The boys really killed it that night, can I get an amen. What a great show.
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Had the chance to photograph the Avett Brothers once again, this time in Raleigh, NC, at the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion (where I saw my first show, a different set of 'A' Brothers, more the Eat a Peach variety, long time ago, when it was Walnut Creek). Even though the boys got me a photo pass, so I could shoot from wherever I wanted for the whole show, I have to say, I don't think I'll make a career out of live concert photography. I suppose with a lot more practice, I'd get better at it, but I can't say it's my natural strong suit. The whole point of concert photography is to capture moments, really good ones. Your timing has to be spot on. I'm a little more versed at the "ok, now hold that pose" timing. Nonetheless, having shot a lion's share of photos that night, I've been able to pick out a few to share.
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Man, sometimes this 365 just owns me. I think I'm doing good, caught up, then nine days go by and I haven't posted squat. Busy time of year, to be sure. Hard to get in a groove for all the clients AND myself. Fear not, Dear Reader, the days are rolling off, and I have no intention of dropping the ball at this point. Hopefully I'll have some time to explore a few more themes before year's end, but in the interest of catching up (again) I'm going to post a gaggle of shots that harken back to my very first shots from this year...
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The Fog o'er Boston made for some wonderful atmospheric effects after dark. This photo struck me with it's strange detail and texture, something about it seems plastic-like or fabricated, like a graphic from Grand Theft Auto 3, or a very detailed painting. I think the fog just softens the light enough to take off the edge of sharpness in the foreground elements of the image. And of course, atmosphere is a visual cue of distance often used by painters...anyway, it looks funky to me, I dig it.
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As I said, my buddy Tav works as a Man, in a Group, that's Blue. He hooked it up and brought me backstage for the show, where I got to see the unique preparations and pre-show rituals that happen for every show. I'm not going to share those photos, because mystery is better than the real thing sometimes...
However, I got to watch the show from the band loft, where three veiled musicians play the soundtrack that accompanies the antics of the main characters on stage. To say they are an integral part of the show is a bit of an understatement; if you've ever seen any iteration of the show, you'll know that these guys are some of the best of the best at what they do. And what they do, they do in a tiny little loft high above the stage, under a blacklight. It's cool to watch them from the house, because you only can see the parts that glow (their makeup and some parts of their instruments), and even cooler from inside the little box, one, because I was veiled in all black so I couldn't be seen from the house (Ninja!), and two, because the drum kit was about the only thing in there that I recognized.
The other two musicians play some interesting instruments, the main ones being an electric Zither and a Chapman Stick. The Zither is sort of like an electric harp or hammer dulcimer, basically a bunch of strings on a table, and is played with a slide and fingerpicks. Running through a bunch of pedals and an Orange amp, it's pretty fucking sweet-sounding. The Chapman Stick is kinda like a guitar, well, to quote the makers, it's a "two-handed fretboard tapping instrument." Again, the thing sounds awesome. Here's a taste of an old favorite on the Chapman Stick. And when you're done with that, you might as well see this guy beat up on this ukelele, just because that guy needs the 10 or so hits that I'm driving to his video...
It was a real treat to stand next to these guys totally owning these strange instruments, alongside one of the best drummers I've ever seen.
Lastly, during the scene they call "The Feast," I was able to go right behind the action and watch the magical backstage stuff go down. Here's the view behind the screen.
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Another Boston/And Co. image, this one inspired by Alle's song, "Sad Little Bar Customer." In the photograph, the sad bar customer is Mark (though the song isn't about him), who I had the privilege to meet and exchange conversation with, on subjects like first jobs, geekdom, and writing (his craft). Next time I go up there I'm going to get him to take me on this historic tour of Boston he told me about, one that includes a bar at every stop...
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In Boston I was taking a lot of city shots, or trying to at least. Turned out, the entire time I was there, it was rainy and foggy! Mind you, I was a bit foggy myself, what with the booze and lack of sleep (stayed up 27 hours the first day I got there), but these two wrongs made a few rights when it wasn't actively raining on us. The fog made for some amazing cityscapes, especially in the late afternoon/evening. Here's one of my favorites, complete with plenty of negative space for copy.
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Recently I had the opportunity to spend a few sleepless days in Boston with some friends of mine, The And Company. This is the band of one of my musician buddies from NC, who now lives up there and dresses in blue makeup for his day job. He's part of a group...of men...that are blue...you do the math.
Anyway, The And Company is the band he plays in when he's not blue, and I'm not sure if I'm more jealous of his bandmates Alle and Mally because they get to play with him, or if I'm more jealous of him that he gets to play with THEM...either way, they are some amazing musicians and people, and I had the great fortune to be asked to generate some art/photography/design for their upcoming studio album Look Up. Flew up to Boston to shoot for a few days as per the theme of the music, and get some band images, and generally enjoy the company of good folks and good beer. Some of these images may make it into the final album art, or not, (that's the work that lies ahead of me, the design), but either way, I had a good time and came back with some decent stuff.
As usual, the above panoramic is zoomable if you click on it, and click again on the new image.
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Too bad we don't have too much in the way of Aspens out east here. I love these trees.
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On the John Muir Trail, going up over a pass meant almost a day of elevation gain, through several different sub-ecosystems, ravenous hunger and unending thirst, and light-headedness at the top. On the way to Crested Butte, going over a pass meant lower gears and hard turns. And though the pass in Colorado was pretty, the hard physical work of the Muir passes was directly proportional to the grandeur and unrivaled natural beauty of the back country. Such is life; struggles sweeten.
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Another image from Crested Butte. This graveyard was up on a hill, a beautiful spot that overlooked the town below. I should be so lucky to be buried in such a place, but damn, it's a long way to the Denver Airport. Maybe a modest hole off 540 by RDU would be a better place for my jet-setting soul to rest. Less of a commute.
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Another image from Crested Butte, CO.
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I think I've said this before, but I love literal titles. Maybe I read that somewhere, from someone else. The amount of information flowing at me over all these tabs in my browser, Facespace, Mybook, Twitser, starts to kinda mesh all up and I forget if I'm having an original idea or if it's something I read yesterday on someone else's vomit stream of consciousness. So much information leads me to believe in the power of the literal title. Nothing witty to make you laugh, nothing cryptic to decipher, just plain ol' reiteration of what you already know you are looking at. It's almost courteous if you can get over the inherent insult that you don't know what you are looking at.
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Like cows the world over, cows in Crested Butte, CO, tend to have a staring problem. Manners!
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After we finished the John Muir Trail, we had a week to explore California a bit more, so we cruised over to Santa Cruz to visit our friend Stephanie at 'The Farm,' aka the Harvard of Horticulture, where she was studying sustainable food production. The Farm was amazing, and we had to stay the whole weekend to enjoy the company of all the folks working and living there, not to mention the delicious meals. I wish I could say I got some amazing pictures of the farm itself, but I couldn't nail anything I loved to the sensor, except this panoramic of a giant live oak that neighbored their kitchen. Wanted to climb that thing so bad!
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Without a trail journal to guide me, I'm lost in the storm, swirling around, looking for another theme to focus on...in the meantime, I'll just post some recent shots that I like. This one was photographed from the passenger side of a moving vehicle. Drive faster dude!
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One final glance over the best 200 miles of trail in the world...
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Our hike off the summit of Whitney was triumphant, but over the few hours it took, it weighed more on the exhaustive side. Here Cookie still feels the joy of the summit, as we descend to the trail junction and full packs again...
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In the middle of these peaks, these 'Whitney Teeth' that lined the trail to the summit, you would find these narrow windows that looked out toward the East. I stand here at one of those windows.
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Descending from the peak, we crossed paths with countless other hikers, coming up from Whitney Portal as well as from the western side of the crest, which you see here. In the middle is Guitar Lake, where we had camped the night before. Click the pic to zoom.
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