Tales of Colt 45; Matt & Kim

Tales of Colt 45. Hollywood. June 30th. I had no idea what to expect, other than what I was told: I was going to King King on Hollywood Blvd, I was going to shoot The Death Set and Matt & Kim. I was familiar with the stuff from Matt & Kim. I knew the night would be worth it to see them. I wasn't going to get there until later that night so I took my time getting ready, hopping on the motorcycle at what felt like almost-but-not-quite the last second and(first stopping for gas) getting there as fast as was legally(safely)possible.



How is it possible that I didn't know that there would be free beer? Colt45...How was that possible? It didn't matter, I normally don't drink while working. And call me crazy(or not stupid), but I most certainly don't drink when I know I'll be using the motorcycle as my means of transportation. The people there were practically knee-walking drunk. It was an amazing sight. Nevertheless!

If you haven't seen the photos at HSB or at the website, then I don't know what to tell you. Well. Maybe just scroll down. Really. Did I mention that I'm tired? And I'm working on a project that...well just scroll down for some photos, I'll ramble afterwards.



















I should probably format the posts better than this...I mentioned I was tired right? I'll do it with future posts.













So, project. Well I was all ready to talk about it and then I remembered that an author once said that writing a book is like having an affair. One does not talk about it openly until it's over, or once the writing is finished. I wonder if that applies to photographers since I'm not a novelist. I also don't have affairs. Ok so. It involves food. What I'm going to try to accomplish is photographs of food as portraiture. Silly or done-to-death notwithstanding, I think the portraits I'm going to continue with will be interesting if nothing else. Hey that's all I can really ask for at this point. Oh and it's a collaboration with a friend of mine who is as much a maestro in the kitchen as he is conducting an orchestra. We'll probably end up stuffing our faces and getting nothing done, but it'll be fun. And photography is all about fun.

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Dragging the shutter, with a little flash

I always wonder if it's possible that I learned photography and then forgot a lot of it. A feeling of not knowing anything at all. Recently, I found myself enjoying some nice down time over the very addicting, Guitar Hero. Watching someone else play is entertaining, especially since I'm not at a level that should be granted an audience. Doing so recently though, I started to think that perhaps there was a photograph somewhere in all of that. But, had I forgotten a lot of the basics of photography...would I be able to make a photograph?

Certainly my skills as a guitar hero enthusiast are by no means at the level that warrants a photograph to be made. I was lucky when I got the inspiration though. I was fortunate enough to have a beautiful model willing to sit around and play the game while I fumbled with the camera long enough to make a few exposures.

I've always been intrigued by the ability of the camera to not only freeze action, an eternal moment preserved, but to capture and convey movement as well. For the life of me though, I'd forgotten how. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention in photo class(to any potential clients-No knowledge from my education has been 'forgotten' but actually condensed into a part of my brain such that my creativity has ample room to think up weird and interesting photo ideas while still being able to reference the techniques needed, with a little...thought).

So here we are, a video game being played with a mock version of an actual guitar. And there are fingers moving at a frantic pace. I could freeze the action with my camera, but what good would that do? My model could've easily posed in any such position. Boring.

Then I saw my little hot-shoe flash unit and a pair of lonely pocket wizards. Yes, a little flash to freeze the action with no need to be forced into putting the flash on the camera...Oh the possibilities...

I threw a homemade gridspot onto the flash to keep most of the light focused on the hands and fingers and not anywhere else really. Popped the flash a few times, got some quick exposures but I needed more. I had to act fast too; My model was going through the songs on expert at such a pace that she'd be finished with the game by the time I got everything to fall into place.

And then it hit me. Drag the shutter. A longer shutter speed. Yes!

So I adjusted the shutter accordingly. I got some motion blur, and the ambient burned into the rest of the frame nicely.

I got a few more shots. Came up with the one below

All in all, a nice short photo shoot that got my brain working on this technique that I'd like to use more often. In the shots above, I was using a zoom lens, so before packing it up and taking the guitar from the model to show her what I could really do, I tried another technique that I rarely use(probably because I don't give it the practice time it may deserve) . It's a zoom technique that as soon as I did it, I realized that it might come in handy


...But more on that later.
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Make Music Pasadena

Summers in California are always hot, sometimes miserably so. Period. The start to what I'm hoping turns out to be a very fruitful summer, photography-wise, began for me at the Make Music Pasadena festival on June 21st. Yes, that was the summer solstice. The longest day of the year. What better way to spend the long hot southern California day then by taking(or making, if you prefer) photos for a music website.


This marked the first time I would be shooting for HateSomethingBeautiful and so I was probably a bit nervous. Excitement and the desire to make the most of my press pass quickly replaced any doubts I might have had.

First band for the day, presented by French Cultural Services and FLAX(France Los Angeles Exchange), the Plastiscines


They were definitely a fun band. And they're French. Win, Win.

Next it was off to another stage, which I would've sworn was on the other side of Pasadena after walking there in the hot sun.
The band to see was none other than Dengue Fever





Following that, as the sun beat down, I was able to get photos of a band I love and was looking forward to the entire day. The Raveonettes made Make Music Pasadena their only summer U.S performance. I wish I could say that I got more photos or that I stayed for their entire set. It was the heat. I wasn't ready for the intense heat. In the area where the press photogs called home for the performance I was moving back and forth trying to get every photo I could possibly think of. I was also trying to discreetly keep the sweat off my face. I was a mess. Clearly not used to warmer weather. Photogs all around me probably shook their heads in shame. Nevertheless, I am happy with the photos I was able to get before I went to see the last performance I was instructed to get photos of...




Sharin Foo's sister, Loui, stood in for this performance.

I ended the day watching and taking photos of Jesca Hoop whose performance and style was a fitting end to a good day.



It was an amazing festival to be to attend. I hope to be fortunate enough to see another as enjoyable this one.
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Shooting for a website

I've now begun shooting for music website, HateSomethingBeautiful. In subsequent updates, I'll post images from various shows done for the website along with any thoughts or impressions of whomever was on stage... Stay tuned! Click Here to Read More..