Long Beach Grand Prix w/ Falken Tire

in ALMS racing on

Rain. Lots of it. And honestly, I wish it lasted all weekend.
Don’t get me wrong – shooting in the rain can be a pain in the ass. We had FOUR cameras go down among our team this past weekend. BUT THINK OF THE PHOTOS!! Personally I would have been ok with rain all weekend and would have suffered through it for the sake of incredible photo opportunities. But (un)fortunately the sun came out on race day and it was a typical SoCal race event. Oh well. Haha!

Last weekend was the second race of the 2012 American Le Mans season – and this time we were in Long Beach, California. I was brought back on board again with Falken Tire for Round 2 of the series – and I was thrilled to be there. They’re an amazing team, and the second time shooting anyone is always easier because it’s more of a “oh, it’s John” reaction to me walking around and not “who’s that guy… should he be here?” Haha!

And I know I promised you readers photos of the Budweiser girls in my last blog. And I know I haven’t posted a new blog since Sebring and the ALMS event there. I’m sorry. But I AM shooting seven more of the Bud girls tomorrow – til then you can see lots of their photos of my Facebook Fan page here.

But anyway, back to that bad weather I was talking about…

(click the break to read on)

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American Le Mans 12 Hours of Sebring w/ Falken Tire

in ALMS racing on

I love Florida. I used to live there… years ago. And I don’t get back nearly as much as I would like to.
But last weekend I was back out in the Sunshine State for the 12 Hours of Sebring – the kickoff to the 2012 American Le Mans racing season. I was shooting for Falken Tire.

It’s been a month since I’ve posted a new blog. I’m so incredibly behind on updates, and I feel terrible about it. I know there are quite a few people out there who do read my blogs and are genuinely interested in my stories. Over the last month, in addition to shooting more Supercross for Falken, I have also worked with several models on different shoots as well as a full shoot with the Budweiser Girls in Orange County. I should probably create blogs with those photos for everyone, too.

But, anyway, I know thousands of people follow my work between Twitter and Facebook, and knew I was out in Sebring for a little race photography.

Ok. Let’s be real. It was a LOT of race photography. I was there to make sure that Falken had plenty of images from the race of their brand new 2012 Porsche on the track. I spent about four days with the Falken crew between traveling and shooting. I always enjoy the chances I have to work with their team. They’re amazing people. I was particularly interested in meeting their ALMS race team. I had been in loose contact with someone who handles their @FalkenALMS twitter feed. Whoever it was was someone that was very interactive – a trait you RARELY see from industry people. Turned out it was their PR Rep, Kelly. She’s awesome if you ever meet her.

I also got the chance to see two of their models again; Brittney and Melanie were both their to support the team this past weekend. I hadn’t had a chance to see Melanie since our shoot in Malibu several months ago – and this was the first opportunity I would have to get her to sign my poster. Haha! Brittney and I saw each other at Supercross. So now, after this trip, I have my poster complete! Silly things like getting signatures from models on pieces of my work mean a lot to me.

Most of my weekend was spent on foot though. I was walking around the track numerous times trying to get an idea of the corners and locations. I had never been to Sebring so I wasn’t familiar with the layout. The downside to all the walking was the 30+ pounds of gear I was carrying. On the one hand I could have left most of it in the rig at the paddocks. On the other hand I was out at two or three hours at a time and rather have all my stuff with me so I wouldn’t have to keep leaving the track.

I had an amazing time out at Sebring. I took a bit of video, too. I was hoping to do some behind the scenes type clips to show everyone what it’s like to see the race how I see it. However with all the gear I was already carrying it was too much to also try and get video and I didn’t come home with as many clips as I would have liked.

I shot over 2,500 photos over the weekend. I threw out 500 or so yesterday. And from the remaining I made a selection of about 60 to share with you guys below. So, click past the break… check out my weekend at the races.

Oh, and I promise I’ll get back on top of my blogs in the next week and have an update for you guys with other recent work of mine.

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Monster Energy Supercross w/ Falken Tire

in extreme sports models off road supercross on

Ok, so this is clearly just me and the Falken girls… but still.

This year I’ve been contracting with Falken Tire for the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series! It’s actually pretty great to once again be out on the track working with a major brand such as Falken. Several months ago I worked with them putting together the 2012 Falken Girls poster and promotional images of the girls. Three of them, Brittney Leigh, Julie Galindo, and Mayra Tinajero in the photo above with me. Now I’m handling a small part of their racing photography as well.
And most of you know that off road race photography is nothing new to me – I used to do a ton of it when I worked for K&N Filters. Working with Falken is very different though. I’m actually just as much a photojournalist for the day as I am a race photographer.

During the race day I spend a lot of my time with the Falken team photographing their fans and guests that come by the trailer to meet the models, enter the prize drawings and get more information about Falken products. I’ll typically make my way out to the track several times during practice to photograph Ryan Villopoto – not only the top racer in the series right now, but also Falken’s sponsored racer.

I’ll save all the rambling I could post and just put up some images… they’re more interesting anyway. haha!

Let’s start with the San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium race for Round 6..

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The Gayle-Lordan Wedding, Costa Mesa

in weddings on

“I got a jump photo and a dip photo… I’m happy John. I’m not worried about anything else now.” -Amanda, right after this photo on her wedding day. Ha!

Last weekend I had the privilege of shooting  the wedding of Tim and Amanda Lordan. I first met both Tim and Amanda nearly two years ago at another Lordan wedding – Amy and Michael Lordan, one of Tim’s older brothers. And then last winter I received an email from Amanda titled simply “Game for another Lordan wedding?”. Shortly after Tim proposed and she started her wedding planning she reached out to me to check on availability, details, etc on me as their potential photographer. Long story short, we worked out the details and I was scheduled to shoot for them this January.

Amanda was a bride that was certainly on top of planning everything, too. She quickly worked out all the details with me as she gathered them. As soon as something was added, changed, or whatever else I was pretty quickly updated with an email on the plans. I could definitely understand that part of the reason was that their wedding was right after New Years, which is also right after Christmas – times that everyone is busy with their families and other things.

As the wedding weekend approached I could tell by Amanda’s emails that her excitement was growing. I myself was looking forward to seeing the Lordan family again and getting to know the Gayle family a little bit as well. I attended the rehearsal, as I always try to do, to get an idea of the venue and some of the rules. It was a new church to me and their are always new rules. This one was definitely going to be a bit tricky. I’m used to a no-flash rule (just crank that ISO up to a thousand or two and you’re all set!). But their church had a “line” that I was not allowed to cross. For those of you that don’t do many weddings, it’s typical to not be allowed on the marble, or steps, etc. But in this situation I had to remain a minimum of 30 feet away from the front of the church. VERY different than I’m used to. My photojournalism background means I prefer to be closer to my subjects. I stay low and out of the way, but I like photos that are a bit more intimate you could say. So, this would definitely bit a challenge – but never let this be a hurdle for you photographers out there. This is why we have telephoto lenses and image stabilization at weddings, too. haha!

The morning of the wedding started VERY early for me. I was up at 4am to double check my gear and give myself plenty of time to get on the road to meet the bridal party at 6am. A typical hair-and-makeup morning hanging out with Amanda and her girls and they prepared for their morning wedding. It’s always fun hanging out with the bridal party before weddings because you get to hear stories about how they met, or the engagement, or random girl-talk stories. LOL!
I broke off briefly to go meet up with the guys at the hotel as they finished getting ready and then it was on to the church! There ceremony went off without any problems, and we even finished our portraits ahead of schedule.

We arrived to the reception early as well; we got there right in the middle of cocktail hour. I had the chance to meet several family friends of the Gayle family since I was seated at what we later joked was “the creative table” since the florist, cake maker, and me the photographer were all seated together.

I’ll leave much more details about the day in the captions of the photos after the break. But I will say I had a wonderful time shooting for Tim and Amanda. The Gayle family and friends were a riot to joke with and get to know. And, as always, the Lordans were so welcoming with me being part of everything throughout the day.

So Thank You to the Gayles and the Lordans! I hope you enjoy this brief preview of what I shot throughout the day. I had so much fun!

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Falken Tire 2012 Promo Model Poster Shoot

in location shoots models recent work on

The 2012 Falken Tire Promo Model poster has been released! And that means I’m allowed to share additional photos from the shoot with everyone that I created for Falken Tire and their 2012 season!

For those who read my previous blog about the Behind the Scenes from this shoot, you’ll recall that I mentioned the goal of the entire day was the image above. Basically we arrived first thing in the morning – before sunrise – and shot all day until sundown. And then, after 12 hours of shooting we created the image we came for – the poster shot. Seriously. The image we spent so much time planning for was created in the last five minutes of shooting. And was also one of the last 10 photos or so I made with the girls.

But it was worth it. The long day. The lack of food (on my part. I forgot to eat most of the day since I was so busy running around that TJ had to make me stop and take five minutes to eat something at the catering table). I look at photos of me at the end of the day and laugh because I look exhausted.
I did at least 17 shoots that day working with each of the models multiple times and in several locations with many different lighting setups. Everything worked out incredibly well. Falken had a very  aggressive set of goals to complete that day and I’m very proud to say that we met all of them! During the time we weren’t working on group shots the models were in hair/makeup and whoever was ready with their next look would be sent over to shoot individuals.

The individual shots we created are mainly for use on the models profile pages since they’re in no way related to tires or the automotive industry, haha! But part of the reason this location was selected for was for wide variety of looks that could be created around the property.
I had the oh-so-difficult assignment of poolside bikini and exercise photos. Wow. Rough location. Haha!
Throughout the middle of the day and afternoon the girls would be switched out with me to shoot around the infinity pool with all the mountains in the background. Gorgeous. I could easily see why so many magazine shoots are done at this location with this pool.

A second concept for the poster was a composite idea I was asked about. There was some question to the feasibility of doing this shot with six girls and making the shot work at the venue. The one thing there wasn’t much of was large open space and walls. We selected the three-car garage doors as the best spot to create a six-photo composite extra-wide style poster. I think it came out pretty damn good, actually.

Each girls was shot with the same style lighting and power adjusted according to the background, skin tone, or wardrobe. But overall it worked great. I may print a large version of this just for the sake of seeing how it looks. But, the version I’m looking at right now on my 27in screen looks pretty awesome!

Ultimately the pool shot was used for the poster – which is perfect since that was the original idea and goal anyway.

Click the break for a ton of additional photos of the girls… since I know that’s what you’re really here to see.

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Falken Tire Girls 2012 – behind the scenes

in location shoots models recent work on

The Falken Tire 2012 Promo Girls poster is near release and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share some of the Behind the Scenes photos from the project.
I had an incredible opportunity at the end of last year to work directly with Falken on this. I was contacted and asked about possibly tackling this large scale – and very important – photoshoot for the company. After everything was made official we started the planning phase for a quickly-approaching shoot date.

The ultimate goal for the project was to create their 2012 Promo Model Poster with all six girls. We took the girls away from the track/race scene for something different, stylish and sexy. After budget discussion, location selection, and dates solidified it was time to really crack down and get things moving. Our shoot was right after Thanksgiving and there was plenty to get working on.
I was required to bring two assistants – it would be better to have too much help than not enough for a project of this size. And I’m sure all of you are thinking “Yeah, cuz it would be terrible to hang out on set with a bunch of models all day”. But I needed two experienced people on hand that I knew would be great. I brought TJ down from San Francisco. He has 10 years experience with lighting and set work and who has also helped me on multiple shoots over the last few years and understands my style and how I shoot. David came up from Orange County as my other assistant. I met David working on weddings and he has an incredible knowledge of photography and wealth of experience to bring to this setting.

Our shoot day started early.. EARLY. A 430am call time is never fun, but it’s part of the job. Overall the entire day went great. There were a few hiccups along the way as could always be expected, but we still made sure to get everything taken care of that we hoped to complete. I was able to create a ton of amazing images with all the models. And both myself and my team had an awesome time working with Falken and their crew. The models, Julie Galindo, Mayra Tinajero, Olivia Korte, Melanie Tillbrook, Brittney Leigh, and Randyl Dawn were all awesome. And thank you all for putting up with me having trouble with your names all day… having six new models with a new hairstyle/outfit every time I saw them throughout the day definitely screwed with my head. Haha!

Ok, so… on to the photos! I’ll stop rambling and simply post captions…

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Last year of the world! Hellooo 2012!

in personal on

Twenty twelveeeeeeeeee!!!!
The world is gonna end! Oh nooooooo!

I have a feeling that this will be the running joke throughout the year for me. However, in my annual end of the year open letter as I take some time to look back at 2011 I find myself at a bit of a loss for words.
This year seemed to go by much quicker than last. Sure, we all say that at the end of each year, don’t we?

But this year was such a mix of running around SoCal working on personal projects with various clients mixed in between that I’m finding it difficult to find key points to talk about as I reflect on my year.

Growth. Let’s just go with a cliche choice on this one, shall we?

I could support this two ways…
The first is that I watched many of my close friends, family, and even past client’s lives grow as people had children and added to their families. I became an Uncle this year when my little sister had a daughter mid-summer. Later in in the Fall my oldest and best friend had a son, too. So I’m an Uncle twice this year. Maternity photos I shot last year were now baby photos this year. I was booked by past families to do new rounds of family portraits as kids were older and new images were needed.

I took my work a new direction with a portrait series that I started work on in the Spring. I began creating images of people in and around my daily life. Some images were planned out in detail prior to the shoot, while others were created right there on the street with people I had met only moments before. This series proved extremely popular. I showcased the series during an art show in Hollywood – my first time every displaying my work publicly in a gallery setting.

I continued to travel all over the US for weddings. I kept my self-promise of always extending my trips to see local friends in the areas that work would take me.

I gained several new, major clients as my business grew and projects that I worked on became bigger and more important. My biggest of which are actually continuing into the new year and I will finally be able to share them in the upcoming weeks.

Twenty Eleven was a great year. And although I could go on and on about each detail and event that made it great I won’t.
My life grew with new members of families around me. My clients grew as I expanded my business. And my work grew as I developed my own style and took my photography to a level far beyond where I was just 12 months ago.

Let’s get going with 2012! I can’t wait to see what’s ahead.

John Remus Photography Christmas Card 2011

in models personal on

The 2011 John Remus Photography Christmas Card is here!!!

The Second Annual John Remus Christmas card has been completed and is going out in a limited run of 150 this year!

Last year was my first attempt at doing a somewhat high production Christmas card. I wanted to do something that wasn’t the typical and generic looking holiday card. After quickly sending out all 100 prints that I made it was clear that this year I’d need to step it up.

There were 110 carded spoken for before I even finished shooting this year!

So if you’re lucky enough to bump into me, or have my cell phone number, better call me up if you want to get your hands on one of the remaining 2011 cards!

Merry Christmas!

John Remus III

The Moody’s Snowy Virginia Wedding

in weddings on

Ryan and Jen Moody – on their surprisingly chilly and snowy wedding day in Virginia!

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting for Ryan, one of my old roommates from when I lived in Florida. He asked me nearly a year ago to keep the date open for his and Jen’s wedding weekend on the East Coast. I was paid an amazing compliment when he said “Two things we knew we wanted were the church, and your photography.”
How awesome.
And personally, this photo of the two of them while it was snowing outside made for a wonderfully unique shot.

So, a bit of history about me, Ryan, and best-man Mike. We all used to live together in Florida. We were all roommates while doing the Walt Disney World College Program in 2003. Basically it’s a work program that allows you to earn college internship credits while working for the Mouse. I, personally, was a lifeguard and lifeguard trainer for Blizzard Beach water park. And that was one of the best years of my life so far. Ryan and Mike (his best man) were two of the other six guys I lived with out in Orlando. I have so many great memories with them from our time living together that it was awesome to share such an important day with Ryan.

Ryan is originally from Texas, and now lives in Virginia where both him and Jen work in government. Originally when planning my trip out to shoot for them I was expecting one of those stereotypical New England falls with lots of colors in the trees and bright blue skies. And, to be fair, it was like that the day before the wedding for the rehearsal when we all were arriving in town and running various errands.
The weather reports quickly shifted from Sunny, to Chance of Rain, to Rain, to Chance of Snow, to Blizzard. Well, it definitely did start snowing in the middle of the night and continued the rest of the day and through the wedding ceremony. Good thing we were indoors!!

Since I’ve lived with Ryan in the past, and it was just like living with him again while I was there, the morning of the wedding when he was out shoveling snow I was able to run out to take photos and laugh without feeling bad. Actually, I ran out, took a few photos, teased Ryan about how that’s how he got to spend his wedding morning, sent out a photo with my phone to our other old roommates from Florida, and then ran back inside where it was warm.
Lift with your legs, Ryan!

Unfortunately, due to the unexpected weather, it caused a few small issues with the morning. I wasn’t able to get out to the girls while they had their hair done and the usual wedding-morning stuff. There were also a handful of guests that couldn’t make it due to the road conditions. But it also made for a few fun things, like snowboots and photos with falling snowflakes.

Both Ryan and Jen are pretty chill and laid back about things. Which as I’ve said before almost makes things tricky for me because they’re going to be ok with almost anything I tell them or ask them. “Do you want A or B” “That sounds great John! Up to you.” “Wait, no, which do you want!?” Haha, kinda like that…
But we all had a great time. Their ceremony was smaller and made up of their closest family and friends. The reception was at the George Washington Hotel – and many people were able to make it there that may have missed the ceremony earlier that afternoon.

I’ll save the rest of my comments for the captions, as usual. But again, I had a great time meeting both Ryan and Jen’s families. It was awesome to see Mike again, too, who I hadn’t seen in five years since he was still living in Oregon (and we were at another old rooomate’s wedding!).

Click the break for more..

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Cranberry Boggin! (Yes, like the Ocean Spray commercials)

in farming location shoots portrait on

Mike Wainio, owner of the Wainio Bogs in Carver, Massachusetts.

Last week I was way out in Massachusetts wrapping up the last part of a two week trip around New England areas – a mix of work and leisure travel. For those not familiar, Carver is right outside Boston, and home to my friend Merri and her family. Well, it turns out that Carver is a MASSIVE cranberry producer – at one point in the mid 1900s being the largest producer in the US.
I had ALWAYS wanted to see the cranberry bogs and flooded fields in person. And while visiting one of the Wainio bogs I was invited to come back and see them flood the fields the next day!

You have no idea how excited I was. Hell. Yes.

Honestly I tried my best to not be pushy with my friends about coming back right on time the following day. But this chance was going to make my whole trip that much more awesome. Seriously. We’ve all seen the Ocean Spray commercials with the fields full of floating cranberries. I was about to see that in real life. Sweet!

Well that Saturday I returned to the bogs with my friend Brittany. I chatted with Tony, who runs the Berry Guys Farm Stand on location there where you can buy all sorts of fresh fruit and vegetables. It was Tony who had first invited me out to see the flooding the day before and also said I could come back watch the harvesting. I then spoke briefly with Mike and Brandon who were going to be farming the field and doing the actual harvesting. They said come back in an hour or so and they’d be out there working.

No problem. To the coffee shop!

An hour later Brittany dropped me off so I could shoot – she had a couple errands to run.

I wandered out to the bog where Mike and Brandon were starting their laps on the threshers. I waved hello and pointed to my camera and threw a thumbs-up… basically non-verbally asking if it was cool to take photos of them. Mike yelled back “Wanna come out here with us?” “Uh… YEAH!” was my response.

I walked around to the ramps. Mike picked me up on his thresher, and soon I was out on the water with them harvesting cranberries! SO.DAMN.COOL. I’m sure to a degree I seemed “so Californian” to think this was as great as it was, but who gets a chance like this out of the blue?

I spent the next hour and a half with Mike chatting about everything from cranberries to motocross – Mike used to race motocross and I used to handle all photography for K&N Filters, so he was completely familiar with my old employer.
There was so much I never knew about cranberry bogging that I learned.. here are a few things…

There are two types of harvesting. Wet harvest and Dry harvest. Wet harvest is what people all know about due to photos and Ocean Spray commercials, the flooded fields. These berries are immediately brought to the plant for processing since they will spoil within about 48 hours. Wet harvest berries are used in jams, sauce, juice, etc. Dry pick berries are harvested with a different type of thresher and used for everything else (dried berries, cooked into foods, etc).

Below are 40 more images I shot while at the bogs. I encourage everyone to read on. The experience was really amazing, and I’ll share more in the captions as usual.

Click the break for the rest of the images:

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