AJAY GOEL Muscle ups East Bay Area Fitness Competitor

AJAY GOEL Fitness Photoshoot
Hercules, CA
Hercules Crossfit
Adrian Valenzuela Photography

Jenn Aguirre Pull-ups off overpass and Resistance Band Training

One day at the UFC Gym, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a woman just going absolutely nuts with her workout. In between sets while us guys were drinking water and milling about, this amazing woman did pull ups, worked with bands, did inverted kettle bell pushups and a bunch of other exercises  that literally made a lot of guys rack their weights and go home in shame. I took me a month to be able to catch Jenn at the end of a workout to talk to her about a shoot... luckily I didn't interrupt her workout.  Its one of her pet peeves. Don't bother her during a workout. ;-) 

Jenn Aguirre Fitness Photo shoot
Aguirre Fitness
Adrian Valenzuela Photography

Resurrection Roller Girls Portraits, Sonoma County, California

Resurrection Roller Girls Portraits
Cal Skate, Ronhert Park CA
Adrian Valenzuela Photography

BAY AREA DERBY GIRLS Season Opener

Bay Area Derby Girls Season Opener
S.F. Shevil Dead vs. Richmond Wrecking Belles
Craneway Pavillion, Richmond CA
Adrian Valenzuela Photography

American Kickboxing Academy MMA Fighters

Ron Keslar

Nate James

Ron Keslar

American Kickboxing Academy MMA Fighters
Nate James
Ron Keslar
San Jose, CA
Adrian Valenzuela Photography

Silicon Valley Roller Girls Dot.Kamikaze's vs Bellingham Roller Betties

Silicon Valley Roller Girls Season Opener
SVRG Dot.Kamikaze's vs Bellingham Roller Betties
San Jose Skate, San Jose CA
Adrian Valenzuela Photography

SVRG KillaBytes vs Bay Area Derby Girls Berkeley Resistance

Silicon Valley Roller Girls KillaBytes vs Bay Area Derby Girls Berkley Resistance
San Jose Skate, San Jose CA
Adrian Valenzuela Photography

Pro MMA Fighter Jon Fitch trains for UFC 117 Fitch vs Alves

Pro MMA fighter Jon Fitch is currently training for his upcoming match with Thiago Alves for UFC 117. I spent a couple of days at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose shooting Fitch and his training staff preparing for battle.

Interviewed by Rachel Hulin from "A Photography Blog" Adrian Valenzuela does the Derby

Check out this interview by Rachel Hulin.... from A Photography Blog!

Ronnie Romiti's A-4 in RC Jet International Magazine

I shot something that I have never done before, I photographed a jet and a jet engine in my studio... no I do not have a massive studio the size of a hangar. Ronnie Romiti is an avid Remote Control Jet Enthusiast that installed a controversial part into his RC A-4 and was able to make it work. RC Jet International's April/May edition featured some of my photography of Ronnie and his jet, and we also made it to the cover.

Shooting with the 7d and Profoto D1's Silicon Valley Roller Girls vs San Diego Derby Dolls and Tacoma's Dockyard Derby Dames

     The Girls from Silicon Valley had their first bout of the season tonight against San Diego Derby Doll's "Hard Corps" and Tacoma Washington's Dockyard Derby Dames. I've been wanting to test out Canon's 7d and the new 1d Mark IV along with Profoto's D1 Air system, so I rented the 7d and the D1's from BorrowLenses.com in San Mateo. (The Mark IV was unavailable... I'll get to that camera soon) I found the focusing system on the 7d to be pretty impressive as I was able to track the skaters pretty easily as they were moving toward me. I seemed to lose focus as they travelled laterally in front of me around the turn. I think however it may have been due to low light levels and maybe a rapid change in direction of the skaters. I will test this further at the Santa Cruz Derby Girls venue this weekend which is well lit.  

    

     The Canon 7d has the ability to shoot Full Resolution HD video. I found it awkward to operate the 7d as a video camera having to look at the screen at the back of the camera instead of through an optical viewfinder. Manual focusing was diffilcult, especially when shooting a moving subject like Roller Derby. I think the best way to operate the 7d as a video camera is to set it up like a motion picture camera with a follow focus unit and an assistant to pull focus. Companies like Redrock Micro make  DSLR support systems that allows you to do this. This is something I definately will use due to my background in Cinematography. Overall the 7d is a remarkable camera, and is priced under 2K. I am pretty excited to get my  hands on the 1d Mark IV to see what that camera can do.

"Shooting HD Video"  Photo Courtesy of Jim Cottingham

 
     I want to be able to set up and control multiple lights wirelessly at the various Roller Derby bouts I shoot. Profoto's Air system I believe is the solution to what I want to do. I rented a pair of these lights and was able to control their intesities using a remote without having to go to each light physically to do so. This isn't a big deal in the studio, however if you have lights rigged high up or on tall light stands all over an arena it becomes to be a pain. Using Profoto's Air Remote I was able to dial in exactly the light levels I wanted standing on the track rather than running back and forth from the track to the light. Using Profoto's Studio air and the USB Air Remote, you can control multiple lights from your laptop wirelessly. This means I can have different lighting setups preprogrammed  and ready depending on where I want to shoot on the track.

Central Coast Roller Derby vs. Derby Revolution of Bakersfield, Paso Robles CA

Central Coast Coach Gabe Kahuna Kamakani's Skaters and  Cpl. Punisher Derby Revolution of Bakersfield played an outstanding game tonight at the Paso Robles Event center. Either I haven't seen a game in a while or the girls were hitting really hard. I finally got to meet Kahuna and his team after talking with them for months. Both Kahuna and I were in the Marines so I felt like I have known him for years. Kahuna definitely had the better duty stations. When I was suffering at the worst duty stations the Marine Corps had to offer, (Italy and Hawaii) Kahuna had the good life at Camp Lejeune. Sorry Kahuna. The venue CCRD Skates in is perfect for a Roller Derby Photographer.... there's power available everywhere and there are plenty of places to rig strobes so you can leave the lightstands behind. I can not wait to shoot there again.

Photo Shoot with Miss Google Voice aka: Laurie Burke

If you have "google voice" you have heard the voice of actress and voice over talent Laurie Burke. Laurie has appeared in numerous commercials, television shows, on film, in theater and in commercial print ads. For as long as I have known her she always has some type of project going on, I am happy for one evening  Laurie sat still enough for me to photograph her.

Profoto Article on Adrian Valenzuela Photography by Ron Egatz

Here is the link to the Article Ron Egatz from Profoto wrote.

http://www.profoto.com/blog/lighting-tips/adrian-valenzuela-finds-his-way-to-roll/

Adrian Valenzuela Photography wins Monthly Profoto Competition

I want to thank all my family, friends and the ladies in the Roller Derby community who voted for my photographs in the Profoto Competition back in October 2009. Right before the New Year I got a phone call from Matt Hill and Ron Egatz from Profoto telling me of the great news. With all your support I was able to win the monthly competition for October which puts me in competition for the Profoto Grand Prize in May 2010. In addition to that, Profoto features monthly winners on their websites, in print ads and on their blog which is a great opportunity for exposure for all the winning photographers. The Photograph of SVRG's Dollface and OCRG's Wild Bella from the Silicon Valley Roller Derby game vs the OC Roller Girls is the photograph that will be used in the print ads and online during the month of February. Once again I am very thankful to all of you that helped make this happen, I am grateful to have so many supportive people in my life.

Adrian