Its fun to go out and just hope you catch something unique and fun. Early in the month of January I captured a couple of guys playing an acoustic set at Roots Coffee House in North Richland Hills, Tx a small suburb of Ft. Worth, Texas. Fronting this duet was Adam Roye a skillfull guitarist and Anique Fazaldin on drums. Adam’s pedal set up was really cool as he had all the pedals running to one switchboard. Anique’s setup was a kick bass, hi hat and three snares, one being a vintage Civil War snare. Adam used his pedal board to create a loop and set the groove. Anique would jump in and lay down the rhythmic foundation and Adam would follow with leads on top of the looping groove. During the set Adam explained that some of the music was being written as they were playing. I thought that was really impressive and skillful. It was a sound for sore ears and very fun to watch.

Saturday night under the cover of a light mist I made my way out to the north end of downtown. Stepping cautiously into an antique home converted to an art gallery and coffee haus. I quickly spotted my subject. Kyle Steed an aspiring artist hoping to change people’s perception of faith and life through visual art. This is a man with hope. Its a shame we must meet. Unfortunately the dark wet night seems to be just right for someone in my occupation.

Once again the situation seemed to not be in my favor. Lots of people and a small crowded space. So the best thing to do is shoot everyone. Instead of using my favorite Canon 85mm, I pulled the Canon 16-35mm/f2.8 attached to the 7d. Shot Kyle and everyone us and made it out in just a matter of a few hours and still had time to meet some fellow shooters for a nice late dinner in the Uptown area. It seems favor was on my side after all. Congratulations to me.

I shot the entire event at ISO 2000 1/200 F2.8 using the Canon 16-35mm/f2.8 and Canon 7d body.

A rapper usually surrounds himself with an entourage on stage, hype men to get the crowd all worked up. I couldn’t be lucky enough. This guy was a solo act-literally-he would invite a singer or a guess emcee one at a time. He actually used his talent to sway the crowd. Imagine that, an emcee that actually relies on talent. I digress. The lack of people on stage made it harder for me to shoot without being spotted. I had to adjust and switch out my shooting gear to carefully execute my plan while not being noticed. It was difficult but I shot him and a few others in the process. The others will not be shown for security reasons.

I have the greatest job in the world…getting paid to shoot people.

It was a rainy and dark night. For a Friday night traffic was unusually slow due to the downpour. The shoot was confirmed earlier in the week and I couldn’t back out now just because of a little rain. I managed to make my way outside the Dallas downtown area to the theatre where the 5 subjects were meant to be shot on stage. As I walked in the theatre it was weird to hear all the crowd singing with the opening act not knowing what would be befall the second set of performers. I entered and slowly made my way backstage and set up my Canon 50d with an 85mm/f1.8 and as soon as they-Free Agent-took the stage I begin rapidly shooting.

Sometime ago I posted some photos of band called “Project 86.” Back in the late 90s and the early 2000s they were a top selling rock act. Well they toured through Fort Worth, Texas with a band called “Spoken.” I forgot I took some pictures of “Spoken” they didn’t all turn out so well but here are some that I thought turned out better than the others. All these were taken at a 800 ISO with various aperture and shutter settings.I hope you enjoy.

Shot with my first digital camera the Canon xti/400D, Canon introductory 24-55mm/f3.5-5.6 lens and no flash.

Tuning Up

Guiding the crowd

…and just in case you forgot; then there was project 86.

After “True Widow” (mentioned in the previous blog) finished rocking their set “the Burning Hotels” took the stage.

A four piece Post Punk music inferno broke out. The two guitarist trade off fronting the songs, the bassist does background vocals but he also lead one song, the drummer was the madman of the band. He wouldn’t offer any expressions just hard, technical and fast rhythms. The other three the members offered the wall to wall audience charisma, passion and even some witty charm in between the songs.

Starting form the very first song “the Burning Hotels” set the place on fire. The music was dynamic and energetic. They also performed a couple of ballads for the ladies which went over quite well.

I am sure when they perform down in Austin, Tx during SxSW they will get plenty of positive attention.

I hope was able to capture their set for you to enjoy.

Canon 85mm/f1.8 lens

I have been following an indie band called “the Appleseed Cast” for a little over ten years now. In February of 2009 a friend told me they were in performing in the DFW area. I grabbed my camera bag and left to go take some pictures.

I arrived at 9:00PM and the first opening act hadn’t even setup yet. This is a big deal because this was a weekday night, meaning I had work to do the following morning. Finally at 10:30PM the first act went on. Since I was there to see “the Appleseed Cast” and it was getting late, I wasn’t expecting much from the opening act.

Yes, I was wrong which is not often. So take it in…it only happens a few times a decade.

The first band “True Widow” was really good. Made of up D.H. on guitar and lead vocal, Nikki on bass and vocals and last but not least Slim on Drums. Their music is very ethereal, melodic and passionate. Toward the end of the concert Nikki the bassist was totally lost in her music and performance.

I only used one lens. The Canon 85mm/f1.8. A photographer friend of mine swears by this lens. This particular night I happen to agree.

I hope you enjoy.

The Oliver’s decided since they have two children with birthdays in January they would just celebrate both of those birthdays together. The Mom decided to throw a party reminiscent of the 1950’s soda shops. It was true all the way down to the fashion. This was fun because the parents didn’t put any constraints on me concerning what they wanted. They only thing they requested was to make sure that they had lots of pictures. That is no problem for me. I could just about hold my finger on the trigger and never let up.

Dad & Mom Oliver

This event was a pie eating eating contest in Ft. Worth, Texas. I think the pictures will speak for themselves. I especially enjoyed this event.

Kids are not easy to shoot…when you stumble on one as full of life and energy as this young man, you can only thank God for making it this easy.