Kassi Jayde Hansen

So Kassi is going to be a huge star someday, so I am very excited to have known her before she became too cool to shoot with me...

We actually started off the shoot the evening bfore by going to Dillard's at the Scottsdale Fashion Square mall. Kassi is a model for the Leighton Agency here in Phoenix and also a model for Dillard's. She has the power to go to the store, pick out whatever she wants and simply sign it out.



What a cool thing to be able to do! We shopped around for about $1200 worth of clothes and accessories and then had a pretzel before departing.


The next day, we met up at the studio and came up with a plan for shooting the many outfits. We started at "The Farm" in southern Phoenix. The location is so beautiful, there are orchards, greenhouses, barns, and many other beautiful places to use as a backdrop.


The next location was a super secret spot out in the middle of Tempe, but looks like Africa!




We went back to the studio after the sun took it's light away from us and shot a couple of more outfits before calling it a day.




Thanks Kassi for the beautiful photos!

Puerto Penasco!

This last weekend, Don Giannatti invited me to return to the fall 2008 Lighting Essentials Workshop in Rocky Point, Mexico. I went this time not as a student, but as a veteran photographer, there to assist the workshop attendants. I had a blast and got some amazing photos last time, so I had absolutely no reason to say no.

The line-up included:

Models:
Nichole Jansen
Taylor Renteria
Kassi Jayde Hansen
Briana Shaker
Christina Roelant

Make-Up/Hair:
Lorri Mitchell

Photographers:
Don Giannatti
Evan Romine (Me)
Jerry O'Conner
James Allen
Jim Vigileos

Location:
Las Palmas Resort

We left on Friday morning all together in a caravan. James got pulled over 5 minutes into the border, but luckily got out of a ticket or jail time due to the sweet talking by Kassi. We had lunch shortly after in the border town.

We got to the Las Palmas Resort in the late afternoon, checked into our beautiful casa directly on the beach, unloaded our gear and quickly rushed to get the girls into hair and make-up for shooting. We kicked off the weekend with a bang, having the girls ride jet-ski's and sail-boats in the photographer-filled gulf. Next were the obligatory sunset/bikini shots. The rest of the evening consisted of meeting everyone and getting settled into our rooms.


The next day, we woke Lorri up as early as possible to start on hair/make-up. Don started with the Workshop and some of us ventured out on our own to set-up individual shoots. The workshop broke and then we all worked together and combined forces with the workshop attendants. We shot until the sun went down and had dinner and drinks at the resort Cantina.



On Sunday, we all loaded up to go to a private beach-house on the other side of town. The owners invited us in to take over and shoot whatever we wanted to. We started off by pairing some of the veterans with the workshop attendants "buddy-system" style. This worked out well because we were able to put our heads together and each set-up our own individual shots/set-ups. We started shooting horses on the beach, this was particularly tough due to the harsh lighting and the ever changing position of the horses. it was a good lesson for all of us though. We spent the rest of the afternoon shooting at the beach-house.



After eating a delicious lunch, we went back to the Casa to see off some of the people who had to return to Phoenix and then we loaded up once again for our trip to downtown Rocky Point. We again broke off into teams, and divided the three models into the groups. We once again caused a ruckus in the town stopping traffic, posing for the local's camera-phone photos and getting invited to eat/drink at every bar/restaurant. We all shot until there was no more light and then went back to the comfort of our Casa.



That night, some of us ventured out to downtown once again to find somewhere to drink and dance. I won't tell too much about this, but those are definitely times that I won't forget.

Monday morning was rough for some of us, but we managed to wake up and shot even more. We all got ready to check-out and leave in the afternoon.



This was a great trip, we all got some spectacular shots, met new friends, helped each-other learn, and burned some awesome memories into our brains forever.

If you would like more info on the Lighting Essentials workshop, please click here. The next workshop will be in April of 2009.

Gwen. Again...

So I was so impressed with Gwen that I asked her to shoot again. It was spontaneous and not a lot of preparation was involved, but we still managed to create some way sweet photos! Here is the first processed photo from the shoot.

We had a blast and got a lot of great photos. Gwen continues to be a great model and I am planning on shooting with her more often.

I was really able to experiment with some different lighting techniques and methods. I have been using the same while shooting a series, so trying new things was fun for me.

Here are some of the "behind the scenes" photos from the shoot.

Shoot with Gwen

Today I shot with Gwen. The other night, we had met up and discussed a shoot for next month, but we both happened to have the day off, so kinda last minute, we set up a shoot. We had a few shots in mind to shoot, but I asked her to bring a LOT of clothes for the sake of having a variety. We started off doing a head-shot while her make-up was fresh. Also, it was going to be an easy shot to begin working together with. I set up a "beauty-box" set-up which was a head shot into a 60" umbrella. There was a reflector directly blow Gwen's chest and a fill-card to camera left. Also, there was a gridded hair-light illuminating her hair.

Gwen asked if we could shoot a photo similar to these shots in a series which I'm working on. I had no problem with that request. We shot a lot, and settled on a select few, but this was the best one:

The next set-up was actually my jacket! It's a Guess Jacket and it makes me feel like a bad-ass when I wear it. It kinda felt like we were doing a commercial for race-cars or something.

Phoenix Scorch Party @ Axis-Radius

After the photo-shoot for the Phoenix Scorch Lingerie Bowl team, we went out to Axis-Radius for the night. We had a VIP room, all of the girls were in their uniforms, and they were the center of attention all night. I ended up bringing my camera and snapped some fun shots. I brought my Sony Alpha A100 with a 50mm f1.7 so I could shoot with out having to bother with a flash. Also, I just like the way that the photos capture exactly what it looked like inside the club. It's also a lot smaller and lighter than the 40d.

Arizona Scorch Lingerie Bowl photoshoot

I just finished the shoot for the Phoenix Scorch Lingire Football Team. The ladies all came by the studio today to shoot photos for the official website. This was a big production, with Lisa Cooley and her assistant Laura Beaulieu doing make-up for all of the girls. Ashlie Lynn and Danell Smith did the hair for the girls. I had a great time working with everyone and we got some really amazing shots. I will post a link to the official site once the photos are up.

I'm going to go get cleaned up for the promotional event being held at Axis/Radius later tonight. See ya!

Here is where you can find all of the photos:

www.evanromine.com/proofs

*the password for the gallery is "scorch"


Credits
Photographer: Evan Romine
Make-Up: Angel Kissed Make-Up
Hair Stylist: Ashlie Lynn
Location: Studio 3 in Tempe