Mara Conflict 2: We found the singer!

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced you guys to Mara Conflict. My friends' (Ben and Dylan) rock band, and man do they rock! I went out there to shoot photos of them practicing and maybe some band shots, but unfortunately, the singer wasn't able to make it to practice. So I went back last week to listen to them play and shoot more photos. This time around the singer was able to make it, and we were able to get them some group shots.

The last time I had three lights set up, which worked well, but the hard light was a bit too much on some shots. So I took one of the lights and turned it around and shot it into an umbrella at 1/2 power to be able to reflect some softer light, and it worked out pretty well. It made the light source bigger and the light seemed softer coming from that light. It lit the room a lot nicer, I think.

Here's how they turned out...

Here's the lead singer, Josh, doing his thing.


Dylan on drums and Jared on guitars. The light that had the umbrella is to Dylan's left.




Note to self: when photographing a band, specially the drummer, stay away from the crash cymbals! I was underneath Dylan's crash cymbal when I took this shot. Moments after this shot he started banging on the cymbal profusely. My ears rang the ENTIRE night!



The place they practice at is pretty sweet. It's what I would call a "band haven." Kinda like a storage building, but instead of storing miscellaneous stuff in it, you put a drum set a few monitors, guitar and bass amps, maybe a couch, fridge, coffee table... maybe hang some pieces of carpet on the wall to sound proof, some posters of your favorite bands and musicians, and you've got a pretty sweet pad to play in ... as loud as you want to! Some of the rooms they rent out hourly to other musicians who just needs a place to practice every once in a while. This one was blacked out with black carpet and paint on 3 walls and the floor. The ceiling was white and the other wall had mirrors. So I was able to reflect some light into the ceiling and mirrors to brighten up the room better. Kind of a nice place to take group shots in.



For this shot, I placed 2 bare flashes on their right and left side and one light in front of them for a fill light. I like this effect. =)


Some solo shots, same set up. This is Ben.


Charlie.


Josh.


Dylan.


Jared.


We took a stroll outside the building, which is located in an industrial area of Dallas. And took more group shots.


Surprisingly enough, the vignetting you see here is an accident. That was created by the flashes not spilling light into the darker areas. Its almost like a spotlight.



Note to self: If you are ever going to take group shots outside, avoid cars. I was laying on the ground for some of these shots. A few cars came by and almost ran my equipment over ... and me. =\



These were shot with my 20D with the 55-250mm f.4-5.6 IS.






These guys rock pretty hard and I enjoyed shooting their practice sessions. I can get used to having a private concert while I'm photographing. =) They're playing Ridgley Theater in Ft Worth this Friday. Can't wait to see them live in front of a crowd!

GZ

Airport Shoot: Take Two (One for me)

Getting involved with photography groups gives me a bunch of new challenges. The first challenge I came across was shooting with a bunch of other photographers around. I get kind of self conscious when I'm being watched–even when no one is watching. I encountered that during the first shoot I went to at Stroker's Biker Bar with the DFW Midcities Strobist Group.

Last Saturday, we had another MeetUp at McKinney Airport. This is the second time the group has met up at this airport, but it was certainly a first for me. It was certainly great to see familiar faces from the last shoot at Stroker's. And even better to meet new people.

Having familiar faces there helped with the nerves. I pretty much realized that everyone there is in the same boat as me. We're all there to learn new things, learn from each other and share our experiences. One new challenge I faced is that we were put on a time frame where we could only spend 10 minutes with each model.

The other challenge is the heat and humidity. Its starting to get warmer here in Texas and when you are in an airplane hangar with no breeze, it gets hot. Here's the first set I shot in the hangar. This is Crystal in the nursing uniform. I was kind of frantic realizing that I had limited time, so I didn't get to do as good a job as I would like. A few good ones turned out, but most of the ones I shot, I wasn't really happy with. I'm glad I got some decent ones though. I was more nervous more than anything because people were watching. Hopefully, I can have a better start next time.




This is Bernadeta. Scott and I met Bernadeta in our other MeetUp group. She expressed interest in modeling so Scott invited her to come along to try it out. I think she was a natural. Like in karaoke, during the first song you're pretty nervous, but the second song goes much better since you've worked out the nerves. Bernadeta is the second model I worked with, and being that I knew her, this became a better situation because I was a bit more relaxed and I could focus alot better.




One of the other challenges was the wind. It was pretty breezy which was nice, but when you want to shoot with an umbrella, its a pain in the rear. So I shot these with a bare flash. to fill in the shadows the sun would create. Chris is a fireman and a friend of Crystal's. He was filling in for some of the models that dropped out. this set kind of reminds me of the movie Pearl Harbor.





I was wrapping up for the day because I didn't want to spend a lot of time processing more images than I have to for this shoot. I had my fill after shooting Chris. I was speaking to the organizer's wife asking for advice on certain situations when a model, Ricky, came up and asked if I was free to shoot. I didn't want to say no in front of the organizer's wife, so I reluctantly said yes. And I'm glad I did. Otherwise, I never would have had the opportunity to get some of these shots.








After shooting Ricky by the pool. I had put my camera up and started helping out Scott by holding a reflector for him. After we got done, I noticed a photographer photographing Ricky by the bay doors. The sun was just coming down, and it was creating a natural soft box between the floor and the garage door. So I grabbed my camera and my 50mm prime and started shooting. This was all natural light.



We had to get Bernadeta in the action too...




I had a lot to learn that day, but the most important lesson I learned was to never pass up an opportunity to shoot because you'll never know what you'll end up with.

Check out more photos from this shoot on my new Flickr site... http://www.flickr.com/photos/gzamora_photographie

GZ

Mara Conflict

Has it really been a week??? Geez, for those of you who are reading this blog, sorry. I have been really busy, working and shooting. The good part is, I have new stuff to post. I'll be posting older stuff as well.

My friend Ben asked me if I could come out and photograph his band so they can have some new photos for their band to put on their site and maybe an album. That band is Mara Conflict. Last Tuesday, Ben called me up and said that they were having practice and that I was more than welcome to come and hang out and maybe talk about what they were thinking about for their band photos. So I figure, why not bring my gear along and see if I can get some cool shots. This is how it turned out...

The lead singer wasn't able to make it, but they practiced anyway. Now, I used to be in a band and we practiced in an airplane hangar. These guys rents their own space in a warehouse for musicians. Its like their home away from home. I was pretty jealous. These first set of pics, I was trying out some a new look. Playing with action scripts in Photoshop. Makes things faster.

I personally like the high contrast and the vignetting going on in the photos.









For this set, I just did a standard duo tone with a warmer gray color. Just so you guys can see their faces. This is Ben.


Dylan, also a friend of mine, is the drummer.


You guys have to forgive me for forgetting these two guys' names. I'm pretty bad with names. =\
I love the way this photo turned out.




I had my three lights set up in the room, but to get a variety of shots, I went ahead and shot with a hand held light set to an optical trigger to get these shots.




One thing I love about taking photos, is sometimes you get to photograph guys like these and get treated to your own personal concert. It did however make me miss playing in a band.

More to come from these guys.

GZ