Photo Finish - USAs

• Tanji Johnson was in town supporting some athletes she works closely with in the Northwest. Tanji and I have "known" each other for awhile now, but rarely actually run into each other at shows. We had been talking about shooting for ages, and the stars finally aligned and the prophecy came to fruition. Tanji is a very talented athlete, but thats not the extent of her abilities. Look for alot more from Tanji in the coming year.

• Friday's only shoot was with Jacqui Skibba, who rolled into Vegas for the sole purpose of shooting with FitSights and her Performance Ready Team out of Colorado. I'm usually not a fan of indoor photoshoots, but due to the heat I decided that this year it would be a necessity. Although it was a little tough getting the right angles sometimes, the shoot went great. Jacqui has such a bubbly, upbeat personality that any bumps in the road were easily smoothed over.

• When I think of Josephine Dalton, I will always remember one thing — Popillia japonica. These lil buggers were buzzing around during our entire shoot, and despite Josephine's rough and tumble past (in the Navy, multiple rotator-cuff surgeries, dealing with a torn ligament for the past few months), if theres one that that really gets to her, its bugs. Especially big ol' shiny ones that like to cruise around people's craniums. But insects be damned, we powered through the early morning shoot anyways, and with the beautiful surroundings and Joey's posing skills, we were able to capture some great images.

• I had to wait until Sunday to shoot an actual USA competitor, but the flurry activity was a welcomed change. Michelle Welsh, who I had also shot with at the LAs, brings alot to her shoots. Great energy, fantastic posing, and — well — dope outfits. This oldschool Padres-colored getup worked well at the indoor location, and I think we captured some nice fitness/fashion images. And yep, thats really the Wynn in the top right corner.

• Like with Tanji, NPC bodybuilder Jodi Miller was another long awaited shoot. And yes, you heard me right; Jodi is moving from figure to bodybuilding this August at the Europa show. One of the best posers I've ever worked with, all I really had to do was point the camera in her general direction and open up the shutter — Jodi did the rest.

• Speaking of moving to bodybuilding, Diana Tinnelle did just that at the USAs, and was quite successful in her first outing, placing 3rd in the Light Heavyweight category. But enough about where Diana placed in the show, I want to talk about the shoot. Wow. This girl can pose like no other. And I'm not just talking about knowing how to position her body in front of the camera, Diana hits these poses in rapid succession with speed I had never witnessed before. At times, I felt like I was holding her up by taking the photos. Excellent physique and excellent poser. Wow.

• Not only did Diana bring her posing skills to the shoot, but she also brought members of her Diamond Girlz Physique Team. Among them were Julie Williams, a statuesque bodybuilder from Arizona who competed as a Middleweight at the USAs. A little shy at the start, Julie warmed up and the end and allowed us to capture some great images.

• Last, but definitely not least, is Melissa Alvarado, a Lightweight sparkplug with a very photogenic look. When I first saw her I didn't know if she was a muscular figure competitor or a bodybuilder, which is a unique look to have (a tweener). Depending on how she posed, Melissa was able to go back and forth between both 'soft' and 'hard' looks and offered a lot of variety. Like Julie, Melissa was a little shy and nervous in the beginning, but once I showed her the photos we were taking, it was smooth sailing from that point on.