Nikki for Dé Rocha's New Year's advert.
As soon as I landed in Arizona, I went on B&H and bought a Dynalite Baja B4. After testing it out for a few days, I finally get to use it in the studio. My good friend, Dalen, is the owner and founder of the DéRocha Agency, a nationwide make-up agency. He had messaged me while I was still in London to set up this shoot for his holiday campaigns. The week before we still hadn't found a solid model and then Nikki Nichole, a published tattoo model, comes to the rescue. We have all worked together before and it was an incredible experience.
The day before our shoot the studio we were going to use canceled on us. Luckily, the videographer on the team, Aaron Duarte, works for Cre818 and they had a space for us. We all get there and enter the studio and it's incredible! If you ever need a recording studio or photo/video studio in Phoenix, AZ I highly recommend them.
Dalen DéRocha himself posing for some new portraits.
We all start setting up, Dalen starts Nichole's make-up, Brea preps her hair, Aaron sets up his rig, and I set up the studio. It's so important to have a good team for a photo shoot. Having confidence and not having to worry about if something is going to turn out well or not is so relieving. I get my tethering station all set up, the backdrop down, and the lights in the general area I want.
For this shoot, I decided on using a clamshell set up, the Baja B4 up high with a soft box and a silver reflector below it. I also add a rim light on either side of Nikki and a background light to even everything out. The best photos are always the test shots to set up the lighting with the random person model, this time it was Aaron as he turned into Zoolander showing me his blue steel pose.
We start shooting and I'm falling in love with the Baja B4. I didn't realize how much easier everything would be having no cables to worry about and the flash duration is incredible. Everything is sharp and crisp no matter how much movement there was. It's always so much fun working with this team, there were some great outtake photos. We get through the different outfits and change the studio into video area for interviews.
I will be honest I do not like being in front of the lens, like most photographers I know. It was my turn to say my piece for the video and I was better than expected. I did have to take a few takes, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was an amazing day, with a great team, and can't wait to work with them again.
Check the team's IG out for more info!
Nikki Nichole - @official.nikki.nichole
Aaron Duarte - @capturedbyaaron
Dalen Rocha - @derochadidit
Cre818 - @cre818
Brea Boo - @facesbybrea2.0