Dreamin big and stepping forward

I wanted to post this before I go out and enjoy this beautiful weather we are having....

Every person once in their life time has dreamed about being famous either as an actor or a rock star. So they take an acting class or two or pick up a guitar and hum a few bars. I know, I'm one of them. I started playing guitar right after high school, and pretty soon you can pretty much guarantee that I would be a THE Starbucks every Thursday night playing and singing with my friends. Kinda hoping that some music executive would pass through, hear me sing, fly me off to New York to meet up with John Mayer or Jack Johnson and open for them on their next show... Not likely, but hey, can't blame a guy for having a dream. That, I really do enjoy playing for people and with my friends.

I have been fortunate to have some friends who are taking steps forward to realize that dream, and its quite inspiring. One of them is Josh Engel. A couple of years ago, Josh won a contest called The Road to Nashville. Below is a link to one of his performances. He's quite probably the best singer I know ... Sorry mom! =) We used to be in a band together, and sometimes when we were practicing, I stop playing my bass just to watch him sing. I'm pretty sure that ticked him off. Ah well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwTnOUIX52c

The other is Nate Danner. I met Nate in college. I used to take night classes that would end around 9 or 10 at night. My good friends Daniel, Kimson and I would bring our guitars once in a while and stay in the classroom after class and play. The room had great acoustics. Daniel is friends with Nate, and one night Nate came along to play. We've been friends ever since.

A few months ago, Nate got to talking to me about wanting to release an album of the songs he's written that he has been performing. So Nate met up with me and my nephew Lui, aka my younger assistant, at the Ft Worth Stockyards to do a photo shoot one morning. Here's how they turned out.

We met up at 6am, so the sun was still below the horizon. So all the lighting gear came in handy. For this shot, Lui is sitting on the wooden fence to Nate's right, holding a flash aiming it at his head and face while I had another flash on a stand lighting up the fence behind him.


Walking upwards towards his dream. This turned out really cool. The sun was just coming up casting this AMAZING color in the sky.


This next two were going to be the cover image for the album, but sometimes we just find something that will work better.


This one ended up in the back cover.


This photo didn't make the album, but I threw it on here because I like it and its my blog. lol


Ah, the cover image. The sun was just coming up, but I still had to light this one up. I love shooting at the Stockyards, its so versatile. We found so many spots.



I've always wanted to get a shot where the top half of the body is lit up and the lower half gets lost in the shadows... I think I got it here. Waking up early for a shoot does have its advantages.


For this next two, we were walking down this street and then I saw this stop sign. For some reason, I felt compelled to stop and take a few shots. I'm so glad I did. No flash here. Lui is holding a reflector lighting up Nate, otherwise, well, he'd just be a silhouette.



This next few, I thought it would be cool to reverse the idea. Light up the lower half and lose the top half in the shadow. I had Lui light up his face with the reflector so we can see some detail. It turned out pretty cool, I think. Again just a reflector, all natural light.





I ended up designing the the album as well, and it turned out pretty good. Helping a friend get one step closer to his dream and seeing their reaction when its all said and done is worth more than anyone can imagine. Thank you Nate for letting me be a part of it.

You can check out Nate Danner's music at http://www.myspace.com/natedanner.

GZ