Posts Tagged ‘Jessica Burciaga’

Welcome the newest hero in the SlickforceGirl universe, Desert Mechanic Jessica. Word on the street is that she can fix anything, including your incorrect opinion.

Model Jessica Burciaga graciously stepped in to bring this rough-around-the-edges savant to life, and she was nice enough to let us cover her in dirt. Check out the making of Jessica’s shoot in the video above, as well the final campaign images and a BTS gallery from the shoot below.

For additional photos, hop over to SlickforceGirl.com and be sure to check out the SlickforceGirl Facebook and Instagram.

CREDITS:
Photo: Nick Saglimbeni
Model: Jessica Burciaga
Makeup: Therese Williams
Hair: Al Ingram
Styling: Diana Chan

Hey guys, here’s a sneak peek at something really cool my team and I have been working on for the past year. This is the most rewarding project I’ve ever worked on, and it’s easily the most fun I’ve ever had as an artist. Thanks to everyone involved, many of whom will likely be familiar faces to you…more details coming soon. Enjoy!

When I was a kid, I loved to roller-skate. And I told myself that one day I would throw a roller-skating party with models. It just seemed like it would be, well, the awesomest party ever. Hey, a kid has to dream. Then, in high school, I put away my quads and transitioned to roller-blading. And finally, like most of us, I transitioned again, only this time into the real world, where childhood joys were locked away in a chest and relegated to memories of the past. Until now.

As my company continues to be blessed by growth and prosperity, I find it increasingly important to remind our expanding family of those childhood thrills, as proof that dream-chasers can stay connected to the wide-eyed, unjaded enthusiasm that we all possessed as children, before we learned about rules and jobs and taxes. And what better way to do that than to shut down a roller-rink for all of your friends?

This year, in conjunction with the wonderful people at Moonlight Rollerway, I opened our SlickforceStudio Christmas party up to more than just our beloved staff. We invited close friends and clients, giving us a chance to show our appreciation to those who have helped us along our journey. At first, many were nervous—not having been on a pair of skates since middle-school—but ultimately we got nearly everyone out on the floor and had the time of our lives.

We also celebrated associate photographer Christian Arias’ first magazine cover, of rising-star Ayanna Jordan for Import Tuner magazine. Her work is a testament to the talent of our team, the ever-evolving creativity of the Slickforce brand, and our growing presence in popular media.

As we close out a landmark year, one that saw our 6th ModelKamp, my first SlickforceGirl book shoot, and more than 25 magazine covers, as well as the advent of PhotoKamp, Mastering Retouching, Kardashian Konfidential and countless related campaigns, I want to say thanks to everyone who has supported us, especially you, the fans. This is my reminder to you to never stop dreaming!

Merry Christmas everyone! 🙂

INDEX:

1: Aldis Hodge from TNT’s Leverage and brother Edwin

2: ModelKamp instructor Brittany Dailey & friend Courtney, me, Playboy Playmate Jessica Burciaga & model/actress Daphne Joy

3: Director/Cinematographer James Mann, model Ayanna Jordan, and Craig McNelly

4-5: Slickforce Models show their love!

6: Ayanna Jordan and SHOW Art Director Von Jackson

7: Tale of Two Alexs: Alex Saglimbeni and actress/producer Alexandra Merejo

8: Slickforce Intern Jessica Whitehead & Cinematographer David Tayar

9: Alex Merejo, me, and celebrity hair-stylist Rob Scheppy

10: Friends join SlickforceStudio’s associate photographers Cherry Gardner and Christian Arias

11: Me and Daphne Joy

12: James Mann entertains Slickforce post-production supervisor Joyce Park

13: GIRLS editor-in-chief Tanisha Brown and sister Alicia

14-27: Skate-crazy!

28: Slickforce Director of Operations Kevin Savarese joins Ayanna and Christian to celebrate their cover!

Scorchers in the desert

Production shots:

SHOWCase #2 was the 4th full magazine issue I produced in its entirety. I think I had gotten the publisher of SHOW hooked on desert shoots just like I was, so we shot the “sequel” to SHOWCase #1 within 60 days of shooting its predecessor.

For those of you who know my background as a cinematographer, it’s no surprise why I get so excited shooting on location. I mean, no photographer LOVES being inside the studio every day…it’s like letting a dog out of the house to run free. So as SHOW became more successful (which is 100% shot on seamless), I found myself pushing to shoot the special issues as far away from SlickforceStudio as possible.

I had just bought my property in the desert (which would become Ultimate Graveyard), but I hadn’t been able to put any real time into it, so I felt it wasn’t yet camera-ready. Instead, I chose Club Ed, one of my favorite desert locations as a DP. They’ve shot a billion movies here, most notably Rob Zombie’s “The Devil’s Rejects,” and “Nothing to Lose” starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins.

One of the reasons I like shooting in the desert so much is that it forces you to be on your A-game. You’ve got no water, no power and no restaurants for miles, so you have to run a really tight production. We brought in RVs, generators, and of course I had my crack team of super-assistants making runs around the Antelope Valley all day (my assistant Cherry got a speeding ticket that day too…sorry, Cherry!) I sometimes get a lot of flack for my super-sized productions, but I’ve never been a minimalist—it’s just not my style. My inspirations have always been larger-than-life directors and photographers, like Michael Bay, James Cameron, Antoine Verglas, and Herb Ritts.

The models for SHOWCase #2 were soon-to-be-Playmate Jessica Burciaga and urban-superstar-model Jesikah Maximus. I labeled my Capture folder “Jes².” I had worked with them both on countless issues before and I knew they were both great models (J-Max and I were in Puerto Rico shooting her “SHOW: In Paradise” issue exactly one year earlier) so I already had their trust. And that’s very important, because when the models trust you, you can push them very, very far.

These girls both had crazy bodies, and when J-Max showed up with her fire-engine-red hair, I decided was going to photograph them as if I were shooting a comic-book. I had them kneel on scorching-hot gas pumps, pour buckets of water on themselves, crawl on trucks, and roll around in the dirt. But man, did this issue kill. I have to say that this is probably the first issue I’ve shot that turned out exactly like I saw it in my head. And that’s not easy for 100+ pages of content. And although the day was long (15+ hours) and everyone was beat to sh*t, it was some of the most fun I’ve ever head on set. I think it was probably in my top 3 days of 2008. It’s one of those rare moments where you stop to reflect, take a look around, and realize you’re doing exactly what you dreamed of doing when you were a kid.

Three's company

Thursday we celebrated LowRider GIRLS’ Editor Tanisha Brown’s birthday at Lucky Strike in downtown LA.

As one would expect with the editor of one of the biggest men’s mags on the planet, there was no shortage of beautiful women at the party. Feb 2009 Playboy Playmate Jessica Burciaga and multiple covergirl Kim Lee, both of whom I’ve known for many years, were just a few of the headliners that helped Tanisha celebrate in style! Happy Birthday, T!