Gonna be on Photo Talk Radio this Saturday!

Going to be on a great Photography radio show this saturday, Photo Talk Radio with my good buddy Howard Lipin!"From behind the Sales Counter to Behind the Camera, and the Fundamentals of Photo Marketing
Join us this Saturday, May 10th, 8-9am Pacific Time for this week's edition of Photo Talk Radio featuring Southern California based photographer Ronnie Revoredo whom for the past 11 years has been pleasing clients locally, nationally and internationally under his studio name, RMR Photography as well as for other studios. He specializes in portraiture, and is always looking for ways to do it better and expand his horizons and will share the secrets of how he makes great portraits. He's also been behind the camera counter for just about as long as behind the camera, and will have tips you'll want to know about when it comes to new photo gear."

So I hope all of you go check it out! And if you can't catch it in the morning then click here and check out the Podcast!

Erik & Paula's Big day

I spent the night before Erik & Paula's wedding day going over my notes and formulating a plan of attack. Taking the notes and snapshots I took at the rehearsal together with the weather forecast and the wedding script, I came up with an enhanced plan for the following day. Fortunately I knew that I would have the help of my good friend Patrick O'Dell acting as my second shooter.

Our day started early, with Pat coming around 10AM and grabbing a quick breakfast so that we could discuss the plans for the day. I gave him some paperwork as a guide to the day and we were on our way shortly thereafter. Patrick has a great eye and is self motivated by his eagerness to constantly learn more and to hone his craft.
We made our way to Split Ends salon in PB and got some great pickup shots of the bride, bridesmaid (Melanie) and mother of the Bride (Sharon). Paula was a beautiful bride. Her energy that day was infectious and she was taking everything in stride. All wedding photographers should be so lucky as to have a bride as mellow and way cool as her.



















The WTF moment of the afternoon came when Paula decided that instead of going to the YMCA she opted instead to go to Play it again Sports , a used and new sporting goods store next to the salon, and fit in a quick workout! She is officially a workout freak! What a moment!

After the sweat session, Pat and I made our leave and shot over to the house to get ready for the "gettin' ready" shots and the ceremony. Knowing that the early afternoon was going to be sunny and cloudless we made a collaborative decision to split up the portraits into parts so as to take advantage of the early evening colors and marine layer. Pat made a competent partner this day and needed little to no direction.

Erik and Paula were great models who provided amazing photos as well as a fantastic rhumba dance at the reception! All in all when 10PM rolled around we figured our day was done and we headed out the door after thanking the family members for letting us be part of their day, and made our way to a chinese food place!
All of the Photographs from the wedding will be up soon so check the website frequently!

50th Wedding Anniversary

Had a shoot for the Banaga's 50th Wedding Anniversary this weekend. What a great family! Every from the happy couple, Oscar and Sally, to all 6 kids and their children were awesome. We started the day out at the Good Shepard church in Mira Mesa with a nice and looong mass. Great for the soul I'm sure but bad for an old photographer's knees. Some of the shots were actually pretty cool although the lighting was a logistical nightmare as a photographer, with the pews lit by warm tungsten lighting (orange-ish) and the alter lit by soft natural light. And of course to make things even more exciting the front few pews had a mixture of both kinds of light. Yay me! I guess I will be spending some time in post production playing with the lighting.

After the mass we took some family shots on the altar and then went to the officers club on Marine Corps Air Station Mira Mar, where there was a fantastic little buffet waiting for all the friends and family.The rest of the event progresses really nicely with a slide show of the couple throughout the years as well as testimonials from the family. The highlight of the day had to be the entertainment which was provided by all of the grandchildren.
All of the kids from ages 11 into their 20's provided dancing spectacles that everyone loved!

All in all a great day with a family that had a tremendous sense of love and connection to one another. We all should be so lucky to have a family like this.

Melanie's Bridal Shower

One of my great wedding clients, Melanie, had a great little Bridal Shower this past sunday with a few close friends and family. It was a beautiful sunny southern California day; the kind that make everybody who lives east of the California/Arizona state line really envious.She is a gorgeous bride with an gorgeous bunch of bridesmaids and an adorable Maid of Honor whose innocent little face masks all kinds of mischief!

Ladies! Remember that there is a gentleman here! Don't go showing off the honeymoon wares before the actual big night!

Had a great time! Se you guys on the BIG DAY!

New Photography Classes

I have just begun a series of photography courses for beginning Digital SLR photographers. The classes are aimed at teaching beginners and novices the fundamentals of Portrait, Sports/Action, Landscape, Nature and Travel photography. The classes will be taught be either myself or my buddy Sandy Huffaker or BOTH of us. We will also have a Photo Class and Field Trip for novices that are smaller and more personal where we will be giving a short lecture as well as answering questions one on one and giving advice on real world techniques.
For information on pricing and locations, feel free to leave a comment, email us at rmrphoto@yahoo.com or by calling 619-379-7899.

Gradfest at SDSU

Today was day 2 of the graduation festival, or gradfest at San Diego State University. Basically get a couple thousand graduating seniors, throw them in a tent over 3 days and take their photos in less than 3 minutes each. AND make them look great! That was my task today. I have been doing this for years and I still love it. The pressure of taking someone you have just met and then take a great portrait of them keeps my adrenaline pumped.
I try to put myself in their head and think like they would. You really have to be as meticulous as they would be. These grads see themselves everyday in the mirror, so I have to be as picky as they would be, because I want them to go away knowing that I would be as particular about the way they look as they do. I am lucky that SDSU has some of the most beautiful people in the world! Just makes my job that much easier.

Photo assistant for the day.

Today was a pretty full day. Spent pretty much the whole day assisting my buddy Sandy Huffaker on his photo shoot for the San Diego Sherriff's Department. Started the day at the county jail downtown. Great bunch of people working there. Have to give a shout out to Michelle for being our tour guide and facilitator at the facility. It was an interesting place to be in as an observer watching all of the faces behind bars and glass. Faces staring out at you, some with indignation, some with fear and uncertainty, others seemingly with a look of bewilderment. Wondering how they ended up there. The highlight of the morning was watching the TAC team suit up to confront an unruly inmate. Exciting and surreal at the same time. Like watching a Discovery Channel documentary but in real life.In the afternoon we made it into the east county. Our first stop was the SAR (Search and Rescue) beagles. Adorable little beagles trained to sniff out victims and help to rescue civilians. Great shots of Sandy photographing them.After a quick portrait session we made our way into the ASTREA hangar with all of the helicopters, got some great shots of the bomb squad and their robots as well as helicopters touching down on the airstrip.Picked up some great shots of the SWAT guys jumping off a helicopter skiff and took a great ride on a helicopter with a great crew of guys.Finished the day at the crime lab. Drove to the most non-descript building in the middle of San Diego and found a CSI lovers paradise. The folks at the crime lab were a real pleasure to watch and Sandy got some amazing shots in a lot of great places. Testing for blood on a knife, looking for latent prints, and matching casings and bullets in the ballistics lab. All in all was a great day spent helping out a good friend. More like this to come I hope, and more photos too.