Seeing Magic Dirt for the first time was awesome.The support act, The red sun band converted me. I like their stuff.
This weekend has been kind of relaxing considering the last three weeks Sophie and I have been to parties, crazy!!
Here’s some snaps from the last party, last weekend.
JD Samson (Le Tigre) was DJ’ing at GoMA as part of Picasso Up Late. It was pretty cool, having uplate in a gallery. I did get to met JD afterwards and got her to sign my ticket. I did have a quick look through the Picasso exhibition. I”ll be going back there again to fully experience it. It’ll take hours for me to wonder round and soak it in.
I didn’t photograph Unwritten Law, abit pissed but oh well, bascially didn’t get anything back, again I hate people who don’t reply back! Should had put my name down to shoot British India, seemed to be the hottest ticket in town. JD Samson gallery here.
At the moment I’m going to try my luck emailing bands PR and hope for the best, maybe I”ll be able to shoot someone, argh, back to the drawing board. I seem to be on a downer lately, just my mood and stuff, strange. Anyho, I”m hoping to shoot Magic Dirt next weekend for Fasterlouder. A band I have never seen live.
Last month I bought my first ever JPG magazine, it was the “Human Impact” issue. There was an article about TtV (Through the Viewfinder) and it got me excited. I thought that looks interesting and fun. TtV is basically taking a photo through the viewfinder of another camera. I experimented this afternoon, my subjects weren’t the greatest.
Monday night I went and saw The Breeders at The Zoo, it was exciting. I wasn’t fully into the whole atmosphere because I was so exhausted from work and still recovering from the weekend, even though I didn’t do much. For photos of the gig, head along to The Dwarf and check out Helen’s photos. She was super massive excited!! 
Last Friday, I finally did it!! I bought a second camera body, Canon 40D. I’ve wanted to buy this baby since last year. I haven’t played with it alot. I”m just abit overwhelmed by the features, it’s more powerful then my 350D. I’m loving the quick control dial, such an awesome feature to have!! Not used to the sound of the shutter, I don’t know if I like it, when I first tried it I thought there was something wrong. The LCD screen is abit of a shocker. It’s nice and big but viewing images on it is like walking up with blurry vision (maybe I just take crappy photos). I”ll still be using my 350D, I still love that camera to bits. There is a gig this weekend I wouldn’t mind checking and testing out my new baby. Next on my wish list of things is… new lenses…hmmm.. delicious.
Gig wise, waiting confirmation on Unwritten Law, I really, really want to shoot this gig, like REALLY!! Slipknot are touring (yes, I”m a maggot - well not really, I don’t worship the band, hardcore style. I do have a shirt) and they are bringing with them Machine Head, Oh My Gosh, is all I have to say!! That is an awesome line up. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 9am, I”m hoping it wont’ sell out super fast. As soon as 10:30am hits I”ll be on the phone hopfully buying a ticket. The Grates (ha, from one end of the music chain to the other) tickets also go on sale the same day. I could have had the opportunity to pre-order their CD and with it comes a ticket to their gig but I”m a tight arse and decided to skip that option, instead I bought a Sounds of Spring Festival ticket. I wouldn’t mind photographing this event but I highly doubt that I would be considered for it so, yay for a ticket. Gosh music festivals are coming up so fast. Valley Fiesta is on in September, I shall be going and it’s FREE, sweet!! Peaches is playing Parklife, it’ll be soo good to see her again, but I”m not going. Peaches play a side show!!! My brain is on music/gigs/festival overload at the moment. I applied to shoot the Caloundra Music Festival. I had a good time last year, so why not do it again this year. Last bit of news, I”ve joined RAVE magazine. I joined last month, I haven’t been on any shooter assignments for them, it seems to be tougher to get gigs I want to shoot. It’s early days yet, step one is to get an assignment, step two maybe get PUBLISHED, that would be freakin awesome!!
Last month I I did a photo shoot with The Blackwater Fever. It was done inside The Troubadour and behind the venue. I was armed with just my camera and a flash gun. I think the shoot took an hour and 20 minutes.
Photographing outside just after the sun set was difficult. From memory there was one light pole outside, I didn’t really take advantage of that, don’t know why, perhaps it was nerves. The photo above turned out really good, I was aiming for the dark, moody look, and Shane is smiling. Originally the photo had Andrew (the drummer) in it, but he kind of blended into the dark background, and the photo didn’t work, so I took him out.
The photo above was Shane’s idea. I really like it. At the start I asked him what kind of shots he wanted and he said dark, moody, which was good I had the same idea. Editing this was abit of a pain, I had to lift the levels right up because the original photo was almost black. I like the effect I added on this and the mood.
Not sure about this one. Shane’s shirt is grainy. I have to add, the guys did the posing themselves. I didn’t have to tell them how to pose. I knew they were nervous but they were good sports. They had to put up with the flash in their faces every few seconds.
I wish I hadn’t stuffed this photo up. It would have worked so well, again it was Shane’s idea. The composition could have improved and the editing. It was taken really late in the afternoon and the only light source I had was my flash and that door in the middle.
All up I had a blast with the photo shoot. It was a good experience. My nerves took over at the start but once we were into the swing of things there was nothing to it. I could have kept on shooting all night if they were up to it. Shooting inside The Troubadour was fun and relaxing, believe it or not, it was just us, the sound tech dude and an open bar..woot.. just kidding we didn’t abuse the bar. I hope the guys like the final products.
Sold out show at The Zoo. I’m glad to have made it out alive at that gig. I was pretty much squashed during the night (there was your typical crowd pushing forward, I haven’t been in that situation since my teenage years. At one point I couldn’t breath and I thought my lungs were going to explode. I walked away with sore feet, which is pretty good) Trying to take a decent photo was like having a blind fold on. I don’t even remember taking the above photo, but I’m glad it turned out alright. This was my first experience with The Getaway Plan (I”m so far behind with the youngen music now a days) They were a - ‘lets keep the music playing type band’ without too much talk in between songs. The Zoo provided good lighting. I can’t remember the last time I was there to shoot a gig. Last night I was shooting with my 50mm f1.8 lens. I haven’t used that lens in so many months. I’ve noticed it’s actually a tad faster then my 28-75 lens. There were times I thought about switching lens, but you know the whole getting squashed by crowds and one really, really freakin tall guy got in the way..haha.
First support act Closure in Moscow were an exciting bunch. A girl I was chatting to told me they are heading to the U.S.A.
Unfortunately I wasn’t happy with my Goodnight Nurse photos. You’ll have to check out The Dwarf website to see them. All I can say is -
“My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,
And their like
It’s better than yours,
Damn right it’s better than yours,
I can teach you,
But I have to charge”
