NEW! Shooting at the Las Palmas Resort Video!
Jesse’s latest video is shot entirely at the Las Palmas resort. The Las Palmas is the official resort for “The Girls of Rocky Point Calendar” for a number of reasons. Great locations, great beach, great beach houses and condos. If you still haven’t made your reservations for Circus Mexicus or the GORP Calendar Signing party, there’s still time. Click here for more informaton on the very special GORP/Circus Mexicus rates.
Girls of Rocky Point at Las Palmas from Jesse Hoekstra on Vimeo.
Alex Bussa on Backlighting to Accent Abmient Daylight.
Here’s a quick post from Alex Bussa’s blog on a lighting setup he uses quite frequently when shooting outdoors.
Back Lighting Your Subject | Alex Bussa Photography
Back Lighting Your Subject
May 7th, 2009Somer - Girls of Rocky Point Calendar GirlWhen shooting on location you may find yourself confronted by beautiful, soft, ambient light. Don’t freak out, it’s alright. Actually it’s great, but that doesn’t mean your setup needs to stop there…..
Read the rest of the post, and view the resulting image and diagram on Alex’s blog.
Don Giannitti Takes an Image from Setup to PP.
Here’s an excerpt from a post on Don’s website about a shot he did while his workshop helped us with our recent calendar shoot in Rocky Point Mexico. Don takes the image from setup to post processing. It’s a very informative, and well written article.
Well, let’s look at this first image. It is one I did on Sunday and features Laura. I rarely get to shoot at the workshops, but the guys were all shooting some shots of the calendar models and I had a moment to set something up. Dan helped Jerry and I make this shot. We used a Dynalite 400WS Monobloc with a Vagabond for power. Light modifier is a 22″ beauty dish and it was on a stand that we improvised into a boom for the carbon-based-voice-activated light stands….
Read the rest on Don’s website
Big Lights On Location
Most of us here at GORP use small speedlights extensively. We’re big fans of David Hobby, and his blog at strobist.com. We use speedlights for many different situations. They’re invaluable when you need to travel light, and used correctly, can provide excellent results, but there are times when they just aren’t enough. For example, when your trying to beat the sun with your flash on a sunny Mexican beach. Unless you’ve got a camera with a VERY high native sync speed or FP Sync (Focal plane high-speed sync), and the triggering system to accommodate FP Sync, you’re going to be firing your speedlights at high power very close to your subject. Your recycle times are going to be long, and your speedlights just might not have the power you need. Since shooting on the beaches and locations of Rocky Point, a lot of us have taken to bringing portable but bigger lights. If you’d like to read more about using big lights on location, check out this post on Don Giannitti’s Lighting Essentials site. Don’s got written an excellent post about 2 of our photographers on location with their big lights. And don’t forget, if you’re considering taking one of Don’s workshops, this year his Mexico workshop will be held at the same time as our primary calendar photography in April, and all students will be given the opportunity to assist on the calendar, and do some shooting of their own. So check out his Mexico workshop page here, and then sign up for it at the Las Palmas Resort site here.
Alex Bussa on Balancing Flash with Afternoon Sunlight
Alex Bussa and I were shooting some of our contest winners on the beach in Rocky Point a couple of weeks ago, and Alex has found the time to write a quick, yet very informative post about balancing flash with afternoon sunlight. Check it out on Alex’s Blog.
Photographers Portfolios are Complete
The last of our primary photograhers portfolio has been added the the Portfolio page. Have a look. We’re very excited about the level of talent what will be working on primary photography in April. In addition to the primary photographers, there will be the attendees from Don Giannatti’s Lighting Essentials workshop who will be serving on the shoots. I’ve assisted with several of Don’s workshops, and I’m always surpised by the level of talent the “students” bring to the table.
Hey Photographers! You Have a Chance to Participate!
Don Giannati has just opened up entries for his Lighting Essentials Mexico Workshop. Most of the primary photographers for this calendar have participated in this workshop in one form or another, and I think we can honestly say it’s been one of the best workshops we have attended. Not only do you learn a lot about lighting, but you do it in a beautiful location and with some beautiful models. Get more information here, and sign up for the workshop here.
This year is extra special because “The Girls of Rocky Point Calendar” is being shot during the workshop and you have the opportunity to be involved. The shoots are early morning and late afternoon - before and after the workshop - and are totally voluntary. If you want the experience of working with models in a professional shooting atmosphere, this will be an outstanding experience. There are 5 shooters involved, and you can work with them on the shoots. You will be able to make some shots of your own at these shoots.
