Floripa is #1 place to party in 2009
Jeremiah Thompson shooting calendar model Greicy
October 2, 2008
Missoula Independent Newspaper
Desire and a plane ticket to Florianopolis, Brazil—that’s all it took for Jeremiah Thompson, a Missoula dot-com businessman and amateur photographer, to realize a life-long dream. He’s become a swimsuit photographer.
Thompson flew to Brazil in January to begin work on the “Girls of Brazil 2009 Swimsuit Calendar.” Most of his subjects weren’t professional models, but rather women in bikinis who liked having their photos snapped at sunrise or sunset, some without payment.
“It was too easy,” Thompson says. “I wasn’t paying, I wasn’t a professional photographer, I wasn’t backed by a photography studio…but just about everyone I wanted to shoot photos of agreed to have photos taken.”
Those women will now provide an unexpected service: boosting morale in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thompson recently donated 5,000 calendars to troops abroad. To top it off, a percentage of the proceeds from every calendar sale supports injured soldiers through the nonprofit Wounded Warriors Program.
“He’s really got a heart for helping people,” says Jennifer Hayes, marketing manager for Thompson’s Floripa Calendar Project.
Thompson says supporting the troops was an important move. His dad is a retired lieutenant colonel and Thompson grew up calling the military home. He’s the only man in his family who didn’t enlist.
“I guess if my dad wasn’t in the Army, I wouldn’t have been exposed to that lifestyle growing up,” Thompson says.
Hayes says the project’s philanthropic aspect has attracted positive attention. PMG International, a periodical wholesaler in San Antonio, purchased 2,000 calendars for troops abroad. And although Thompson missed the February distributor’s deadline for 2009 calendar samples, Ingram Book Group, the nation’s largest publishing distribution house, said it’s definitely interested in 2010.
Philanthropy also has its perks. Thompson spoke to the Independent by phone from Aruba last week, traveling for business with his girlfriend, whom he met while working on the calendar.
“I think anyone can do it,” Thompson says. “It’s just a matter of buying a ticket, going down there and doing it.”
Greicy poses for the Girls of Brazil Swimsuit Calendar 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brazilian Vacation Dreams Come True for Missoula, Montana-Based Photographer
“Girls of Brazil 2009 Swimsuit Calendar” makes big waves in world of amateur photography
MISSOULA, Mont., Aug. 15, 2008 — Last year, the famously exotic, culture-rich country of Brazil welcomed over 5 million visitors to its homeland. Some came for the sun and the beach. Others came to indulge in Brazil’s ecotourism or its numerous adventure-based sports. Many more traveled there for industry fairs, conferences and conventions.
However, one American amateur photographer — a former “dotcommer” — went to Brazil for the girls … or, rather, to follow his dream of photographing beautiful women and making a name for himself as a professional swimsuit photographer. Jeremiah Thompson of Missoula, Mont., has just released the fruit of his vacation “fun” in the form of the “Girls of Brazil 2009 Swimsuit Calendar,” which is now available online at http://girlsofbrazilcalendar.com .
“Many men dream of being a professional swimsuit photographer, but my dream was much more than that,” Thompson says. “This project, called ‘The Girls of Florianopolis’ — so named for the beach town that was home to these breathtakingly beautiful women — took a life of its own and is very, very real. I simply took a vacation down there, started taking pictures of women who just loved and wanted to be photographed for free, and the result is this amazing calendar of the most gorgeous women in the world.”
A photographic debut of sorts, Thompson’s “Girls of Brazil 2009” calendar is packed with 15 models who are local to Florianopolis, the capital city of the Santa Caterina State in Southern Brazil. Within the calendar, each featured spread reflects the models’ unique styles and moods — playful, seductive, thoughtful and more — that combine to create a calendar bursting with energy, emotion and serious sex appeal.
Among the surf and sand, the girls sport their own bikinis in most cases, although Thompson bought a few swimsuits for the shoot, giving them as gifts to several of his models. It was this bikini shopping and photographing of such exquisite beauty that made Thompson wake up and realize this life, at least for him, wasn’t such a dream but the real deal.
“I believe people should follow their dreams, and this project was so successful that it was a reality check of sorts in terms of what one can achieve,” Thompson states. “I shot this entire calendar with simple but classic gear – a Canon 40D, plus a Canon lens and some flash equipment. I didn’t use any crew, lighting reflectors or others kinds of support that professionals typically use.”
“I did solicit the help of Mother Nature … incredible sunrises and sunsets lit my ‘stage,’” Thompson continues. “The results were simply amazing, and a true show of what I’ve been able to do with my talent for scouting out the women, taking advantage of Brazil’s natural environs, and using my camera to its fullest potential.”
For more information, visit http://girlsofbrazilcalendar.com/.
