SLR. Since then, with a little bit of nudging from me, but mostly on her own, she’s become a quite good photographer… and has developed a strong love for my 70-200mm f/2.8L.

Jazmin Riley in Sedona, AZ

Sometimes I get caught up in all the details and forget about the simpler things in life like road trips, picnics, stopping on the side of the road in the middle of no where to take photos, or even just doing absolutely nothing with the one you love. I hope to make more memories like this trip with Jazmin in the not so distant future.

Jazmin Riley in Sedona, AZ

You’ve heard it your whole life. Those cliche little phrases. Like “don’t let life pass you by”… but when was the last time you stopped to smell the roses? …or just stopped to enjoy a quiet afternoon with good company?

Jazmin Riley in Sedona, AZ

Creativity Doesn’t Need a Plan

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Jazmin Riley - www.jazminmodel.com

The further I get into my photography career, I have found myself experimenting less and less on the fly. Everything has a plan, a concept, a location. I know exactly what I want to shoot, how I want to light it and can see the finished image in my head before I press the shutter.

When I first started out, especially when I first started working with models, it was very much the opposite. A model and I, or a group of models and photographers would meet up at a location with nearly no preconceived ideas about what were wanted to shoot. When we arrived at the location we’d scout, light, choose wardrobe, everything on the fly. We let the photo evolve out of what we had available to us at the time. Creativity just happened, it wasn’t planned.

This past weekend I had the urge to just go out and shoot something. I have a few setups I’d like to shoot Jazmin Riley for an editorial I have in mind. In response to my shoot proposal, Jazmin said, “You don’t shoot anything without a plan. Why don’t you go out, scout your location and we’ll shoot it next weekend.”

Jazmin Riley - www.jazminmodel.com

I didn’t have a plan and that’s exactly how I wanted to shoot. We decided to do a shoot and we weren’t even going to leave the apartment to do it. We quickly paged through folders of inspiration photos and found a concept to build off. Once we had our concept, we headed to the bathroom, filled up the tub, cut the heads off some dried flowers, tossed them in the water, followed by Jazmin.

I’ve grown accustomed to using my monolights everywhere I shoot, but that just wasn’t going to work in the small cramped space. Instead I grabbed one of my speedlights, attached it to the shower rod with a justin clamp, strapped a pocket wizard to it and we started to shoot.

Nothing about this shoot was planned, not even the processing. We both liked the photos straight out of the camera, but thought it’d be cool to take them in a different direction than my standard processing. After tweaking the curves to get a cross processed look and muting the colors a bit, this is what we ended up with.

Girls of Rocky Point Calendar Signing Party

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Dyana at the GoRP Signing PartyJessie at the GoRP Signing Party

Yesterday was the official Girls of Rocky Point calendar signing party at Chango’s Bar & Grill in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. It’s been a wild weekend that is quickly coming to a close. Before we head out, we’ll be spending some time at JJ’s Cantina and Chango’s. If you see us out and haven’t picked up a calendar, say hi, we’ll have calendars on hand.

Priscilla, Jazmin, Ana and Neli at the GoRP Signing Party

Priscilla, Jazmin, Ana and Neli at the Girls of Rocky Point calendar signing party.

Jessie and Somer at the GoRP Signing Party

For those that weren’t able to come out, the calendar is for sale on the Girls of Rocky Point website here.

Today is the Day! Girls of Rocky Point Calendar Now on Sale!

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Jazmin Riley - Girls of Rocky Point Calendar GirlThe calendars are back from the printer. It’s official, the Girls of Rocky Point calendar is NOW ON SALE! 18 months full of calendar models, shot exclusively in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Head over to the Girls of Rocky Point Website and pick up your copy. Or better yet, join us Saturday, June 6th for the Girls of Rocky Point calendar signing party and have the models autograph your copy of the calendar.

As if the GORP Calendar signing party weren’t enough reason to come to Rocky Point this weekend, there is also the newly opened Reef Beach Club and Blue Buddha Club (full time RP resident and GORP Calendar model Myaann RAVES about these new clubs), an all night beach party hosted by Evento Penasco AND Circus Mexicus with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. This weekend is going to be huge.

If you’re from out of town, there’s still time to make reservations for some very special ticket/room/calendar packages from the Las Palmas Resort. And don’t forget, you must email the Las Palmas with the subject “GoRP txt” in the subject line. Follow the link for details.

Twenty-three hours until we depart. Hope to see you all there!

Fashion Show at Apricot Lane in Tempe Marketplace

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Apricot Lane Fashion ShowApricot Lane Fashion Show

Last night Jazmin Riley and I attended a fashion show at Apricot Lane in Tempe Marketplace. Actually, she was in the fashion show, I attended and shot some photos. It was a pretty cool gathering of models, photographers, hair stylists and clothing designers. I’m looking forward to working with some of them in the near future.

Dramatic Lighting with a Silver Reflector

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Aaron Matthew photograhed by Jazmin Riley

For Jazmin’s final project in her college photography class, she was tasked with taking photographs of people. Being that she’s a model and I’m a photographer, we did what comes naturally, we called up a model. Our friend Aaron Matthew was kind enough to join up with us and donate some time to the project. Hey, no where on the final project instructions did it say we could not utilize professional talent for the subject matter.

We started the shoot in the morning to avoid the afternoon heat, but the sun was already high in the sky. With all the light available to us we started out with 48″ x 72″ white reflector to fill in the shadows. While it was doing its job, the light we were getting wasn’t quite punchy enough to produce the photos Jazmin wanted.

Aaron Matthew photographed by Jazmin Riley

With the switch in wardrobe and background, we also switched out the white reflector for a 48″ x 72″ silver reflector. For these photos, I held the reflector with the long side on the ground, angled slightly to reflect the sunlight onto our model. The change in reflector made all the difference in our lighting setup and added a lot of drama to the overall photograph. It also added about 30 degrees of heat to where the model was standing according to what we heard from Aaron, so be sure to take care and not cook your model when using this type of setup in the summer.

Jazmin Riley Company – Hand-Crafted Fashion Jewelry

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Cracked Ice Earrings - Designed by Jazmin Riley CompanyEarlier this week Jazmin and I officially launched the web site for her jewelry company, Jazmin Riley Company. Earlier this year, while we were creating her modeling site, Jazmin started discussing the possibility of taking her business online to reach a larger audience. We both agreed that it would be a great move for her and set out to create the site a couple months ago.

My initial thought was that the site wouldn’t be that difficult to create. I had managed many projects just like this one when I was a web development project manager. Though that thought lacked the realization that in those projects I wasn’t the team member doing the actual development portion and I was now developing on a product I hadn’t previously worked with. Even so, the project went pretty smoothly and the site started to take shape.

Time came to photograph the products. I had the lights setup, camera in hand and started shooting a few frames. Jazmin had something in mind, took the camera and ended up shooting all the initial product shots… and they turned out pretty good. It was a running joke for a while that she kicked the resident photographer in the house to the curb and did all her own work.

This weekend Jazmin finished entering the product inventory and flipped the switch. We’re both really happy with the initial site. We have a few upgrades in mind, including a spanish translation for all our friends in Mexico. Watch for that and a few new features in the coming months. For now, go check out the site, and buy something! Many of the pieces are one-of-a-kinds… and the girl needs to fill her shoe-fund!

Jazmin will have a selection of her jewelry line at the Girls of Rocky Point Calendar shoot this weekend in Puerto Penasco! Her jewelry will also be featured in many of the photographs that make it into the calendar. If you’ll be in Puerto Penasco this weekend and see something you like on the site, let her know to avoid the international shipping fees.

Jazmin & Neli… Runway Hair and Makeup

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Jazmin Riley - Phoenix Arizona Model - Makeup by Adrian VarelaNeli Felix - Hermosillo Sonora Model - Makeup by Adrian Varela

The other week while Neli was visiting Phoenix, Jazmin and Neli were cast in the student designer fashion show at Mesa Community College. While in hair and makeup, they met Makeup Artist AdrianVarela at Macy’s. From what I heard, they had a lot of fun and and he took great care of them. After the event, we shot a series of photos of them to send back to him.

Balancing Flash with Afternoon Sunlight

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Lighting Diagram for Balancing Flash with Afternoon SunlightWhen shooting for the Girls of Rocky Point Calendar, I often find myself on the beach under the bright afternoon sun. The unforgiving shadows and the sheer brightness of the sun itself are a couple of reasons many photographers avoid shooting this time of the day. To add to that, we’re on a beach which offers no shade and sunlight glaring off the water. Not the friendliest of conditions.

You’re on a beautiful beach with a group of models. What to do? On the day we began shooting the sky was clear without a single cloud and the sun was as bright as it gets. Which was perfect. I already had one large, powerful light in my setup and it didn’t require any electricity. For these shots, I set them all up so the sun would act as my hair/rim light. Keeping the sun behind your model also adds to her comfort. She won’t be constantly staring into a bright light, squinting or dealing with watery eyes.

Depending on just how bright the sun is, I may suggest simply using a reflector to illuminate the model with a bit of bounce fill. I like to keep my setups as simplistic as possible. Though in this case, using only a reflector would have resulted in a completely washed out background. I wanted to retain some of the details. I needed something a little more powerful to offset the brightness of the sun. For my main light, I brought down one of my 600w/s monolights from the beach house and attached a beauty dish to it. Being that beaches aren’t teeming with electrical outlets, I also brought down a battery pack to power the strobe.

After metering he sunlight, I set the strobe between 1-2 stops less than the sun. As I mentioned, I wanted to retain some of the details, but also wanted a bright summery feel to the photo. With respect to the background I wanted and the position of the sun, the placement of the strobe changed a bit from setup to setup. However it was always positioned so that the model was directly between it and the sun. This type of positioning allowed for there to be some shaddowing, giving the model’s features depth and keeping them from having an overly flashed look.

All the photos below utilized this type of lighting. For more photos from the Girls of Rocky Point Calendar shoots, check out my Flickr photostream or the Girls of Rocky Point website.

Jazmin - Girls of Rocky Point Calendar Girl Jazmin - Girls of Rocky Point Calendar Girl Hip-Hop Artist Serious with Jessica - Girls of Rocky Point Calendar Girl