How I Spent My Summer Vacation…

It might be difficult for some of you dyed-in-the-wool football fans to believe there is more to summer than training camp…but there is. It’s cheerleaders-calendar-photo-shoot time! Boy are we excited or what!!!

This July, I wrapped up the photographs for the upcoming 2008-2009 NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders Swimsuit Calendar. I am the photographer for a few other cheerleading calendars, but this was my first season with the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ calendar, and, as with all of my photo sessions—from brides to bananas to business environments to cheerleaders’ bodies—this shoot was exciting.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P17NwkNF4Q0]

The locations were the first plus to this project. We worked exclusively in Southern Florida, the Buccaneers’ neighborhood. The hours were brutally long hours each day of the week-long shoot. And as the physique wears down, the creative mind slips away along with it; hence, we began our location scouting hours, if not days, ahead.

With 32 girls in tow for the calendar, avoiding similar-looking locations was challenging. This was especially so with the restrictions we had to adhere to: e.g. not too many waterfall shots, because they used so many waterfall shots last year; constraints of only outdoors; non-cheesy spots; etc, etc. We had to squeeze every last drop of creativity we could muster.

We began the photography work weeks before the calendar shoot with the team and individual shots. That allowed us to get to know the girls a bit better before the calendar shoot began.

Another plus was having the rookie cheerleaders assigned to me as gophers and assistants. Yes, I remind you…I was paid for this gig…

The models began their days at 4 am and we wrapped up about 11 pm. Keep this in mind as you admire the twinkles in the eyes of these ladies. As I mentioned, the cheerleaders themselves helped out at the locations. But there was also an enormous team working on this project, over 20 people in all.

This shoot had its drama. On the way to an island location, we serendipitously passed a sunken, abandoned sailboat and decided to use it as a backdrop.* The models risked life and limb to reach the boat and board it—there was a reason it was a shipwreck!

You probably are wondering, does getting up close and personal with 32 beautiful women, all in bathing suits, over the course of a week change a guy? Be sure to check back to see my continual evolution.

And of course, the final bonus is the collection of wonderful, eye-catching, colorful, memorable pictures of a fantastic team of talented, patient, and hardworking young women. Enjoy!

(Click on an image, then use your RIGHT and LEFT arrow keys to go through all of them)

There are so many people to acknowledge, and they were all terrific; however, I will specifically mention a few:

1. Sandy Charboneau, the Buccaneers’ cheerleading manager, juggled twenty tasks on her fingertips (with Michael Jackson music playing in the background), and was tireless, efficient, organized, and a dream to work with;
2. Cathy Crooke, coordinator assistant, with a keen, intuitive knowledge, made things happen with a single phone call;
3. the Makeup and Hair Stylists, did not seem to need any sleep (unlike the photographer);
4. Ed Bottger and Shawn, the videographers, were exceptional team players;
5. Paul Ferradas, photo assistant, helped with bouncing off idea after idea (all during his birthday, too, no less!);
6. Marriott’s Omelet Lady fed us ultra-delicious breakfasts nearly every day while singing her omelet song ;
7. and, of course, the troop of highly disciplined Cheerleaders.

My sincerest thanks to the ENTIRE Buccaneers’ staff!

And now I’m back in Silicon Valley, returned to the REAL world.

- Michael Soo

* The adventure with the sunken boat deserves some elaboration. As I mentioned, the cheerleaders and staff had a terribly difficult time actually boarding the wreck. Things photographically were going well, when a Coast Guard vessel pulled up to force us to leave. We identified ourselves as representatives of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While the Coast Guard crew were radioing their base to learn what to do with us, I began quickly taking shots to try to squeeze every opportunity left to me before getting kicked out. In the end, we were allowed to finish our work, the Coast Guard ship stuck around, and one of their crew pulled out HIS camera to snap off some shots, too! Real high seas adventure.