Blog | Rolando Gomez

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Virgin Islands, Glamour, Beauty & the Nude #35

May 1, 2013 By rg sends! Leave a Comment

Date: April 10-15, 2014 (Early Bird Pricing!)
Venue: U.S. Virgin Islands
Details: We’ve changed it up, this workshop is limited to eight photographers. We’re also adding St. John to the workshop. Eight photographers, five models for this workshop. First-come, first-serve!

Photo of Amy from our April 2013 photography workshop.

This is our 35th Virgin Islands photography model workshop since 2004 and our first for 2014. The dates are April 10-15th, 2014. Fly in on April 10th (Thurs.) into St. Thomas (Airport code STT) then we ferry you over to a smaller island where it’s a private, camp-style workshop–open to all levels of photography, from beginners to advanced–your departure day is April 15th, (Tuesday) unless you choose to stay longer in St. Thomas on your own. April 14th is our private shoot day. While not mandatory, on our private shoot day, we encourage it to work with your favorite models on a “one on one” hourly basis. April 13th we shoot in St. John, a new excursion we’ve added to these workshops!

These workshops promise more than the best workshops ever done–this is not a foreign country, this is the U.S. Virgin Islands! No currency conversions, no foreign language, no crazy inflated value-added taxes or worries about the food and water or your camera equipment held in customs till you pay the “bribe.” Currently, for U.S. citizens, a U.S. passport it not required, provided you present a government issued identification card, such as a driver’s license. Non-U.S. citizens require a passport.

We’ve got a place that rocks! The location was featured on HGTV and Brad Pitt even filmed parts for one of his movies on this secluded island. It’s not your “typical tourist hotel” trap found in other workshops–this is a private paradise 10-minutes from St. Thomas giving us great sunsets, sunrises, private infinity-pool shots with the ocean blue/green waters and golden sunsets in the background. I’ve created two book covers and one magazine cover at this location.

Complete with outdoor activities and a dinner on the beach after sunset, this workshop is better than the best workshops ever held! We even had one photographer sign-up for ten Virgin Islands workshops and another for five plus two Moab photography workshops, so all photography slots sell fast! We have a high return rate of previous attendees and now we’ve expanded it by adding a day trip to St. John.

Limited to EIGHT photographers only! That’s right, we’ll shoot five beautiful models in groups of two photographers per one model, the whole time you’re there–you will photograph every model. There is no room for more than eight photographers, period. Prices will eventually go up if not booked early! We’ll be staying on a private island off St. Thomas in a “camp-like” style environment (concrete cottages) as we enjoy the use of three residences with full facilities including internet connection DSL, refrigerator, stove, satellite TV, and phone plus we’ll serve breakfast and provide lunch options. Use the button below to reserve your “Early Bird” price at $1999 today, regular price resumes to $2499 before you know it! Save $500 now! Rates will go up after first four attendees sign-up, so save now Guarantee your slot!

This package includes lodging during the workshop and most drinks and food–there is two optional evening dinners at your expense as we provide some of the dinners. Your responsibility, get there! Fly into St. Thomas. From there you’ll have the greatest time photographing models without hotel distractions, tourist distractions, etc…total focus on what we’re there for, the glamour, beauty and the nude photography of beautiful women. This is outdoor photography in an exotic tropical setting!

Photo of Jenni from our April 2013 workshop.

This is a first-come, first-serve, non-refundable workshop. The workshop attendees will not be staying in a hotel, we’ll be staying in fully equipped houses that are cottage style, complete with satellite TV, DSL, refrigerator, stove, etc.–your house on a private island. Early-bird price is $1999, save $500 today before prices go up to $2499. Please use the button above to pay securely with PayPal. You may also use the “Bill Me Now, Pay Later Option.”

Lighting is provided for sun-overpowering shots with Hensel portable lighting gear, though you may bring your own lighting too. We’ll have some California Sunbounce scrims and reflectors, again, you may bring your own too. Make-up and hair provided for the models too.

Rolando will cover many topics, from basics, fundamentals and concepts that you can use in glamour photography and other genres of photography. Emphasis on lighting, posing, and the ability to see and feel the light. You’ll get hands on instruction and demonstrations. Overpowering the sun with flash will be a big focus along with beach and pool shoots.

Rolando will walk you through, step by step showing you the in’s and out’s of the image, at the same time, every photographer will have his or her time to photograph lovely, photogenic models from sunrise to sunset. The emphasis is to take photographs not pictures. Plus much, much more!

Three full-days of shooting and one optional day to book private shoots! Private shoots are optional and will be scheduled reasonably for a small additional charge–this money goes straight to the model–first come, first serve. Shooting will be from sunrise to sunset–just like if you’re on assignment for publication. Time is allocated to enjoy the hot tub and swimming pool during non workshop hours–yes, have fun in the sun, work hard, and capture great images!

All proceeds are non-refundable, but we will allow you to transfer your seat should you have to change your plans with at least a 90-day notice. You must do the transfer on your own as we will not refund anyone due to the small size of this workshop. We will do our best to assist you in finding a replacement, but there is no guarantee.

Over 6,000 students have attended Rolando’s workshops and speaking engagements in the past fourteen years–Rolando is the only current glamour workshop instructor with national speaking credentials, photo blogs, photography book author, photo magazine staff writer with national and international tearsheets. Rolando also discovered the April 2006 Playboy Playmate for Playboy–she attended the April 2006 VI workshop as an actual model too! This workshop is open to all levels of photographers, from beginners to advanced–Rolando will take time to work with new photographers and will answer your questions before, during and after the workshop. No one is leaving the island until it’s over!

The workshop is intense, but designed for everyone. Breakfast and lunch are available every day upon arrival. Evening supper will be furnished two of the five days. Lunch is available, but you’re free to take the 5-minute ferry ride into St. Thomas for lunch too. Refreshments will be provided.

Photo of Katy from our April 2013 workshop.

The price is for workshop and lodging costs and some meals, you are responsible for all travel. The price includes three solid days of shooting with models. We break the eight photographers in teams of two, so you always work with a partner but never have to wait in line. Models are rotated twice daily to allow for major shoots with two models at a time per day–you will photograph all five models. We reserve the fourth shooting day for private shooting for a small additional fee, this is an optional day after your three solid days of shooting, for your favorite models. This system works so good we’ve had many repeat customers to the VI workshops. We’ve also added a one-day, photography excursion into St. John on the third day.

Make-up will be provided and images may be used in off-line, personal and web portfolios, and mandatory releases are provided that allow commercial use for an additional $100 per model, $500 total (paid to the model by the photographer, only once and covers all three days). This is an unrestricted release (except for adult pay-sites or membership sites), full use, including nudity. First Come, First Serve Basis–limited seating–Reserve Your Slot Now!

A minimum of five people must attend otherwise the workshop will be canceled/rescheduled and refunds will be immediately provided. Rolando has never canceled a Virgin Islands or exotic photography workshop in the past 14 years. Feel Free to email Rolando Gomez should you have any questions at rolando(at)rolandogomez.com with a CC copy to gophotog(at)gmail(dot)com and include your contact information and best time to call. Cancellations are not allowed due to the size and impact associated with maintaining these exotic workshops–we will however consider a case-by-case basis based on facts, but these types of workshops are non-cancel events.

Filed Under: Blog, Exotic Workshops, | Workshops Tagged With: beauty, bikini, camera, DSLR, Exotic, glamour, lens, lighting, Models, nude, Photography, photos, tropical, Virgin Islands, workshop

San Antonio, Glamour, Beauty & the Nude Photo Workshop

April 30, 2013 By rg sends! Leave a Comment

Date: August 17th, Saturday
Time: 9:30 a.m. till 5 p.m.
Location: San Antonio (NEW Models too!)
Price: $299

One of our past photography workshop models.

We’re doing it again, having a San Antonio, Glamour, Beauty & the Nude photography workshop at a private residence on the Northwest side of San Antonio. It’s our third San Antonio workshop for 2013! Previous San Antonio workshops have included Playboy Playmates Holley Dorrough and Cassandra Lynn plus other gorgeous models. So sign up early and don’t miss out!

This photography workshop, with four models, is limited in size–location details given only to registered attendees. This is one of the few locations still left on the photo workshop schedule–so don’t hesitate, come to the workshop at a great price before prices go up and it’s too late!

The workshop is open to photographers of all levels, beginners to advanced, though you must be over 18-years of age to attend. We’ll have a small lecture, hands-on photography instruction, then we shoot, shoot, shoot, gorgeous, talented models. First-come, first serve! Limited in size! Once it sells out, it’s sold-out!

Here are the particulars:

1. You must pay for your own lodging and travel, we’ll provide suggestions but anywhere near the Northwest side of San Antonio, close to Loop 1604 West and IH10 North is fine.

2. Bring your camera, preferably a DSLR. It must have a hot shoe (where you flash slides on top) or as a minimum, a pc connection for our studio flash–we provide all lighting and backdrop equipment.

3. You must have the passion to photograph up to five beautiful models. The type of photography is glamour, beauty and nude photography. You will have almost an entire day to photograph models in their beauty in an organized and structured event.

4. While it’s intense, we’ll have fun in this educational experience. We’ll provide lunch, you provide the coffee if you need it, but surely bring some Red Bull for energy because this is an energized workshop. Sign-up for this workshop only if you have the passion for photographing gorgeous models.

5. Camera requirements are any type of camera, preferably 35mm DSLR or SLR, medium or large format is optional. Lens focal range, from 24mm to 200mm, though a typical 70-200mm zoom lens or a prime lens, effective from 50-105mm is perfect. A back-up drive to download your images is recommended but not required. If you have a Sony (Minolta) camera, please ensure you have a hot shoe adapter or PC connection.

6. Professionalism is required, we’re there to capture beautiful images of beautiful models. If you have Pocket Wizard remotes, bring them too, though not required as we’ll have our own radio triggers. We’ll work with octaboxes, softboxes, reflectors, grids and more, all provided by us!

If you can meet the requirements and you have the passion to create some beautiful, unique images of gorgeous models, this is the photography workshop for you. We accept payments securely through PayPal and have other options if you prefer. This is a first-come, first-serve event as class size is limited. Model releases are optional but encouraged. This is the early-bird price, prices will soon go up, so don’t delay, book now before it’s too late! Please use the PayPal button below. We’ve used PayPal securely for almost 14-years.

Here is the secure PayPal button to lock-in your shooting slot before they are all gone–remember, it’s limited in size, so do it before the workshop sells out! Just click the button link below and you can take up to six months to pay:

Model releases for the event are $60 per model at the end of the day. These are voluntary releases, but highly encouraged as these models will be working for you. These releases are provided by us and allow you to use the images for commercial use and the only restriction is prohibited use for adult related material—nudes are artistic, editorial and glamour nude only at this workshop when it comes to nudity.

You are required to arrive no later than 9:30 a.m. local time on the workshop day. We end at 5:00 p.m.

Cancellation rules apply as this is a first-come, first-serve event limited in size. Don’t get left behind, don’t miss out on a wonderful opportunity. We can’t allow too many people on the property, it’s very limited in size, so don’t delay, act now an save before prices go up!

Filed Under: Blog

What Is An Editorial Nude?

October 28, 2010 By rg sends! 2 Comments

As I transition more to authoring new books, blogging and participating more on GarageGlamour.com, many photographers have noticed that as part of my “Farewell Photo Workshop Tour,” that we’ve included our editorial nude photography workshops in some locations. This has brought a few emails asking for some clarification.

Simply put, there are various forms (genres) of nude photography, including fine-art nudes (which others fall into also), implied nudes, glamour nude, Playboy nudes, editorial nudes, and just about anything you can add the word “nude” to at the end of it. You name it, someone is teaching it—the problem lies not in nude photography, but many so-called glamour and nude photography workshops are just gang-bang shooting of cheesecake nude photos—and you wonder why there are some photographers labeled GWC’s, guys with cameras?

Unfortunately nude photography is being diluted daily, so I decided that I’d add editorial nude photography years ago as a different workshop than my “Glamour, Beauty and the Nude” themed workshops—and after conducting almost 500 photography workshops, seminars and lectures around the world in the past 12-years, I think I’ve got a good hand on what is what when it comes to photography.

In the case of editorial nude photography, it’s basically nude images that help convey some meaning, not sex, not porn, but true meaning including sometimes the mood of the subject. These types of images often tell a story, and sometimes have a great story behind them. It’s about mood, emotion, storytelling, lighting, shadows, and sometimes even controversial, though I tend to avoid the latter.

At my Editorial Nude photography workshops, we work with simple lighting modified normally with 7-inch metal reflectors and metal grids. The concept is to use shadows in your favor, tell the story, and to get away from marking the treasure map “X” on the floor—in other words, we don’t want you just standing there, we want you moving around the subject so you can see how the “Angle of Incidence Equals the Angle of Reflection” physics law come to play in photography. We also ask you to turn your camera, not just plain horizontal or vertical images.

These types of images you could sell in art galleries, these are not cheesecake glamour nudes, these photos help you create are artistic but more important, solid and worthy of hanging in art galleries.

Now when we do your “Glamour, Beauty and the Nude” themed workshops, we use larger light modifiers, like 7-foot Chimera Octaboxes, 4-foot by 6-foot softboxes, beauty dishes, ringflash, California Sunbounce Pro reflectors and the list goes on—normally lighting used for editorial nudes is not the type we’d use in glamour photography. Still not sure, well please visit EditorialNudes.com, my editorial nude photoblog that I just launched—it’s expanding with more images, so please be patient. For now, since we don’t want to upset Google advertising, we can’t post images here, but you can find them at EditorialNudes.com. Thanks, Rolando

Filed Under: Blog, Photography, Workshop Related Tagged With: beauty, camera, digital photography, editorial nude, glamour, lighting, nude, Photography, shadows, studio lighting, workshop

LensDiaries.com, Let the Stories Be Told

July 8, 2010 By rg sends! 2 Comments

In today’s world of being anyone, including a photographer, we have to constantly evaluate our situation and adapt to the changing times, so I’ve launched LensDiaries.com, my new hybrid photoblog created to spread the gospel of photography as I transition away from an exhaustive, 11-plus years of conducting over 450 photography workshops and seminars to thousands of people around the world. At LensDiaries.com you’ll find the stories and technical specifications of photos I choose for your insight in my photography. This photoblog is an extension of the five photography books I’ve published–so please help me spread the passion of photography.

With your support I will add photography tips and multimedia content along with photo critiques. For the inquiring minds that want to know, I will continue to conduct workshops and seminars, but on a very limited basis starting in the Fall of 2010. This will allow me more time to continue with my writings, future books and my photography. My focus is aimed at smaller, more exotic workshops to provide a more semi-private and a more intimate environment that you sometimes lose in a larger workshop environment. I’m always available for private photography instruction, just contact me here with your contact information and best time to call.

I will still blog on this site and inform you of my schedule and other items that I feel are better left on here, on my personal blog. On occasion, you will see a replication of content on both blogs, but remember, this site is a more personal blog and LensDiaries.com is a hybrid of a photoblog and blog, so both sites will have unique content too. I will also shift my focus from workshops to concentrate on Photographic Therapy, as a concept and the website, PhotographicTherapy.com. I hope you’ll visit all three sites.

Overtime, with your support, LensDiaries.com will transform into a more established photoblog–-this is a photographic journey we can accomplish together. Finally, I close by saying that I need your help to spread the gospel of photography by tweeting all the blog entries both here and on LensDiaries.com. Please tell all your friends and colleagues through all the social media networks—there are Facebook “like” and Twitter “retweet” buttons, please utilize them, every tweet and mention helps. Let’s spread the knowledge together. Let the stories be told! Thanks, Rolando

Filed Under: Blog, Life, Model Topics, Photography, Workshop Related, | How To, | Workshops Tagged With: blog, books, LensDiaries.com, multimedia, photoblog, Photography, stories, Workshop Related, writing

Back Up And Running

June 29, 2010 By rg sends! 1 Comment

Well after being on the road on “back to back” workshops in the Virgin Islands, Phoenix, Moab and Daytona, we’re back for a few days of rest—however, while I was gone on this last trip, you probably noticed that our site along with GarageGlamour.com and a few other photography and modeling sites were down. Thanks to some hacker looking for glory, our server was penetrated so hard that we had to do a complete server rebuild—thank goodness for back-ups! This was only our third time in almost twelve years this has happened and let’s pray it doesn’t happen again.

I can’t stress, whether it’s your personal photos, computer files, website, databases or your own dedicated server, always have off-site back-ups—this saved us tons, but in the end, hackers do what they do best, they rob you resources, both financially and time that could be used better elsewhere.

Often rumors are abound that hacked servers spread viruses or malware of some type, and some do, but I can assure you neither our dedicated server nor any of our websites on our dedicated server had any type of issues that would have affected your personal computer. While for the most part we’re back to 100%, we’re still updating files and operating systems to the more current versions, which also increases our security and your security while visiting our sites. Through these upgrades you may experience a glitch from time to time, but not to worry, any glitch is only temporary. So far our security checks are at 100% fully secure and we’ll keep monitoring them to ensure a top-quality delivery of our content.

I close by saying thanks for all your support and for loyalty during this time, and yes, the long hours never stop—it’s the nature of the beast sometimes. Thanks again, and don’t forget our military troops, their families and friends, God Bless! Rolando

Filed Under: Blog, Life Tagged With: Daytona, secure, servers

The Angle of Incidence Equals the Angle of Reflection

June 15, 2010 By rg sends! 1 Comment

In physics, the law of reflection states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. This tenet is fundamental to the understanding of light and can be summarized thusly: if light strikes an object at angle A, it will be reflected in the opposite direction, also at angle A, similar to the way a ball bounces off a brick wall. In photography, the law of reflection is rarely discussed; one typically hears more about the Inverse Square Law or that white reflects and black absorbs. While these are indeed important aspects of light, the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection are two components of physics that, once understood, can help photographers improve their images they create in both artificial and natural light.

The easiest way to comprehend this concept is to go into a place that has hard, shiny floors and overhead lighting (grocery stores work great!). Look down while you walk and you’ll see hot spots of light on the floor move with you as you walk. These hot spots are the direct reflection of the overhead lighting, and they evidence the law of reflection. These equal angles of incidence and reflection can cause hot spots on your subject too. Understanding the law of reflection will help you avoid hot spots on your subjects, whether you are photographing models, cars, food, or landscapes. In fact, managing these equal angles of reflection in your photographs allows you to add or eliminate texture and color in your images.

The law of reflection is also responsible for the red-eye effect that plagues ring flash users when shooting through the ring. Because the camera’s lens is at the same angle to the subject as the flash, the reflection of light against blood vessels in the retina at the rear of the eye produces red-eye. An easy way to eliminate red-eye is to brighten the room; this causes the subject’s pupils to contract, thus greatly reducing any reflection. Another method is to take a monolight with a 7-inch 20 degree grid and point it at your subject’s face with only the modeling lamp powered on (not the flash unit itself). Many flash units, including the Broncolor, Hensel, and Profoto brands have separate switches for the modeling lamp and electronic flashtube, allowing them to be powered separately.

The law of reflection is especially troublesome when glass or mirrors are present in the image. The equal angles of incidence and reflection cause hot spots in glass and mirrors when using a flash. The simple solution is to move the flash away from the camera so that the angles are not identical.

In the studio, you can use the monolight red-eye reduction technique described above in a darkened room. This will allow you to show more of your subject’s iris and less of their dark pupils. The technique works well with light-colored eyes, especially green and blue. Don’t be alarmed by the appearance of harsh shadows on one side of the nose, as the power of the artificial flash will knock this out when it fires

By moving the camera and light source(s) independently, you can use the law of reflection in your favor, almost like an added layer of makeup to smooth your subject’s skin. As you walk around your subject, you will notice that hot and washed out spots will appear and disappear based on the angle of reflection. You may also notice that your model’s face appears smoother from one angle and rougher from another angle, as the valleys of the pores are filled in with shadows. Through positioning your camera and light sources independently, you can eliminate hot spots and create the appearance of a smoother skin texture.

Because the vast majority of what we see is reflected light (as opposed to incidental light), we as photographers live in an illuminated world. Without light, we would have no images to capture, and humans would see nothing but perpetual blackness. Understanding the law of reflection will allow you to outshine your competitors, as your photographs will take advantage of one of the fundamental laws of the universe and stand out from those created by your peers. Well that’s it for now, please don’t forget our military troops, their families and friends, as they all sacrifice to keep our nation strong and free–God Bless! Rolando

Filed Under: Blog, Photography, | How To Tagged With: angle, digital photography, flash, glass, Incidence, law, lighting, physics, red-eye, reflection, ring flash, studio lighting

Photo Workshop and Party at the Palms!

June 14, 2010 By rg sends! 1 Comment

Photo of Mari, art direction, Playboy photographer Arny Freytag. Photo taken after the Phoenix Mansion photography workshop.

Note: Just announced, next Phoenix Mansion Shoot with Arny Freytag. (info here)

I just returned from a fabulous photography, semi-private instructional workshop featuring Playboy’s top photographer, Arny Freytag. On occasion, Arny comes out and guest instructs at some of our photography workshops, most recently the Las Vegas and Los Angeles photography workshops. Next month he’ll join us for a day as a guest instructor at the Los Angeles (workshop info here) photography workshop held at a 6,000 sq.ft. studio location with six gorgeous models including Playboy Playmate Holley Dorrough and American Idol star, Amy Davis.

Arny also indicated he’ll make an appearance at our Las Vegas workshop and birthday bash celebration this August at the Palms Casino where we’re alway treated well from the owner and staff. This will be our third photography workshop at the Palms Casino and at our Dec. 2009 glamour photography workshop, Arny spent two days instructing our attendees as we photographed models in the luxurious, 6,200 sq.ft., Sky Villa Penthouse suite—in fact, some of those images are in my new photography lighting book, Rolando Gomez’s Lighting for Glamour Photography: Techniques for Digital Photographers.

The Palms Casino and Palms Place always provide for some great shooting and touring of the clubs for all the attendees, and this photography workshop will be the best as Playboy Playmate Holley Dorrough and I will be celebrating our birthdays on Saturday evening throughout the casino along with a few other Leos who have their birthdays very close to ours. The workshop is on Friday and Saturday, then more fun begins Saturday evening as we head out to tour the clubs at the Palms like the Rain, The Lounge, Moon, Ghost Bar, Satellite Bar, and even the Playboy Club.

Playboy photographer Arny Freytag, Palms Casino Owner Gavin Maloof, Playboy Playmate Holley Dorrough and I at Gavin's house.

We’ve got a few slots left, so we hope to see you there, so far the guest list is looking great and our models Holley, Amy, Mari, Candice, Eleya and Heather are looking forward to pose for all those digital cameras. We might even add a few more models to make it fun and exciting for everyone! We’ll even have our top make-up artist, Stephanie Dawn. All attendees get special room rates, so there will be no need to leave the Palms Casino during this weekend workshop and celebration.

Hopefully you’ve signed up before we run out of spaces, but regardless, don’t forget our men and women in uniform who make all our freedoms possible along with the sacrifices of their families and friends, God Bless! Rolando

Filed Under: Blog, Photography, Workshop Related Tagged With: Arny, birthday, Holley, instruction, lighting, Models, Palms Casino, Palms Place, Phoenix, Photography, Playboy, workshop

Communication is Essential to Great Photography

May 19, 2010 By rg sends! Leave a Comment

Communication is key when it comes to photography.

The greatest photographers in the world have three things in common, a creative eye, the comprehension of their equipment and the ability to communicate both to their subject and the intended audience—or as I like to say, the three C’s of photography, creativity, comprehension and communication. At some point in our lives, we often hear that communication or the lack of communication is the root of all problems, so I will focus on communication since most photography involves some sort of dialogue between a photographer and a subject.

First, in order to better understand communication, a photographer should take from what is known as the “mother of all models,” the Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver’s 1949 communication model. This communication model is composed of the following elements—a sender (information source), a message, a transmission, a channel, a receiver and a destination. In this mix you also have the concept of noise, or interference.

Photographers are the information sources that transmit visual and verbal communication to their subjects. A photographer’s voice is the transmitter outlet, and like all transmitters, if that outlet fails, the message will not be heard as it was intended and the results usually have a negative impact on the subject. Subjects also subconsciously study signals from the body language of the photographer that can impact their perceptions about the photographer’s professionalism and abilities.

The channel is the photography session and if that session experiences noise, or distractions, such as the phone ringing, clock-watching because the subject or photographer has other commitments, etc., the message will suffer its effect. If a photographer is having problems with equipment, usually because it was not checked before the subject arrived, this provides a distraction that will impact the confidence the subject has in the photographer and will impact the shoot. An unconfident subject will produce a tight face, without the corners of the eyes in harmony with the corners of the lips, there is no face or real photograph. The photographer and the subject are merely left with a picture of an uncomfortable subject.

The subject is the receiver. If the receiver does not accept the channel, say the subject doesn’t like the location of the photo session or the props, then the receiver and the sender will experience interference and the entire photo session becomes a failure.

The destination is the final photographs, not pictures; anyone can take “happy snaps,” but few can create photographs. In order to produce a great photograph, the subject and the photographer must arrive at the same destination or conclusion.

Communication doesn’t start the moment a photographer picks up their camera, it starts the first time any contact is made with the potential subject whether it be by phone, email or in person. Communication, like rapport, is ongoing from the first contact to the shoot itself and down to the delivery of the final images themselves along with any follow-up. It’s imperative photographers are careful with the words and tone they choose to communicate.

Photographers should understand that emails are printed words and often sound harsher than spoken words as there is no verbal or visual tone to help decode the actual intention of the communicated message. The right tone or inflection of another person’s voice, often helps convey a message more clearly than if the words were merely printed. A printed word without clarification can create noise that will cause the subject (receiver) to shut down, while the right words or vocal tone can weave clear channels of reception. Emails normally don’t allow us to view body language, another form of visual communication from the sender to the receiver.

As an example, when I physically talk to my subjects before a shoot, I’m usually sitting down and directly across from them. This posture places us both at the same eye-contact level. I avoid standing if my subject sits during a conversation, as I do not want to give the appearance I’m looking down upon my subject in conversation. While photographing my subject, I normally shoot from a lower position, usually bellybutton up, which also gives my subject the feeling they are upon a pedestal.

Ultimately as photographers we must be careful in what we say, when we say it, how we say it and where we say it, when communicating to our subjects. Like a doctor practicing great beside manners with a patient, a photographer must practice professionalism when communicating with a subject and following the concepts of the Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver’s communication model will help ensure a photographer will have not root problems with their subjects. I close by saying, please don’t forget the men and women in uniform, their families and friends, without them, we’d have no free communication–God Bless! Rolando

Filed Under: Blog, Life, Photography, | How To Tagged With: communication, communication model, digital photography, emails, model, photographic therapy, Photography, subject

iPad, iPhone, i’M an iReady Photographer

May 12, 2010 By rg sends! Leave a Comment

liveBooks Built www.rolandogomez.com

As digital photography went from a revolution to an evolution, so has many things in life, from reading books on an Amzon.com Kindle to using a GPS app on your iPhone—and technology isn’t slowing down. You can order pizzas online and even find long, lost friends on Facebook, and if you’re really into technology, you can tweet your whereabouts and let the public inside your head in 140 characters or less. But for photographers, the evolution hasn’t stopped with cameras, technology has changed the way we present our talents, from multiple photography communities to our own personal, talent portfolios.

The New York Times recently ran an article, “For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path,” on how photographers are trying to survive in a world where the commercial assignments are shrinking as publishers and advertisers license online photos from soccer moms, thanks to Flickr and their partnership with Getty Images. As photographers see commercial sales dwindle, they are scrambling for new ways to pay their bills. Digital diversity is one of those tools, though it’s often overlooked. The photographers that will survive the digital trend are those that have learned to understand the power of the great equalizer, the Internet, not just through social media networks, but through their own personal, professional website.

While many photographers join free photography communities to post their web portfolios, this is only one method of exposure and not necessarily the best method to target “the client” markets that professional photographers seek to survive. These are photographer communities, rarely client communities and whether you’re a wedding, architectural, editorial, fashion or portrait photographer, it’s important to maintain a professional website that targets clients specifically.

A website that showcases your talent. A website that isn’t about smoke and mirrors that overshadow your talent. It’s important that your website showcases your skills, crisply, cleanly, and beautifully—to help you build your business. This is why I trust liveBooks.com for both my professional photography and free photography books websites.

And from me to you, start a free trial now and receive 10% off a liveBooks website through 6/1/10 by using the promo code lbrolando.

Unlike the analog world of mail-in and hand carry portfolios, which still exists, photographers have to project professionalism in an up-to-date fashion—a digital fashion. One that delivers not only the photographer’s portfolio, but provides an easy navigation experience for the potential client plus an easy and reliable user interface for the photographer. In addition, to a simple user and client interface, a professional photographer’s website must be up-to-date so it adapts on-the-fly to the viewer’s choice of viewing device, whether it be their home computer, laptop, smart phone or digital tablet. LiveBooks.com provides professional photographer websites that do all the above, regardless if the viewer is utilizing an iPhone, iPad, or iMac.

My professional photography website, www.rolandogomez.com is digitally diverse and compatible—thanks to liveBooks—it’s up-to-date, it adapts to the viewer’s viewing device on-the-fly, which means my clients know I’m up-to-speed. Well it’s time to hit some social media networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, all part of the surviving in today’s digital evolution, so please remember, don’t forget our military members, their families and friends, God Bless! Rolando.

Filed Under: Blog, Life, Photography Tagged With: business, clients, communities, evolution, Flickr, Getty Images, iMac, Internet, iPad, iPhone, liveBooks, professional photographer, technology, website

Arizona Immigration Law, The New INS

May 5, 2010 By rg sends! 6 Comments

I rarely publicly get into politics, it’s just not good business when you work for yourself to take a political side, but I’ve got to chime on this controversial Arizona immigration law—at least from an American of Latin descent observation of things. There is so much information, misinformation, debates, etc., out there where everyone is split over this new law, and that’s what bothers me the most. If millions of people can’t come to agreement on how to interpret the law, how can an Arizona lawman be smarter than the rest of the world? And I’m just curious if all law enforcement types in Arizona have undergone specialized immigration training in how to define “reasonable suspicion” when it comes to determining if someone is an illegal alien?

According to this new state immigration law, law-enforcement officials in Arizona have the right to determine the immigration status of a person “where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.” And if that person can’t prove their status, then they “could be arrested and jailed for six months and fined $2,500.” (Note: It’s been rumored that TMZ hopes to catch Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County at Home Depot—you know, buying saws, hammers and two-by-fours for his new expansion project.)

Now this is where I have a problem, and I’ll explain from my 47-years of being a Texan born in the good ole US of A with Latin descent. Growing up as a kid, even with my Spanish heritage, European white-skin looks, I was often called a wetback, spick and all those racial names—in Texas. The darker-skinned Latinos would call me a Gringo and once I told them my last name, I was called a Güero. So most people when they see me don’t think I’m Latino until I introduce myself.

Then I’m asked, are you Hispanic? My first response is, “Where is the country Hispain? No, I’m of Latin descent, born in Texas, and served patriotically for over 8-years active-duty in the U.S. Army plus 8-years more as a civil service employee in the U.S. Air Force. So I tell them, “I’m an American and Texan of Latin descent.”

Right after I provide that answer, not surprisingly, I get the next dumb question, “Are you Mexican-American?” My response, “Nope, I’m an American of Latin descent.” Then I ask them, what descent are you from? Usually I’ll get German, Italian, Polish, etc., you get the picture, so then I say (matching the right descent to the person), “Are you German-American, Italian-American, Polish-American?” Get the picture? And somehow Arizona law enforcement officers are supposed to be smarter than the Texas Rangers and the rest of the world? Don’t get me wrong, I support law enforcement but feel interpretation of the law, especially immigration law, should be left to those trained and specialized in it. Heck, in Texas we have board certified lawyers in immigration and Spanish Land Grants.

Let me give you a better analogy, would you let a plastic surgeon do your heart transplant because both are doctors and surgeons? Would you let a divorce lawyer represent you in a murder trial? Maybe if you were Tiger Woods or Jesse James. And you wonder why Sandra Bullock filed for divorce in Texas. Meanwhile back to the ranch.

In my opinion it seems that the Arizona legislators are targeting the “Mexicans” which sounds like racial profiling. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck! If they are not racial profiling one specific group, then will they stop someone because they look Asian? I’m willing to bet money, that Officer Brewer, no relation to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, since she is Caucasian (I bet some of you thought Officer Brewer was a man), will never ask a “Caucasian” person in Scottsdale for their proof of U.S. citizenship, though that same officer would ask Juan Valdez immediately when they spot him at Starbucks ordering Columbian coffee. Though I’m wondering how many law enforcement officers in the United States realize that the term Caucasian refers to white-skinned Europeans? (Source, Wikipedia.com)

Maybe as part of the training of law enforcement in Arizona we should include something like a Coke verses Pepsi taste-test trial and place an Caucasian next to an American of Latin descent (dark-skinned) and see how many officers would pick the Caucasian out of the line-up? God forbid if the surrounding states of Arizona pass the same law. New Mexico will have some serious problems trying to distinguish real Mexicans from new Mexicans—somehow I picture a lot of their lawmen drinking margaritas after work. Nevada shouldn’t have any problems though if public perception is correct and Area 51 comes to life, just look for green colored skin—now that would be an irony if those green illegal aliens got pass the Arizona police and crossed into New Mexico. Then you’d have a New Mexican Caucasian police officer calling aliens Greengos.

Going back to my military days, it’s against the law for the U.S. Military to act as “civilian” law enforcement–yes, I spent 26-months in the Latin American drug war during my soldier time in the early 90′s, so I know that law well as it was never left up to our interpretation. So if it’s against the law for a U.S. Army soldier to act as civilian law enforcement, especially immigration law, why then under Arizona law, are they allowing the local yokals–the type that can “flash their tin” to break speeding laws when off-duty, to question anyone “reasonably suspicious” when it comes to citizenship status?

Does suspicious mean the same to Officer Felipe Calderon as it would to Officer Jan Brewer? Would Officer Calderon always pick out a Caucasian and Officer Brewer a Hispanic or Asian? Get the picture? Just like the Federal government requires it’s workforce to undergo sexual harassment and suicide prevention training, why shouldn’t Arizona require all it’s peace officers, for the sake of peace, to undergo racial profiling training? Just what does an illegal alien look like that makes them suspicious?

Bottom line–let INS do their job. Local police are already overworked and now you’re giving them immigration duties? Doesn’t make sense. The next Arizona law will give police officers the right to question anyone with a cigarette lighter because they could be an arsonist. Even President Barack Obama strongly criticized the law and is calling for Federal immigration reform—our President people. I wonder where Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa weighs in on this, at least he had the sense to make prisoners pedal to generate electricity to power TV sets in jail. I’m willing to bet, “America’s toughest Sheriff,” as he’s commonly referred too, is building a whole new tent city in anticipation that he’ll run out of room and the dinner menu I can assure you is not Kung Pao Chicken or enchiladas.

Well I’m in Arizona next month to conduct a photography workshop, guess I’m going to take my U.S. Passport and put it in my briefcase because if my wallet gets stolen, I could be locked up since my last name is Gomez and not McCain, thus suspicious to someone that is not Latino and doesn’t understand the Latin culture. Like Carlos Mancia would say, if you’re drinking a beer or standing outside Home Depot you have provided enough reasonable cause to look suspicious so thank goodness I drink Canadian, Crown Royal Reserve and not beer and I prefer Lowes hardware stores. Speaking of Canadians, I hope Phoenix Suns player Steve Nash (Canadian) gets pulled over (and is not carrying any identification) on the way to the U.S. Airways center tonight when they meet the San Antonio Spurs for round two of the NBA Playoffs—though I wouldn’t wish the same for Tony Parker or Manu Ginoboli.

I close by saying, let’s not go back to WWII where in Europe you had to carry papers. The Arizona immigration law is just another “persecution” of another ethnic group, which is worse than racial profiling. So I’ll agree with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, it’s not racial profiling—it’s persecution. If there is any good news in this for Arizona, the Diamondbacks aren’t changing their name to the Yankees, probably because they got more baseballs than Arizona Tea, which is scrambling to tell the world it’s brewed and based out of New York—seriously. Just my two centavos for what it’s worth. Thanks to reading my rambles and as I always say, let’s not forget the men and women in the military and their families as they sacrifice more to protect our freedoms than anyone in this great nation. God Bless, Rolando

Filed Under: Blog, Life, | Featured Topic Tagged With: Arizona, Caucasion, Hispanic, immigration, Jan Brewer, Joe Arpaio, Latin, law, law enforcement, suspicion, Tiger Woods, TMZ, training

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