Courtney Barnett Live

Courtney is so effortlessly cool. I got the chance to take photos at her show in Portland Oregon at the Crystal Ballroom. Getting to be right below the stage taking close ups of her having her way with her rotating collection of electric guitars was my favorite part of the show. She tromped all over the stage manipulating her skilled guitar playing with different pedals and rockstar moves as she got lost in her music.

The Aussie’s witty and conscious lyrics are delivered in a conversation like way which adds to the folk, poppy and easy listening records she has. The LIVE show was a different story; this was where we got to hear the grungy garage rock sound really come out that you don't get to hear on the latest recorded album, which is great by the way I can't wait to be sitting by some water listening to these songs. Check out "sometimes i sit and think, and sometimes i just sit". My friend and I agreed saying “it was more…hardcore live” while reliving the show late Wednesday night.

GEAR:

• My trusty Canon 6D (come on I didn’t say 60)

• Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for those great wide shots and more of the full body shots

• Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens for crystal clear close ups!

• Ear plugs (trust me you can hear everything loud and clear when you’re resting your elbows ON the speakers to get a shot)

I loved the video projection over the show which reminded me of a more psychedelic time, it was no oil on glass plates but it went really well with the garage rock sound that filled the ballroom on Wednesday. The bowling ball looking giant guys moving up and down are now my favorite animations and made me giggle.

A challenge at live shows is the lighting. Sure the blues, purples, reds, green and yellows flashing all over the stage look really cool live, but grabbing a moment in time at a concert often times leaves you with an all red subject or an all yellow lit and unpleasing shot. I got lucky and found some really great lighting during a few songs. Some of these shots have the awesome video projection in the background while my subject is BEAUTIFULLY lit in a natural color of light. I also got a few portraits that look like I had control in the lighting and took them in a studio! Some have a vibrant spotlight behind the subject illuminating her brilliantly. I experimented at this show, tried to get some creative shots. I was able to shoot the whole set (usually it's just the first 3 songs) and was able to take my time in composing shots that I wanted. Above I posted my favorites. Hope you like ‘em.

also WHAT IS BERNIE!!? 

Donut Bath

CONCEPT: Make it weird!

OBJECTIVE: Recreate THIS glorious image with the same dead pan look on the subjects face.

I was going for a plain expression and homemade look like the original while showing off these ridiculous donuts heaping over Emily.  So I made the colors pop a bit while keeping a muted tone overall. Emily and I put our own twist on the concept so we played around with some poses. Poor lighting (the 1.8 aperture helped in the lower light) and cramped space made for some difficulty but I was happy with the turn out. You can see our recreation, our own take with the donuts, some behind the scenes and a few other creative snaps from some of our other shoots. Thanks Em for taking that snap of me with the buckets! And for co-creating this weird shoot with me.

GEAR:

• Canon 6D

• Canon EF 50mm lens 1.8 (my favorite lens!)

• couple office lamps

• bathtub

BUDGET: $30.00 (just the donuts)

STORY: My friend Amy and I have been chatting about evoking questions and feelings through a piece of art. When you create an interesting image it stirs the viewer.  It is especially hard to stand out these days with the over saturation of great photos awaiting consumption! A possible solution? Make it weird.

My talented writer friend Emily (check out her journalism HERE) has been a go to for unique and intriguing shoots around Portland and longtime friend. It’s great when you’re SO comfortable with your subject you’ll try anything.  Emily showed me a photo of a guy in a bathtub full of donuts and said we should recreate it.

I couldn’t believe this guy isn’t a meme or all over the internet. This photo is EPIC. Have ya’ll seen it before? Great find Em!

 I agreed but put the idea in the back of mind. FF to Jan 2015 Emily is moving to LA to follow her dreams! Stoked feelings and disappointed feelings came over me, my good friend is moving to bigger and better things but I won’t see her as much, also bummed we would never do this shoot….wait a second what’s stopping me?

“Your flight leaves tomorrow? Do you have a spare hour? I’m coming over I’ve got three buckets of day old donuts.” I asked her over the phone.

I had to drive to Voodoo THREE times to get these donuts apparently the bucket idea is a hot commod. The location ahem bathroom was a little cramped and hard to maneuver and the donuts were SO messy, but all in all this shoot was a blast. It was challenging, out of the ordinary and an interesting way to spend an afternoon sending off a dear friend.

CHVRCHES Live

Oct. 13th, 2015

CHVRCHES:  synthpop

I got the opportunity to photograph the very talented 3 piece Scottish synthpop/indietronica group CHVRCHES in October. Their music encompasses guitar, synthesizers and sweet simplistic vocals for a clean and fun pop sound. It’s catchy and it’s poppy and I say go check out Every Open Eye their latest record. Lauren Mayberry, the lead singer, stole the show with her sophisticated style, beautiful voice and contagious spark.

This collection of photos gets me stoked because it was so much fun to shoot. When the shoot goes well and it’s fun? Well that’s a win all around. Mayberry definitely had some sass on stage which made for some great photos.

I used my favorite lens combination for shooting live concerts indoors; the Canon EF 24-70mm 2.8 which allowed me to snap those great full body and full stage shots and the awesome Canon EF 70-200mm 2.8 which helped me get those great close ups where you can really see the energy put out by Mayberry. The 2.8 aperture helps in the low light situation but forces me to use a very shallow depth of field to let as much light in as possible so those close ups were a little tricky to get the focus just right. Great music and an interesting subject make for a great shoot!