Our trip began across the New Mexico desert where we would arrive to Spaceport America. We checked in with security and were led to the side entrance of the spaceport where other journalist waited. There was movie posters, props, and displays inside the main hangar of the spaceport.

Originally, the set up was to photograph Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith in the front of the building standing next to the title on the tarmac. The photos were to be placed in a cherry picker and be lifted with enough height to capture the building, the talent and the title. (you can see the title in the reflection)

After waiting a bit more, we were advised that shooting in front was scratched out and we were only going shoot at the rear of Spaceport America. So were led to the rear of the building where cherry pickers were waiting for us.

Not too long after taking our positions, Will and Jaden came out for the photo shoot. Not too sure who everyone is, but I do know there were a couple of publicist in the group.

Immediately Will greeted the photogs and dealt with the same heat we did. There were 5 other photographers, some whom opted not to be placed in the cherry picker perhaps they didn’t want to wear a safety harness. In between photogs, Will and Jaden were staged in a couple different spots.

I really do think that it wasn’t necessary to be suited with a safety harness only because we were being lifted about 10 – 15 feet. Will and Jaden would kill some time by being playful with each other.

It was a lengthy wait, and a quick photo session for the outcome. For the final shot, Will wrapped his arm around his son and smiled for the camera.

It was a week prior to the Super Bowl, and we had to come up with something quick. There is a rally coming up next week, that begins here in El Paso, and ends in Las Vegas. Sounds boring right? No, not all…

After calling around with Dustball Alumni, we were able to get a pretty sweet location. Lenny offered the use of his shop at Redline. What better place than a rustic car shop that fixes Porsches. We have the talent (models), we have the place, now all we need is a car. Now, as an engineering student, I have to look through and engineers perspective, and when I think of cars, what better car than an engineer’s wet dream? The Nissan GTR.

Once we got there, Sam my assistant unloaded all of my gear to prep for the shoot. I took a cell phone pic of the lights that I was using.

I already had sketches of what the shoot was going to consist of, angles, lights, direction, light shaping tools, etc..  I directed Andrew on the placement of the car in the shop. The shop itself is dim, has minimal sky lights but a large garage door that lets in lots of light.

Now, usually I’m all about leaving in some of the ambient elements. In this case, there were Porsche engine parts every where, that I really didn’t think it was going to help with the shoot. Perhaps if my model car was a GT3, or Porsche Turbo, then of course! So my initial step to was reduce the ambient light, closing the garage door and adding Nikon Speedlights

Once I was happy with the appearance of the car, I brought in the talent. Now, the original plan inlcuded 3 models, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we were down to 2. I did a very basic light set up on the talent using the simple light ratio.

Considering that the point of the shoot was to photograph the return of the Dustball Dames, I didn’t mind covering the car somewhat with the talent. Using a CTO gel to add a bit of warmth, I added a hair light to help bring out the talent from the back.

Cool. I wanted to move on and add a bit more dramatic light in the my composition. I wanted to use a bit more shadows with more highlights. After moving a few lights, moving the talent, I took a test shot to see what kind of shadows and highlights I was getting.

Great, now all I had to do is to open up the shadow in the front of the talent with some vertical light. I figured I would continue to use the CTO on my main light, and use a reflector on the bottom with another SB900.

For my last shot, I continued to move the car angle and 2 SB800s onto the background to highlight the car and talent. Again, trying to keep an image with lots of shadow, I took the following shot to check how much light was reflecting onto the walls.

Placing the talent next to the car, adding a couple of snoots to light their faces without contributing wash onto the walls.

It was a fun shoot. I made people laugh and got to play around with some speedlights. I really am looking forward to covering the Dustball Rally next week. I will be posting shots as I get them.

Driving around I searched for areas that were getting a bit more snowfall than what was being reported. I arrived at Eastwood Album park where there was about 5 inches on the ground.

Even though getting snow for Christmas seems a bit more special, the site of flurries floating from the sky does make for a pleasant feeling. The snow only lasted for a couple days and then quickly started to melt away. It was very nice to get a chance to take time and shoot in the snow.

It’s a great show and very glad he took the award. Aaron Paul tried to compose himself as he commended his “Breaking Bad” co-star Giancarlo Esposito and the other nominees in the outstanding supporting actor in a drama category, saying how honored he was to be nominated along with them…But it was at the end of the speech that inspired me to make a post of it.

At the end of the speech, “Last but certainly not least,” Paul said he wanted to thank his “beautiful, inspiring fiancee,” Lauren Parsekian. “Thank you so much for looking at me the way that you do, you truly saved me.”

When I cover weddings, I work through a photo-journalistic approach. You can’t instruct people to give each other that special glance.

People ask me if I do weddings, and I say no. I explain that I cover weddings, allowing the bride and groom to go about their day as if I wasn’t even there. Having this approach, gives the couple the opportunity to act naturally while I focus on recording their special day.

There are certain times throughout day of the wedding, that the bride gets lost in her world when she looks at her groom.

If you are getting married and you’re looking for wedding photographers in El Paso, take a few minutes to go over to my site and download my free e-book. Click on www.elpasoweddingphotographer.net to view some of my other work, Wedding Photography.

I’ll pick up cost of editing, resizing, and printing, for 3 Dustball Rally Teams…

The 2012 Dustball Rally was a huge success, I’ll be posting a summary with pics soon. I will be giving away 3- 20×30 Posters.

Here’s how you can enter to win a Dustball Rally Poster —  from this year’s rally…It’s easy.

First, this giveaway couldn’t be possible without the support of my friends Andrew and Leandra (love you guys). So you MUST be following Dustball Rally–and yours truly–on Twitter here:

@DustballRally https://twitter.com/DustballRally
@ferniecastillo  https://twitter.com/ferniecastillo

Also, you must like the Dustball Rally page on Facebook found here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dustball-Rally/266141511576

And, you must be friends with me on Facebook found here:

https://www.facebook.com/ferniecastillo

Second, tweet this exact tweet below, only be sure to personalize it by inserting a cool word or phrase about Dustball Rally… (ie #DustballRally is LIFE, #DustballRally is ALL I NEED, etc)

#DustballRally is [insert your thought here]! I want a free poster from @ferniecastillo  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dustball-Rally/266141511576

Dont forget to include the link!! (it should give you 57 characters to work with)

Lastly, enter (tweet the above) as often as you like with variations on “#DustballRally is ____”. Contest runs from right now through Wednesday, August 29th at noon El Paso Time. The contest is open to all teams that participated in the 2012 Dustball Rally. Winner will be chosen at random and announced Friday, August 31, 2012.

Posters will be submitted to Dustball Rally HQ.

Again, the meeting point allows teams to shoot the breeze with other teams. It never fails that the majority if the participants like to joke around look for ways of laughter.

After the group photo, teams get their packets that include specific routes and instructions.

…and like that, teams enter their vehicles and set off to begin a voyage to the east.

This year the rally was escorted across the city and throughout the Franklin Mountains.

The El Paso Police Dept closed off U.S.54 and other roadways.

This awesome trek will leave onlookers wondering what has pass them by, leaving no doubt that they just witnessed the Dustball Rally.

We are currently on our way to Big Bend National Park, where e are continuing our journey to New Orleans. If you’re not on the road right now traveling with the rally, you have to ask yourself, why not?

It didn’t take long before everyone started to shoot the breeze. Talking about their cars, upgrades, the drive to El Paso or your typical guy stuff conversation.

Trying to capture photographs for both the El Paso Times, and for the Dustball Rally influenced my photo approach. Not relying on staging photos, I tried the element of getting candid shots, but in true rally spirit, what else would I expect but to get photograph some horseplay.

…lol, the moment I say, “nono, just pretend I’m not here” one guy has to stand behind the other guy and play along. Good one.

So, on with the photo taking…

For the spirit award, it helps when your team has a theme and even play off in character. Keep in mind, these teams stay in character throughout the entire rally.

Staging the vehicles in an open parking lot usually draws attention. It was good to see some media exposure, (other than the photos I provide for the El Paso Times).

…cars with decals even draw attention from other car enthusiast. Of course it helps when you have nice cars to look at.

Never the less, I am truly looking forward to tomorrows launch on the westside early in the morning. Being able to spend time some time with some old friends and getting to know new ones….Go Dustball!!!

It’s that time of the year where many car enthusiast and drivers look forward to. Once a year, the Dustball Rally comes together by the hard work of the Medley family. Organizer Andrew Medley spends countless of hours on ways to get a group of drivers onto a specific route and make the most of it. Along the way, drivers who sign up and join the rally, become a part of a large comradery among a diverse group professionals.

Now, it seems as if the largest misconception of the Dustball Rally is that it’s a race from city to city. It is NOT. Though some participants may get caught up in a little bit of spirited driving, it’s a gimmick rally. A gimmick rally is traditionally a non-competitive entry level event that quickly becomes a highly competitive, but still a friendly game. Almost any person with the right equipment and skills can become a master sleuth and figure out the gimmicks set forth, the only difference being technique. Solving seemingly mediocre puzzles brings an adrenal rush of excitement when you are in the presence of many other teams playing the same game

The majority of the stops have group activities and sections of group driving are planned for this special event. Teams travel through approximately 1500 miles of paved roadways, participants will be faced with several challenges along the way. A number of stops are required to locate clues & gimmicks; their purpose is sometimes to find out the direction to the next stop, and other times to gain a gimmick answer correctly.

Covering the Dustball Rally for the past 5 years, I’ve learned that you can never have too many friends. By the end of each day, you instantly become friends with a group of teams that endured a challenge and have experienced a new journey. The teams realize that I am there to help recreate this adventure after it is all done. Whether its tagging someone on Facebook, tweeting a group picture on Twitter, or supplying some photos to the Dustball Archive, I am there as part of the team’s experience.

I hope that this year, I am able to capture those memories to their fullest and have a great time while I’m at it. By now, most of the teams know me and what I try to do for them. Maybe this year I will meet new faces that will share this new adventure to New Orleans, and I will gladly call them “my friends.”

Not too long ago, I met Sloth. She’s the kind of girl that is easy to get along with, especially when she rides her own bike.  Sloth’s real name is Zaira, but her friends call her “Z” or “Zai Zai.” Sloth is down to earth and easy going, and when my bike was out of order, she insisted that I throw a leg over her bike. When we get together at Starbucks, I can easily get a rise out of her just by stating that cats are better than dogs and she’ll instantly try to prove me otherwise.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from Sloth to let me know about a calender she was doing as a collaboration and wanted my input. I was unable to take time away from work as I am taking time off for the upcoming Dustball Rally, so I told her I would  be her photog. Now I knew this project would be fairly easy since for the past 6 months or so, Sloth has been working hard on toning up and getting healthy. In fact, she’s recently become co-owner of a health club in area called “TRU Nutrition.” The next thing was for me to get an idea of the direction the photography in the calender was going. Sloth’s only concern was to make sure that the images looked “cool.”

I thought about the time and location that would work for the both of us and resorted to a place where I had 90% of light control, and was protected from the elements. Scouting for this location was fairly easy to get to and accessible from the freeway. So we arrived to the location and took a couple of test shoots.

I knew that in this location, I had the element of a closed studio with the added use of the background. My set up included 3 Nikon SB-800′s, SB-900, and a SB-600. The SU-800 was mounted on the D3 as a commander and I was able to dial in each of my groups.

After a set of takes and a few minor light adjustments, make up refresher by Teresa was appreciated.

With the use of green gels inserted in the speedlights toward the back, it helped bring out the change in wardrobe (shoes) with a splash of color to the background.

A few more changes of clothes and light patterns were done throughout the photo shoot. Primarily I tried to keep the tempo run continuously with the occasional pause to re-think highlights and shadows.

An on location photo shoot runs smoother with the help of a couple of assistants. Being able to guide light direction to my assistants allows me to focus on my talent, my subject and add my touch of style to my photos. I appreciate the help guys (Sammy, Bobby, and Teresa).

As time approaches closer to the wedding date, restricted time schedules kept us from getting together much less an engagement session. We finally reached a time in which Margie (his fiancé), Mauricio and myself could get together Tuesday of last week. That day came and we prepared to head out to New Mexico just south of Old Mesilla. We traveled about 5 miles before we encountered a rain storm heading in from the south…which is unusual because we rarely get rain. Back at the house we set up to meet last Thursday in the morning.

We met up at the house that morning and before we could travel 5 blocks, we were graced with more rain. Mauricio continued to travel towards the mountain in hope of catching a break.

Even though it was just sprinkling, it was enough to make the roads slick, and bring down the temperature. Margie didn’t even bother getting out of the car…I don’t blame her. So we headed back to the house.

Photo by: Sammy Espinoza

We waited for Sunday in hope of some cooperative weather. There’s something about Sundays that brings great riding weather for most motorcycle riders. The clear skies and warm sun made for a pleasant journey to the pecan groves south of Old Mesilla.

Once there, I set up two flash rigs on the pick up with the use of some PocketWizards. The first rig was set up hanging out of the passenger window, facing what would be the ideal bike spot. I originally was not planing on placing the first rig out the passenger window, but we were short one driver.

The other rig was more a fill flash than anything else. Assuming that I wanted to use the sun as a hair light and have the sun behind them, I wanted to compensate by adding a fill flash perpendicular to the sun. The rig was fastened on a Justin Clamp, then zip tied for security.

At last, we cruised up and down the two mile stretch of pecan trees, where the limbs hang over the road making one get the impression of driving thru a tunnel. I made minor adjustments increasing the power of the flashes, and reducing the speed of the shutter slower and slower.

I’m glad the photo shoot went well and that the weather cooperated. I didn’t have any glitches with the flash rigs or the pocketwizards. At the end of the shoot, we went out for some lunch in Old Mesilla and Mauricio was pretty happy to find out that lunch was on him.