San Francisco Photographer Starts Project To Produce 100 Videos About Photography

San Francisco based commercial and sports photographer, Alexis Cuarezma, has just announced he is launching a YouTube channel with 100 videos on photography.  He'll be discussing topics such as lighting, working with models, and taking full advantages of your locations.

After completing the prestigious Eddie Adams Workshop, Alexis has worked for clients such as Sports Illustrated, the LA Times, the New York Times, and HBO. An experienced lecturer, his behind-the-scenes videos are always helpful. Some of the past videos have detailed items like using the Profoto B2 to capture action in the boxing ring. That video discussed some of the tools Cuarezma uses to bring his subjects to life, including reflectors, grids, as well as carefully placed gels.

In a detailed behind the scenes look at shooting Team USA soccer for Sports Illustrated, he discusses his process for setting up a portrait. Of specific interest is how he will often arrange multiple lighting setups simultaneously when working with a subject. While this requires an additional amount of setup time, once the setup is complete, he is able to alter his look completely by simply turning certain packs on and off. So, his subject, who likely has limited time, can breeze through multiple looks without ever having to leave his mark. An interesting concept. And one that may save you time and money when working in a high pressure situation.

And a lighting breakdown of shooting IFBB Bikini Pro Ashley Pfaff for a fitness shoot. This video details how he deals with the challenge of dealing with location photography. How he decides what tools to bring. How he goes about balancing strobe with natural light. The video also concludes with Cuarezma taking the model indoors and using many similar techniques to help bring his model to life.

A strong resource. Check out his channel and you're sure to pick up a few tips.

Christopher Malcolm's picture

Christopher Malcolm is a Los Angeles-based lifestyle, fitness, and advertising photographer, director, and cinematographer shooting for clients such as Nike, lululemon, ASICS, and Verizon.

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10 Comments

Christopher, thank you so much. Looking forward to getting this going and sharing what I do. If anyone has any suggestions on what they'd like to see, please let me know and comment here. Thanks again

Absolutely. Looking forward to the series.

Alexis is amazing! Cannot wait to see how this project comes together!

thanks so much!!! Can't wait to chat w/ you tomorrow. We gotta do something together soon :)

Alexis your work blows me away every time! Love your use of colour and dramatic lighting to build the image 👍 Can you do a video on what preparation you do in the lead-up to photographing such high profile sports stars? What sort of research and prep you do in order to build an instant rapport with them when they're on set. Cheers

Hi Phil, thanks so much for the kind words. Sounds good!! Will do that for sure.

By the way, is there any trigger than the pocketwizard multimax having the speedcycler function (or similar) to trigger mutiple lighting setups successively within a second ? As lights, I use mainly Paul Buff Einsteins & Yongnuo Speedlights YN560III. Thanks. Cheers

not that I'm aware off. PW MultiMax worked for me, so that's what I use. I know the Profoto Air Remote can't do it as I use them as well. But other than that, I don't use any other triggers. That's something you'd have to research or just buy a MM off eBay. Best of luck

Thanks for the (sad) info Alexis :P

Great Idea!