Roseanne, a Buccaneers’ cheerleader takes us behind the scene of Soo Photography’s photoshoot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ cheerleader’s team shoot.

(Video by Ed Bottger)
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Photographing bathing suit calendars with scantily clad models is exciting, the haute cuisine food photography has ruined take-out food for me for life, and my happiness for the ecstatic brides and grooms and their families I photograph already warms my heart on lonely winter nights into the next century. I do love my work, but when a photographer REALLY wants to have fun…

Gentry Magazine has recently exposed my vice–Trash the Dress–in their February 2009 Annual Wedding Issue. (full issue here)

I know it takes courage for women to sacrifice their treasured, expensive gowns, and my best efforts go into transforming the memories of these perfect wedding dresses into dramatic, whimsical, permanent art, elevating the dresses to importance equal to the lovely brides inside them. There is extreme contrast in style for featuring these wedding dresses between the precisely programmed events of the wedding day and the let-it-all-go, wild-and-crazy freedom of these photo sessions. And the gowns shine in both settings.

The brides tap into their imaginations as they collaborate with me, hatching the plan for these photo shoots. And if you look at my series of pictures, you’ll see the mischievous thrill on the faces of these lovely women. If you could see a behind-the-scenes collection of pictures of me, you would see that I am having spectacular fun, too.

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You are invited to share my Trash-the-Dress images to enjoy the happy faces in these out-of-the-box wedding mementos, and remember, on the other side of the lens, my smiles were even broader. Thank you, ladies, for making my day!

- Michael Soo

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.

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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.

I’m extremely pleased to announce the official launch of the website, Capture the Vogue that specializes in photography for fashion, lifestyle, beauty and glamour! It is a website is on my to-do list for many months now.

Some spots of time this past week has allowed me to put this website and its portfolio movies into action.

Check it out!

- Michael Soo

(click to see large image)

When we mention the word, “models”, the first thought that creeps into our heads are pictures of high fashion models that get paid in the millions, flying private jets, drinking champagne, scooping caviar with quaint mother of pearl spoons.

While putting together the 2008 Model Portfolio Photography package for Traci Halvorson Model Management in San Jose, I had an epiphany. Models have gotten the short end of the stick in this tough and competitive business. It’s a job that requires a lot of concentration, hard work, patience, the ability to laugh on-demand and hold poses for long period of time. On top of ALL that, a strong self-esteem to take rejection well and often!

Most casting calls are packed with models, at times, 10-20 of them, vying for the same job. This is especially true when there’s a big commercial gig in town. You’ll notice all the modeling agencies jumping into the fray! Nobody will get lucky everytime either. It’s definitely not the most glamorous work that is being portrayed in the movies.

In fact, in 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the modeling profession in general is ranked #8 in the list of Top 10 Worst Jobs in America! Models made a median hourly wage of $11.22, a bit less than twice the minimum wage of $5.85! Most models needed a second source of income.

Being a model isn’t all about money though. It’s a business that can provide opportunities to meet a large variety of people, directors, photographers, have fun, earn a living and gain glory while you’re at it! Yes, if you are good at it, join a great agency, create an excellent portfolio and you can definitely make a really good living.

It’s really about running a business. Like every business, it requires the model to keep a constant care about the core assets of the business. In this case, themselves! Models need to take care of every aspect of their lives, their skin, look, attire, etc. to maintain a marketable image. Photo shoots can be fun but they can get tiring, long and difficult at times.

To start your work as a model, you need a professional modeling portfolio and a comp card. Contrary to popular beliefs, joining a modeling agency is FREE! Creating a viable modeling portfolio isn’t.

Modeling portfolio is the most important expenditure you will make in the business of becoming a model. It is your marketing agent and your potential meter. It gives the idea to the agency and potential clients that you have the ability to portray the characters necessary for their advertising campaign.

The comp card or zed card that you have printed as your portfolio will always be seen by an agency or client before you get seen.

Those images are your MAIN and ONLY marketing tool that you employ. You will want to impress agencies and potential clients with images that demonstrates your looks and personality. Technology companies in the neighborhood seems to have a love affair with images that has an exact match of what they are looking for. That nurse in a lab coat, for example. When they find a match, they want that model who has that ability to portray their advertising campaign.

Bear in mind that LESS is MORE. You do not win hearts or get picked just because you have more images. However, your images need to be professional, visually inspiring and most importantly, produce an eye popping WOW Factor that enhance your strength, downplay your weaknesses and showcase your personalities.

Interested? Fly us an email.

- Michael Soo

We’re featured in NBC 11 sports news last night; in the Golden State Warrior Girls 2008 Swimsuit Calendar photoshoot.

They spelt my name as Michael Su instead of Michael Soo. I fixed the video using Photoshop Extended. Amazingly, Photoshop now deals with video as well as stills!

View the video in NBC 11 site or View the high resolution video (17 MB).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r62Mph5vQc4]

The thing is, this’s quite a bit more than just lighting. There are lots of behind-the-scenes that require great teamwork. We have a phenomenal team that made this photoshoot as smooth as silk. I want to take the opportunity to thank the 2nd photographer Paul Ferradas, photography assistants James Wilson, Ron Crain & Nancy Crain, the amazing makeup artists Janice Daoud and Karolin Sharin, hair stylists from Christopher Michaels, videographers, coordinator Alicia, the coach Susan, executives in WG, Kyle & Travis for making this all happen. Of course, the gorgeous cheerleaders themselves. The final key famly to thank are Jamal, Ranna & family for letting us use their phenomenal residence in Los Gatos. I apologize if I missed out anyone. THANK YOU!!!

After the official unveiling of the 2008 Swimsuit Calendar (which is slated to happen in a few weeks), the images will appear in my portfolio, blog and eMagazine.

Michael Soo

The Official Photographer for the NBA Golden State Warriors Cheerleaders