The Gold Reflector–Another Take!

I’ve written in past articles on the gold reflector and how it was originally made to provide warm, reflected light to illuminate subjects standing in the shade or open shade where the light color temperature is more cool in color.  The warmth from the gold will cancel out the blue cast often found in photos with subjects standing the shaded areas.

 Well there is another use for gold reflectors that works great with digital photography when it comes to outdoors and white-balance.  The results create dramatic skies and backgrounds that are illuminated by natural daylight and when that subject is not standing in the shade.  As mentioned earlier, the gold or warmer light from the reflector cancels out the coolness when the subject is standing in the shade, thus the image is truly daylight balance, but let’s take the subject out of the shade, preferrably in an area where the light is not harsh.

With this technique we change our white-balance from normal daylight of 5500K or if you shoot warm like me, from 6000K and change it to about 4,000K.  Thus, when you illuminate the subject with gold, the lower-temperature colored light will balance out and the higher-temperature sky, or daylight lit background will turn cooler or more blue.  Depending on the reflector and time of day you shoot at, you can adjust your white-balance even lover from 3200 to 3700K and deepen the blue in the daylight lit areas.

 This all takes practice, but can provide for some interesting backgrounds that will have a more dramatic appeal to them.  My favorite reflector brand is the California Sunbounce and the fabrics for the reflector frames come in many colors including gold. 

The idea with gold reflectors, don’t misuse them by photographing someone illuminated with a gold reflector outside of shaded areas with a normal, daylight-balanced white-balance.  Either illuminate your subject when they are in the shade with normal white-balance (5,000-6,000K) and a gold reflector or change the white-balance to a warmer number (3200-4000K) and illuminate your subject with a gold reflector when they are standing outside of shaded areas in to more direct sunlight.  Wishing you the best, rg sends!

Arrived in Europe

I arrived in Hamburg, Germany yesterday and am happy to be back in country I lived in for three years during my military service in the Army.  Though I lived in Mainz then Frankfurt, the German landscape is still refreshing and the people are sincere and friendly.  The food is great too!  The seven hour time zone difference hasn’t phased me either, normally it doesn’t till I get back home.

Tomorrow I travel to Berlin, then back to Hamburg then my schedule takes me to the Netherlands, Belgium then back to Germany.  The last time I was in Berlin was when the wall came down in 1989, still have a piece of it at home! 

About the biggest change I’ve seen so far is the currency, everything is Euros and not Deutch Marks.  The beir is still the same.  When I left Germany I stopped drinking beer as American beer doesn’t even compare.  Last night I had my first Weissen beir since the last time I was here–still great beer!  Next is to find me a shot of Asbauch Uralt, my favorite liqour here.  The brotchen bread breakfast was great this morning too!

Now for those that don’t know, I’m here on tour for Calumet Europe, here’s my schedule: http://www.calumetphoto.de/ctl?ac.ui.pn=eventLanding

Yes, it’s work, I’m not here on vacation, but it’s work I love, spreading the Gospel of Photography!  I hope to see some of my European friends while I’m here and I also plan on touring the Leica and Hensel factories too!  Hopefully I’ll have time to photograph a European model or two, as I’ve been contacted by a few and what a countryside to do photography–rich in old architecture and culture, thus a great backdrop for photographs.

 Well I have to get back to practice my presentation for tomorrow, so more will come as I get an Internet connection, thanks, rg sends, or as they say here in German, vielen Dank!

Mentors and Photoworkshop.com

Mentors, everyone should have one and I’m no different when it comes to my photography as mine is a living legend, author and photographer Robert Farber. Farber, originally discovered by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis when she brought Farber into Doubleday to publish his book “By The Sea,” has mentored me for sometime, both with and without his knowledge and is a true friend.

Farber often hates me to say this because it dates him, but when I was growing-up in photography, I would purchase his books and dream of shooting such thought-provoking images as he creates with his painterly style. Farber’s style is clean, yet powerful, his images don’t require any captions to convey the story.

Thanks to the “Great Equalizer,” the Internet, I became friends with Farber about eight years ago and more than ever our friendship has grown in the past few years. I can honestly say, some famous photographers have come and gone and many have promised me the world, only to show their true colors. Farber’s true colors are simple, he loves photography and is not afraid to share anything about his work or business side photography—he challenges you to go out and do it!

Almost seven years ago, while at the Photo Marketing Association International (PMA) show, I told Farber how the photo industry snickered at glamour photography—his answer was simple, go do magazine articles, teach workshops, speak at seminars and write books while attending every photo tradeshow—and then they won’t ignore you! He was right, even though I still have to work diligently to stay in the industry’s sites. More important, he taught me not to give up and to keep my head up high while aiming for taller goals.

In the end, whether it be eating at Sushi Roko in the Beverly Hills area near one of Robert’s houses or drinking a soda at a photo expo, Farber to this day always finds time to chat with me, something that shows his true colors. Most recently we’ve teamed up with Farber and have a special link for our Glamour1.com folks, so if you haven’t heard, go here: The G1 Special Page on Photoworkshop.com this place is loaded with mentors if you don’t have one already—let them know Glamour1 sent you! Wishing you the best, rg sends!

Sleepless in San Antonio

Well I’m literally headed to the shower then the airport. Yes, those that know me often know what I do before a morning flight—not sleep the night before for many reasons.

One reason is to get as many emails that I can answered, seems I’m always behind. The other reason, I have this fear I will not wake-up in time for my flight, so by staying up, well I’m up! Yeah, I know, sounds silly right? Well it probably is, but one thing for certain, I have yet to miss a flight (grin), besides, I’m sure I’ll get some sleep in that lovely coach seat all the way to Europe—the biggest leg is 8-plus hours and I know my IPOD battery won’t last that long.

Seriously, call it my U.S. Army training, but sleep is something I can sacrifice for the sake of photography—just don’t ask me if I’ll give up booze, as I only do that on the all-nighters since I have to drive with no sleep already. I know what you’re thinking, you’re probably saying, “Man, you’re nuts and now you want to get on the road in your sleepless state.” My answer is simple, I’ll be driving more sane than most folks here where I live, besides, I’ve got insurance.

Yeah, no insurance can stop the inconvenience associated with any repairs—I know that first-hand, my wife, who had all the sleep in the world yesterday, woke-up to take the kids to their first-day in school and she forget that garage door was not completely opened—so $431 later, the door is now fixed. Well time to run, they’re not going to hold any planes for me today, besides, that flying-bed awaits me, thanks, rg sends!

True Colors

Things I’ve observed since March 1999 when I first launched GarageGlamour.com (now www.glamour1.com) which often amazes me.

First, as a warm-up, I often help people as I believe in spreading the gospel of photography. Second, perhaps I’ve been too nice and now it’s time to rethink my philosophies in life. Third, I’m not perfect, and I too have had my quirks and have made my mistakes, but what I’m learning more exponentially than ever before, is the true side of people.

So here are some “things,” that I’ve learned and observed—keep in mind, these statements are about other people, not me—as an example, in item #1, I don’t have that kind of money. These statements are not about people I consider my true friends, so if you are one of my true friends, don’t place yourself here, these statements are more for people I now know were pretenders of friendship for their own agendas.

1. Money can buy you enough photographic training, equipment, and open doors for you for publication, but money can’t buy you consistency in style—and when that money dries up, so do your friends.

2. Photography is one of those professions like lawyers, you fight ugly against each other but you’ll also shoot hoops and have a drink with one another.

3. Back-stabbing is rampant, especially with those you have helped. People often show their true colors in many forms, but act color-blind when confronted personally about what they said or did.

4. Hypocrites exist in photography too, just like all professions, most is ego based.

In conclusion, I remember Malcolm Forbes in an interview where he stated he didn’t feel successful until he could count one true friend for each finger on each hand—he claimed then he was still working on his first hand and that he was not successful until those hands would fill up, which they never did by his terms.

I know how he felt and today, thanks to folks like Ralph, Michael, Sherwin, Hillary, Holley, Paul, Jesse and a few others for showing their true friendship, I’m working on hand two and might have an edge on Forbes—wow, is that a good sign? (grin)

Well it’s time to get some sleep so I can observe and learn more, after all, I’m not color-blind and I’ll keep my eye out for true colors. Wishing everyone the best, rg sends!

Glamourcon Chicago

Wow, what an experience, Glamourcon in Chicago rocked! This is the only event sanctioned by Playboy of this type, so I was honored that Bob, the owner of Glamourcon, invited me to do my lectures and a workshop along with other greats, like Mystique Magazine’s Mark Daughn. It was great to finally meet Mark, funny, he lives less than hour up the road from me, but we both seem to be on the road more than home.

Speaking of home, I’m finally here, well for at least two days before I head of to Europe for some photography. But back to Glamourcon, afterall, Bob, Keith, Mark and all the others that worked so hard there, made me feel at home. A special thanks to Playboy Playmate Holley Dorrough for sharing a table with me and being one of my models along with Tess and Playboy Special Editions model Kellie Maines. They all three drew a bunch of attention at the show–especially Tess, as she’s a new model in the industry. We’re all looking forward in doing this again in Los Angeles in October.

Glamourcon was interesting this year. First, I arrived early with all the models to work on my upcoming DVD. During that shoot, right before the weekend, Chicago was pummeled with storms, thus causing us to work some long days and evenings, as when power would go out, no filming. When power would come on, we’d have to film in between thunder sounds and lightning strikes—those video folks don’t want any external sounds that can affect the quality of the DVD, so shooting days became long shooting days! All the models and the team survived though.

However, our return to the hotel from filming took almost three hours, which normally would take about 50-minutes to get there from the DVD shooting studio. Part of the problem was closed roads from tornado damage. Not to mention, once at the hotel, no power, which meant generator power for limited functions and no air conditioning. So it was hot and humid for about two days, including the first day of Glamourcon. We survived though, and on Sunday, our last day, we had the cold air conditioning again. The trip almost reminded me of the Virgin Islands, though there we have windows that open for air circulation.

Regardless, the Glamourcon trip was worth every penny. I made some great networking contacts and even had time to spend with the owner of One Model Place. We talked about future endeavors and modeling sites on the internet in general, great conversations and look forward to what the future holds.

Well I’ve got to go back to the 500 or so emails I still have to answer, then I have to pack my old Hensel gear for refurbishment and ship it, since my new gear is in. Then I have to do the grocery store run for the family while also packing out for Europe—oh, did I mention, I have about 24 hours to get all this done (grin). My life, it’s been hectic lately and I can’t wait for the payoff, it’s coming for me and all those that believe—thanks for your patience, rg sends!

Houston, now Chicago

I’m still here, just been traveling like a 747 jet aircraft, from location to location. I’m actually home in San Antonio, at least till Wednesday morning when I take off to Chicago so we can work on my new photography DVD, then Glamourcon.

Glamourcon is not new, it’s been around for sometime and it’s one of the only officially endorsed events by Playboy that features many Playmates and other models. There I’ll teach two seminar/lectures and then one seminar/workshop, hope to see you there. My feature models include April 2006 Playboy Playmate Holley Dorrough and Playboy Model Kellie Maines. I hope to see you there.

This past weekend we were in Houston, WOW, what a great time. A great group of photographers for our one-day workshop and a great host, Art, a prominent attorney in Houston, thus we had nothing but success. We made the weekend of it, as I drove the three hours-plus to get there, then off to dinner at La Grigilia with Playboy Playmate Holley Dorrough, Art, his brother Gerald, Mandy, Maria, Art’s Personal trainer and some other folks. We unfortunately had to take one uninvited guest and put him in his place when we referred to one of the girls in a negative manner.

All that aside, as it was more of a sideshow than an incident, from there we had a great workshop on Saturday followed by a “reservations only” dinner at Armando’s, a great Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston. Then we headed to “Vogue,” a trendy club in Houston where Mandy’s boyfriend popped the cork off bottles of the expensive and trendy Cristal champagne–they were celebrating their anniversary. While this is not my type of splurging, hey, it wasn’t my money (grin) and it was not a bad sip or two that I had of this flat-bottomed bottle of champagne.

The workshop was followed by a trip to the “shooting range,” so Holley and Devon could let their frustrations out with a .380 handgun before they went shopping for those “religious jeans.” Thank goodness it was not my pocketbook (grin).

Well we all made it back to San Antonio, as Devon lives up the road and Holley is flying up to Chicago with me on Wednesday. It’s not unusual for Holley to stay at my house, in fact in the Playboy issue that featured each Playmate for the Playmate of the Year contest, Holley refers to San Antonio as her home at the time, and she’s always treated here like family. We’ve been playing catch-up to get everything ready before our early morning departure, as once we arrive in Chicago we start working on the DVD nonstop until Glamourcon. It’s going to be a great DVD, featuring many models including Kellie and Holley, two veteran Playboy models I’ve had the pleasure of working with before.

Well it’s time for bed as we’ve just finished packing the last of the books for shipping tomorrow, and I thank everyone for their patience as we had many orders to fill. The biggest delay was to pin me down to sign them, but they’re signed. Thanks, and more soon, rg sends!

Faith, the Sanity of Risk

What a day today, I’ve spent an hour unpacking my new Hensel lights from Germany in the hot, humid Texas weather, which is anticipating a change with all the tropical storms approaching us. My bones and muscles are still aching from the Virgin Islands trip. The kids screaming, “Daddy,” which makes your heart feel sick as I know I’ve barely seen them since I travel so much and I know I’ll barely see them the rest of the month. I swore, with my first divorce I’d never let this happen with my current kids, that Dad, would spend more time watching them grow up.

Barely home 24 hours, I spent three hours reading over 3,000 emails, as the connection in the VI was interrupted. Not to mention all the work I’m trying to catch-up on, including the latest book material. I swear, I work more hours than I’ve ever worked in my life since I’ve been self-employed. But I love being practically my own boss and I’m willing to take that sacrifice.

What is it with being the breadwinner, are we just destined to work long-hours and sometimes feel like we are going nowhere? Don’t get me wrong, long-hours have never bothered me, especially with my military training. Perhaps I’m just frustrated that I’m so close, yet so far and this process always seems to keep my kiddos at a distance, I love them so. It’s almost here they keep telling me, they being those like Doc Kahn and my other buddy and photographer Michael Dean who believe in me. You guys and a few more are the ones that keep me going. It’s all about passion, something we all share, something that keeps us all going. Ultimately it’s one word, faith!

Faith is my stronghold, though I don’t practice it like I should. Faith is what I follow in my journey to go after my long- and short-term goals, something I do have in my head but don’t always share. Faith is my pulse that keeps me going, thanks to the fans out there and the clients too. Faith is something that keeps the blood flowing and helps me stay sane.

Now sanity, that’s another topic, but sanity is my sanctuary, though many times I claim we’re all crazy at one point or another in our lives. In photography you have to be a little crazy to keep your sanity, now that statement in whole is in fact a sanctuary that keeps us all going. Though it never hurts to let the hair down and get a bit crazy—that’s called risk, and in life, to get ahead, you’re sanctuary is plan A, though have a plan B. that is the craziness that will work, also know as risk mixed with faith.

Oh well, time to hit the rack as philosophy is not my stronghold, but what is my weakness? That’s another blog topic left for another day. Wishing everyone the best, rg sends!

The Virgin Islands Number Nine

Wow, what a workshop! We just arrived after finishing our 9th consecutively sold-out International Glamour, Beauty and the Nude Workshop in the Virgin Islands and not only am I exhausted, but I think we wore everyone out too—including the video and sound crew that captured the priceless moments.

Whether it was this month’s Kellie M. from the Women of Playboy’s current Hot Housewives issue running down the beach as the film crew rolled their cameras alongside the still cameras from the attendees, or the priceless shots of the bride in her white dress falling into the infinity pool, this was one of the best Virgin Islands workshop of all time.

Excitement was in the air as everyone had to put on their “acting” shoes, though the film production crew did their best not to interrupt the integrity of the workshop. Stero, our Bulgarian photographer was booted off the island in enactment while Playboy models Laura F. and Kellie M. staged a photographer’s critique with myself as the host of the conversation. Everyone worked longer and harder hours to facilitate the video production and it was amazing to see how everyone involved became a family that did not want to leave in the end.

Even the four new models that joined the veterans, Kellie and Laura, came in with great attitudes to succeed. This was the first workshop were we decided to change the original concept of my more veteran models with models who would arrive to the Virgin Islands for their first time—and it worked great! Rotating models prevents complacent attitudes while providing new talent and allows for each group of attendees to photograph new models so their images will not have the similar location and talent as the previous workshop.

As an example, Mark Thomason, whose photos are featured in my latest book, Rolando Gomez’s Glamour Photography and Techniques, now has three Virgin Islands workshops under his belt plus the upcoming Oct. 2007 workshop! This is becoming more common, many attendees have hit the “three” or “third” VI workshop mark and need new talent to build their portfolios.

We also tried a new concept, give the models more opportunities to make some extra income at these workshops, so I brought in a few of my favorite photographer friends to work and compensate the models before the attendees arrived. Keith, Paul and Stero arrived with my talent and I several days before the workshop attendees arrived, thus the models locked-in private shoots beforehand. On “airport day,” the day I personally pick up the attendees, my photographer friends departed happy with their images while the models were smiling too as they now had spending money for their trip into St. Thomas.

Keith, Paul and Stero all have paid and been “attendees” to previous workshops. Like all workshops, many friendships and bonds are created and it’s that creation that allowed these three to join us early on. It’s all about the models, or as I like to say, the “girls,” and unlike most workshops out there that pay their models with nothing but promised prints, my “girls” make money and this workshop was no different. Even our make-up artist, Stephanie, did great, though I credit that to the best make-up I’ve ever seen, as she not only used traditional make-up techniques, but she also used air-brush and other artistic techniques.

Stephanie, a former military police officer, carries a super-sweet voice along with a big stick. Our models share the same house together with Stephanie, and I made the 6-foot tall former U.S. Army, noncommissioned officer, second in charge and boy did she take charge. For the first time ever, the model’s residence was spotless as Stephanie assigned “duties” to the girls—they were given these rotating, daily chores, like sweeping, mopping, taking out the trash, cleaning the bathroom, etc., and not one girl complained, in fact they all were happy to be part of a team. I had never seen the model’s quarters so clean and when you have seven girls living in a small house, you never know what to expect, though this time was different, it was a well organized group led by a leader with leadership experience. As our veteran Playboy model Laura said to the group at dinner while eating lobster, “This workshop by far has been the best workshop with the best make-up ever.”

All the girls acknowledged this too, as it was definitely a tearful departure for everyone when it all came to an end. Some of it was evident days before, like on the “Honeymoon Beach” night were we all gather around linen draped tables and enjoy shrimp and rib-eye steaks on the moonlit beach or the night after that where Kevin, my number one driver in the Virgin Islands used his diving skills and brought us 25-freshly caught lobsters. That night, while Kevin grilled the 3-pound lobsters with “jerk” seasonings, we had many speeches from the group thanking everyone for their hard work. Even the camera crew was thanked as they too helped load 25-cases of water, 25-twelve packs of sodas, 15-dozen eggs, 7-gallons of milk, 300-strips of bacon, 25-bags of ice, 20-pounds of mesquite-smoked brisket and all the other groceries that it took to run this workshop.

And while obviously food and water are important, so is the equipment and this workshop had the best ever as we used brand-new Hensel lighting equipment, some fired for the first time. The reflectors and scrims from California Sunbounce just as amazing too. Even new C-stands from Samy’s Camera in Los Angeles were part of the mix along with three Hensel Beauty dishes and several Chimera Super Pro Plus softboxes. The Chimera softboxes are not only important when we show the attendees how to use them with special ¾-CTO fronts to change the sky deep-blue in camera, but also for our “bonus nighttime shoot” shoot where all the photographers get to photograph two beautiful models, Laura and our Canadian model Christina, in full-fine-art-nude poses.

While many photographers raved about the bonus shoot, others raved even more when we showed them how to change the color of the background, in this case the sky and the water, through the use of white-balance and colored gels. Igor, one of the attendees who brought his wife to assist him, was amazed how his sky turned magenta in color through this technique along with how we could also change the sky to red with the same technique. I even loaned out my Leica M-8 digital rangefinder camera—he loved it and put it on his wish list. Ultimately, it’s all about getting it done in the camera first without relying to heavily on Adobe Photoshop.

Heavy Photoshop is like heavy make-up, neither work great and while we had the best make-up ever, I’d have to say this was not only a great group of models and photographers, but the greatest atmosphere experience at these workshops in quite sometime—everyone got along. All the talent worked hard, but also had fun and with the bar fully stocked with over 50-bottles of liquor at one point, how could you miss when you throw in an exotic and private location along with an extra-large swimming pool and hot tub spa?

While no workshop is perfect, we take what we learn from all of them and try and make the future workshops better. It’s no perfect science, ultimately it’s a “live and learn” environment along with the opportunity to become a better photographer. The video crew enjoyed it so much so that they too would get involved, thus helping create the conditions of success. We’ll take the best from this workshop and the past, thus you can bet the upcoming Fall workshops this year in the Virgin Islands will be even better. Thanks to everyone for all their hard work, rg sends!

Late Night, Early Morning, Private Shoot Day

As usual I’m traveling like crazy. Came home from Chicago on Wednesday and have been playing catch-up ever since. Often it seems like life is nothing but playing catch-up, I guess this is what they mean about, “You work harder when self-employed.” I know, I’ve worked more hours than I ever have in my life, per week, now that I work for myself.

Tomorrow is Monday, pack-out day for the next Virgin Islands trip, our ninth workshop there. It’s going to be a spectacular one as we’re changing everything. The last three Virgin Islands trips some of the models and other hired help became too complacent. I’ve learned my lesson, rotate the talent, so we’ve got four new models going, our only two returning veterans are Playboy model Laura F., and she’s really been away while at school for a year, so she’s like a fresh new model, and of course this month’s Playboy Hot Housewife Kellie Maines.

Of the four new models, one is fairly new, but thanks to “Stereo” while filming my newest video in Chicago, I was able to work with her and right there on the spot I told her, “You’re going to the Virgin Islands.” The other new model I’ve been dying to work with for sometime, she comes highly-published from Toronto, Canada and after our workshop is on the way to the Playboy Mansion. The third new model I’ve worked with before down at our recent Atlanta workshop, she’ll add diversity with her Asian looks. Finally, our fourth new model is a hot jalapeño from Texas who I recently photographed for my own upcoming books.

We’ve replaced our former make-up artist with the talented Stephanie from Atlanta. She’s a hoot and a former military police sergeant and civilian police officer with the sweetest voice while carrying a big stick—she’ll be my second in command and her military training helps as she’s already coordinating the models and photographers, before our arrival. Many thanks to Paul Hu for introducing her to me! She was a big hit in Atlanta and all the models there loved her and personally requested her as one of the new MUA’s. We’ll also rotate MUA’s for our VI trips as Stephanie still has her full-time job in Atlanta and I can only use so much of her vacation time.

Well now we have today, I’m headed this morning to a private residence to do another private shoot. This one is the wife of a local surgeon and she’s pumped to get some great shots. Like all my private clients, we talked and meet before hand. I’m happy too that Wendy, our MUA from Austin, is the type that will help transform my client into a state of mind that will make my creativity easier. Sure to be a great shoot as they have a lovely residence and barely down the street. Well have to run, wishing everyone a great Sunday, rg sends!

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