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.

As many of you may know, I teach a fair number of advanced photoshop classes to many photographers near and far. They are really popular for the new inductees of digital imaging. Advanced photographers are interested as well. Unfortunately, a large majority of digital photographers have a “shoot now, fix later” approach to photography; only because they think they can.

Photographing a wedding or engagement with over 1,000 images, the “fix later” motto is neither reasonable, efficient, nor effective. Lighting is extremely important in making images come alive! For example, having a large light source behind you while you are shooting a group portrait will help you make a significant stride towards getting your subjects to love you (especially the older folks). They will look younger, as their wrinkles melt in the beautiful, even window light.

To prove my point, I did a wedding just yesterday with nothing more than a camera, a small Canon 580 EX Flash unit and capturing the images by following the light. Photography Judo or Photography Unplugged, if you will. Pushing and pulling my subjects to light them in resplendence. Enlisting the fastest force of nature as my ally, instead of battling it.

We shot in various locations, from the tea ceremony in the house to the challenging white balanced lighting within the buildings of the Hakone Japanese Gardens in Saratoga. Many of the group shots were shot at 2pm PST summer afternoon, under the harsh California sunlight. The end results however, are over 1,000 images that do not need to see the likes of a healing brush, or for that matter, any Photoshop at all.

Of course, this isn’t all about photography and light. Without a beautiful bride and groom (Sophie and Jimmy), good photography can only go so far. On top of that, well deserved credit goes to Tiffany, the makeup artist whom I’ve worked with numerous times. She did a phenomenal job with the hair and makeup, that’s for sure!

I love this image I shot on Saturday. It tells a beautiful story. Look at the elements in the image. A proud uncle giving his speech; his hand, adjusting his red tie in a splendid satisfaction. Master of Ceremony, an aura of enthutiastic charm surrounds him. The bride-to-be, touched, on the verge of tears. Her fiancé, next to her, a pensive smile. In the foreground, Uncle Richard, listening attentively, taking it all in, a beam of supportive approval.

It’s a moment captured in time. Deliberative human emotions splashed with colorful personalities and characters. Yet, something is wrong. This photograph will probably pass us by as just a shot, not taking another look from us after the quick 1 second look….only because the essence is lost in technicality!

A complex scene as this, invites the viewer to explore the deep details of the image. To make the experience meaningful, detract the viewers from distractions and focus on the subjects that are important. To achieve that, remember the key rules.

1. Bright and colorful regions attract interests
2. Dark regions remove interest
3. Contrasty regions cause the viewers to pause.

Notice now that we have a few issues. Most of the technically interesting part of this image are found in the areas that we don’t want the viewers to see. The bright and tall white vase in the foreground, Uncle Richard’s white shirt, those utensils and glasses on the table, saturated colors creating major distractions. We really don’t have any point of interest.

What we can do is to first convert the image to black and white so that we can fix the main issues in the photograph. We then tone down the uninteresting areas and increase the brightness and contrast on the faces. That by itself is half the battle. We then go into the details of retrieving the texture back into the faces that are overblown in highlights.

Then, finally, throw the colors back into the photograph by toning it down low to pull the viewers in since the bride is wearing such a beautiful red dress, red tie of the speaker, etc. We don’t want to lose those. The image would have done well in B&W; but a splash of color will make it look more exciting. It’s a Chinese engagement after all and the color red is good luck!

Note: Got a request to remove the vase completely. I suppose it’s warranted. Cloning tool took me 2 minutes.

We got a call for a last minute product photoshoot by a good old friend, Tony. Tony is one of the few friends that I trust. Over a decade ago, we worked and practiced judo together. He saw my interest in photography and referred me to photograph Sun Microsystems’ tradeshow in Las Vegas. So, it’s fair to say that he jump-started my Photography career. Thank you, Tony. You rock!!!

Fast forward ten years, Tony now works in Hewlett-Packard’s Voodoo division. He wanted simple images for the blog, to show the world the packaging offerings of their latest and greatest Voodoo Envy 133. We were stoked. We get to lay our greedy little hands on the sleek machine of what looked like Bugatti of laptops. We picked up the item from Tony’s office. He gave us a 5 minutes rundown on what the team needed. Then, off we went, back to the studio to shoot these resulting images.

Other than the iPhone, I never knew a product could get SO MUCH press coverage. After shooting the Envy, we retouched the images and sent them back to HP. Within a few hours, half a dozen blogs have our images on them and they were swarmed with comments from avid fans. It’s covered in the following websites and blogs:

• The Next Bench – The official community of Voodoo
• Engadget – website on all cool gadgets
• Rahul Sood’s blog – blog by the founder of Voodoo
• The Die Line – The leading package design blog.

We definitely felt privileged to play a part in the advertising of this ravishingly stylish machine that “blends art, innovation and performance for life”.

- Michael Soo

Where is your studio?, is a common question that I get asked a lot. My answer is always the same,

Yeah, you can quote me. The term photography studio tends to indicate an indoor space where backdrops and sets are available to create a seamless background. Multiple lights are setup for a consistent look and feel to the images.

However, the next step in the progression of a photographer is outdoor where nothing is consistent. The sun travels across the sky, a dynamic lighting phenomena that perplexes the likes of Ansel Adams & Galen Rowell. Add the complexity of studio lighting, it creates lighting condition that will make the most skilled studio photographers cringe. A good example is a recent sunset shoot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Cheerleaders’ 2009 Swimsuit Calendar. As the sun dips lower into the horizon, the lights had to be toned down by half power every 2-3 minutes!!!

I had fun shooting Environmental/Lifestyle Executive Portraits for Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a VC company that invests in tech companies such as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), etc. The lifestyle portraits are meant to create a fun factor, humanize the executives and build a virtual rapport with their business partners/clients via their website.

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

- Michael Soo

I thought I’d seen it all. I have never met a more wonderful couple than Carmell & Richard. The first time we met was outside Peet’s Coffee & Tea, at Santana Row. Richard & Carmell have a deep rooted understanding and a profound love (a loosely used word these days) for each other. They booked their wedding photography with me a year ago. in June 2007.

Today, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in San Jose, their knot is tied. One can peer into their life and love via an understanding of how they deeply entrenched they connect. Richard is a man of integrity, patience and devotion. Wedding stress can beat down a bride like rain on the wedding day. The stress experienced by Carmell were constantly abated by Richard. They would call each other multiple times a day. I told them that they might as well work in the same company…

Carmell, on the other hand, is a creature of compassion, intuition and insightful intelligence. She is Richard’s guiding light and a beacon of courage. May their life be filled with passion and respect to last two lifetimes over.

View the creation of Carmell & Richard’s wedding album

- Michael Soo

North American Hairstylist Awards (NAHA), presented by the Professional Beauty Association, is the most prestigious hairstyling competition in North America. I was delighted to help Allan of Allan’s Salon in Santa Clara to photograph Allan’s entry in the Colorist Category in NAHA.

Trend Zoom Color Challenge, an international color competition invites colorists to interpret the Trend Zoom 2008 trend worlds—Rockmantic and Newstalgia—in a highly creative way and then have their interpretation professionally photographed. Goldwell Colorists can choose to enter one of three categories:

Lacee & Tejas love the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. I mean, who doesn’t? It’s probably the most popular spot for engagement photography in Northern California. If they make $1 everytime a couple does an engagement shoot there…

I warned Lacee & Tejas that their favorite spot may be under construction but we figured that we’d take our chances. Our shoot began in downtown San Francisco.
We then moved into the grounds of the Palace of Fine Arts. I was right on the money. The entire structure was under construction with scaffolding wrapped around the architecture. Adding insult to injury, the building perimeter was surrounded by a 6′ metal fence! Ugh!!

Undaunted by the turn of events, I had Lacee & Tejas climb the fence and took several amazing shots. The beauty of the Palace of Fine Arts will be revealed after the construction for a very long time to come. But the images of the Palace of Fine Arts under construction will never again be seen.

(click on the image on the left to see more)

- Michael Soo

TPR, The Peninsula Regent in San Mateo, California is a magical place. It isn’t a run-of-the-mill retirement community but an elegant continuing care retirement community that was thoughtfully designed to cater to its residents.

The security is tight but not overbearing. The automatic doors are wonderful for the residents and myself whilst I push my photo gear past them.

We were brought on board to photograph commercial lifestyle portraitures of the residents for ViewPoint, a newsletter article for the residents and probably the TPR’s potential clients.

Kay Harris, a talented freelance graphic designer was with me. Kay worked with TPR for a while now and knows most of the staff of the TPR. She would design and layout the newsletter itself, inlaid with my photographs.

The residents walk around with smiles attached to their faces. They look like they are on vacation 24/7. It then became clear to me that TPR found the perfect concoction of care, love and talents that seem to set the lovely folks here at their ultimate ease. I was astounded by how caring and geniune the staffs were. It is as if they were born to help everyone around them. The Assistant Director, Michelle, would constantly ensure our comfort while we were in the facility. Cookies, drinks, lunch, dessert were pushed into my hands while I was there.

I met Ms Greene, a resident swim instructor, shot by the pool. Dr Moore, a handsome doctor, photographed in his clinic.

Mr Scherba of Scherba Autos, was sitting on a high-back italian sofa. He smiled at me and told me the story of his military service in the Philipines. He did not receive a lifestyle portrait from me. Instead, I chose to showcase his personality, style and his charm in a photograph. He held his chin while he talk, gleaming on his finger, a modest ring that his mother gave him, back in 1946.

The brochure for this shoot, designed by Kay is nothing short of excellent in layout, color and language.

- Michael Soo

I was flabbergasted when I told someone that I was going to Shanghai and was returned with the question, “What is Shanghai?” So, I figured I’ll have to deal with my own standards & ideals and move on to explain about Shanghai.

The reason I went to Shanghai, really though is to lead a photography project within Lytro, aka Refocus Imaging and Intel’s CTO, Justin Rattner‘s keynote speech in the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai. Justin, unfortunately was too sick to make it to the conference and had Vice President, Andrew Chien replace him.

The whole keynote was recorded with the actual slides in the IDF’s website (Time: 36m50s to 46m:00s) but the part that we really care about is here below, in a YouTube video.

Conferences such as the IDF takes months in advanced of preparation for a 1-2 days event. My part in the photography within the keynote was a mere 1-2 minutes but took over one week in preparations. Preparations include project managing, such as hiring the models, makeup artists and wardrobe selections. Local photography lighting gear rentals have to be managed, as well as, photography work in Shanghai and surrounding city, in HangZhou (for the slideshow to showcase the technology). I also had to ensure multiple backups of workflow in case of failures, etc.

We had to hire assistants, compose several dry-runs, rehearsals, on-site problem solving photography issues (such as the issues of lighting in the impossibly difficult lighting conditions within the huge conference hall.

Whatever simplicity you see in the show was backed up by layers of complexity of preparation in the background.

We got extremely creative in the lighting department. For the studio photography enthutiasts out there, I was shooting at F4.0 & ISO 1600 with a Profoto D4 2400 at near max as the main!!!!!!! If that doesn’t send fear up your spine, I don’t know what will. Renting more lighting units will overdrive the budget of the client. Profoto, broncolor and high end lighting gears are 4X more expensive to rent in China than in the United States.

Incompatibility in voltage, weight of equipment through air travel, extension cords, all have to be placed into consideration. No, it was no walk in the park. I had to lug 4 large and heavy suitcases across the Pacific Ocean for a mere 2 minutes of airtime. And that’s on top of renting 4 more suitcases of lighting gear.

Who says Commercial Photography is easy?

A few fun facts about Shanghai:

1. Shanghai is the most expensive China city to live in.
2. One of the world’s tallest building resides in Shanghai.
3. The mass rapid transit here is very well connected. They have
   a whooping 17 lines. Taxis are in abundance. The starting price
   is 11RMB, which is about USD$1.50

4. The Shangri-la hotel employs a cute girl to knock on your door for morning calls instead of a phone call. I specifically asked for a phone call the 2nd day after running around in my underwear when a door knock came on my 1st day’s call.
5. Shanghainese dialect are spoken alongside Mandarin in Shanghai.
6. You can custom tailor a full 2-3 piece business suit in China for
   US$50 and a wonderfully customed tailored shirt for US$15. Mind you,
   the material used is better than those I’ve seen in some high end stores
   at Nordstrom.

- Michael Soo