Behind the Lens: Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders Calendar Shoot
Some shoots test your skill. Others test your endurance. The Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders calendar shoot tested both — and then some.
Eight days. Over 28 women. The Dominican Republic's Samana Peninsula. From pristine beaches to hidden waterfalls and ancient caves, every location demanded something different from my team at Biricik Media and from me.
Into the Wild
This wasn't a studio shoot with controlled lighting and climate-controlled comfort. We were deep in the Dominican wilderness, carrying all our gear on horseback through rivers and hiking up mountains. Every sunrise meant a new location, a new challenge, a new opportunity to create something extraordinary.
The beaches gave us that classic sun-kissed energy — golden hour light reflecting off turquoise water, creating a natural softbox that no amount of studio equipment could replicate. (See more from this series on my portfolio). But it was the waterfalls that became the heart of the project. Imagine directing a shoot while standing waist-deep in a river, protecting your gear from mist, timing your shots between cascading walls of water. That's where the magic happened.
The Cave Sessions
The caves presented a photographer's paradox — dramatic natural architecture with almost zero natural light. We worked with minimal equipment, as we always do, using the darkness itself as a creative element. Shafts of light cutting through limestone openings became our key light, and the results were some of the most dramatic images of the entire series.
The Takeaway
Calendar shoots can easily become formulaic. My goal was to push beyond the expected — to create images that felt cinematic rather than catalog. When you put 28 incredible athletes in some of the most breathtaking natural landscapes on earth, the energy is electric. My job was to harness that energy and freeze it in time.
The full project is on Behance.
About the Photographer
Portfolio · Biricik Media · Unpomela · ICEe PC · cemhan.ai · Isabel Biricik · Behance · Instagram
