This past weekend I had the chance to shoot with Nina who is a big advocate of my work. She flew in from St. Lucia just to shoot with me :) Below are a few shots from the shoot. Happy Birthday Nina.
The Clappers Video
Trever Off Key aka Dj Bambino is at it again. This time with Clappers which is a parody from Bruno Mars Grenade. The video was shot in Miami, FL. Initially there were no plans on doing a video for this song but his facebook fans wanted a video so we decided to fulfill their requests. Special thanks to Collin who gave up his sunday to help me shoot and edit it. Special thanks to Aisha for her cameo on such short notice. Thanks to the Church for spot light. Thanks to Homer for the empty warehouse. Thanks to Gisel for helping me with the design for the t-shirt. This video is strictly for entertainment purposes. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFPJXIKMaHs]
Clappers Video Shoot
Trever Off Key is at it again. This time with Clappers which is his version of Bruno Mars "Grenade". Initially there was no intention to shoot a video for this song but the request from facebook was enormous. The video was shot in Miami and we had a lot of fun shooting this video. Our two man production team spent just as much time laughing as we did shooting. Look out for the video coming soon and look out for the shirt that will be made available for purchase soon.
Thanks for all your help Collin, thanks for lending us the keyboard Vinny, thanks for the location Homer and thanks Aisha for your cameo.
Silent Auction For Miami Heart Gallery
Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting the silent auction for the Miami Heart Gallery. The Heart Gallery is a series of traveling photographic and multimedia exhibits created to find forever families for children in foster care. The Heart Gallery of America is a collaborative project of over 120 Heart Galleries across the United States (and growing) designed to increase the number of adoptive families for children needing homes in our community. The Heart Gallery model is being replicated in many communities across the country.
A friend of mine (Leonette) reached out to me asking I would like to participate by donating one of my photographs for the auction. I agreed and donated my photographed titled "Change." Change was captured back in 2008 at one of Barack Obama rallies that I attended. I'm not sure who the final bid went to but I do hope they enjoy the image as much as I do. Change will be a limited edition print. If you would like a print for your own personal collection feel free to contact me.
You too can volunteer or donate by visiting there website at www.miamiheartgallery.org
Nothing Ventured nothing gained.
The story for the image below is a simple one. My original idea for the shot came from a fellow photographer by the name of Bettina Rheims. If you haven't seen her work make sure you check it out. After seeing her shot I immediately thought of my version. Not sure how this one will be perceived but I'm interested in the feed back. I must warn you that if you take my images too seriously you will hate me. I would like to thank my model for thinking outside the box, special thanks to my make-up artist Clivia and thanks to the police officer for not arresting us for indecent exposure.
http://www.rogerbstillz.com If you try and study me you will never graduate.
Ring Around The Moon
Last night around 11:30pm my friend sent me a text saying go outside and look at the ring around the moon. At first I thought it was just some form of prank, but my curiosity got the best of me and I went outside and took a look. When I got outside what I saw in the sky was a wonderful ring around the moon. This is considered a lunar halo or possibly a lunar corona. A lunar halo is caused by the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin, wispy, high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. As light passes through these hexagon-shaped ice crystals, it is bent at a 22 degree angle, creating a halo 22 degrees in radius (or 44 degrees in diameter). A double halo, sometimes with spokes, may be seen on rare occasions when light reflects off water or ice. The phenomenon of a lunar halo is similar to a rainbow produced by sunlight and rain falling between your eye and the sun.
Hope you were as lucky as myself to have witness it.
My 1st Time in Handcuffs
Being placed in handcuffs is not always something to glorify. However, my first time in handcuffs came at the expense of being on a billboard and just thought I would share the image :) For the up-close and personal look you can view them yourself at :
Nw 79th street & Nw 7th Av
Nw 62nd street & Nw 7th Av
Nw 54th street & Nw 12th Av (Miami, FL)
Carnival Imagination Cruise Getaway
This past weekend I had the opportunity to embark on a cruise along with a very good friend of mine. My cruise on Carnival Imagination is the best customer service experience I have ever encountered. On the cruise I was always met with a smile regardless of who I came in contact with. Regardless of the hour everyone greeted me with a smile. My cabin/room got serviced almost every three hours. Every time I left the room and returned my room looked like when I first arrived; I had to look under the bed and in the closet to make sure the room service people were not hiding in there lol. The food was very good but our waiter was the best and the best waiter I ever came across. Ketut who was my waiter was always smiling and made sure my dinner expectation was met above and beyond. Not only did he serve me dinner but he was also responsible for breakfast and lunch and no matter the time of day he was smiling and greeted me by my name. I found myself wondering when does he sleep and what was he on to always be in a pleasant mood. These folks are on the ship anywhere from 4-8 months at a time and this can take a toll on you but it never showed on the Carnival Imagination crew. I have lodged at many five star hotels and not received this kind of treatment/customer service and just wanted to say Thank You to all the crew on the Carnival Imagination
If anyone wants to know what real customer service should be like take a cruise on the Carnival Imagination. This was my first cruise but it wont be my last.
Bombs Away
It's been a while since I've done a shoot because I've been on the road traveling lately. On my way to the shoot when Im getting off the exit I heard a noise when I hit my brakes; I'm like how could this be? I just got my brakes replaced during the week. I kept driving a bit but that wasn't working out so I had to pull over and park my car. What a way to start off the shoot right? Anyways the shoot had to go on so I just called the tow truck while shooting because we all know they take forever to get to you. So finally I'm shooting this idea that I had in my mind for the longest and now I have it in the physical to show :) I haven't started editing the pictures yet and Im please to say I like the look of things so far. I must thank my makeup artist Clivia who is always on time and I hope she keeps it up :) thanks to my model Dominique and the stylist Jazmane who did a great job of what we had to work with. I don't think that the black booths gonna make the cut though Jazmane lol. Thanks to everyone for making my idea come to life.
Pictures will be posted soon so stay tuned to my website www.rogerbstillz.com
Why they look like that I don't know LOL Maybe because it was very HOT when we were shooting :)
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and to the fathers that play the role as a mother :)
www.rogerbstillz.com
FACES of CHANGE COLLECTION
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that came out and supported me last night at my viewing of "FACES of CHANGE" collection. My FACES OF CHANGE collection are images from President Obama Inauguration. The Feedback I received last night were all positive and its the simple things like the appreciation of my work that pushes me to keep on delivering. Special thanks to the ABRO GALLERY for allowing me to share my historical journey and my images will be displayed there until May 1st 2009. Less than two years ago I decided to take my photography to the next level and just last year I set out to accomplish 4 goals and being in a gallery was one of them. I still have two more to accomplish and I have a feeling they are not far off. As I grow in this medium I hope you will embrace in this journey with me. The journey haven't always been easy; standing up for an entire day just to capture images, not being able to feel my toes for more than half of a day, some disappointment here and there but its the end results that always counts.
I know we hear the saying that anything is possible and it truly is, but for the impossible to turn possible we must ACT.
www.rogerbstillz.com
