My 'Best of 2012' Collection

It has been a year since I started this blog. Here is a look at some of my favorite assignments of 2012. I look forward to what 2013 has in store. Happy New Year!

Zoo Photography Tips: Top 7

A lion paces back and forth as the sun sets on his den at the
world famous San Diego Zoo.
This summer I spent a generous amount of time visiting my hometown zoo, the San Diego Zoo. My girlfriend and I got our year memberships in early April. Zoo’s are unlike any other environment. The variety of exotic animals all existing in the same place, can make animal photography very rewarding. But shooting in such and enclosed environment can present itself with its own set of challenges and difficulties. So here are a few zoo photography tips for you.

Studio Time with Tyler

My friend Tyler called me up last week to tell me he wanted to get his picture taken.
Tyler is also a photographer and a CSUN alumni so it didn’t take long before I was able to bring him into the studio and make it happen.
Most of Tyler’s upper body is covered in awesome tattoos so this was a great opportunity to show case them. We began by experimenting with an orange background to match Tyler’s outgoing personality.
Halfway through the shoot, however, we decided to take a complete 360 degree turn with navy blue for a more down to earth feel.
The energy in the room was high and creativity seemed to flow quite well as music from A Day to Remember flooded to studio. Being that I am still fairly new at studio photography, I saw this as a great opportunity to put to practice a few of the lighting concepts I learned in my Advertising Photography class over the semester.
Overall I’d say it was a pretty successful shoot, but I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Here are some of the photos of last weeks shoot with Tyler Ross.

My 'Best of 2011' Collection

RED TIDE- Billions of plankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum cause bioluminescence at Black's Beach, California on Oct. 1, 2011. More commonly referred to as “red tide,” the algae bloom wash ashore during late summer and have been seen to cause a neon blue glow rising from the waves like fire at night.

I hope to be launching my website by the end of this month and to compliment it I started a blog. As a photojournalist, I continue to push forward in my efforts to document that which is true and real in my surrounding environment. Each day, for me, represents a different opportunity to capture extraordinary moments and tell compelling stories. These are some of my favorite moments of 2011.
-Misael Virgen