Todays Shoot - Fear Factory

Fear Factory are one of those bands that paved the way for any heavy band youve heard post 1994. Their current line up is Burton, Dino, Gene and Byron.

I've worked with Gene and Byron before a few times with Strapping Young Lad (all of ozzfest 06) as well as Dethklok, (Gene is dethklok's drummer, as Byron was their tour manager for the first tour they did)

I also worked with Dino (sorta) with Divine Heresy - who were opening up for the all that remains winter headliner I was on.

On top of that, my Ex-Manager and now current roomie! Trae used to manage Burton and his side project, however I've never had the opportunity to work with him directly so I was pretty stoked to drive up to NY and work with 3 people ive worked with on different occasions - all at once!

We started off outside Shooting with 3 dynalite uni400 jack rabbits - 2 with umbrellas - 1 with a beauty dish - for the first set i did 2 umbrellas on the side and the beauty dish above for front lighting - i shot with the 24-70 - ISO100 a 160th at F16 to bring in the sky a bunch
































































We moved on the a giant white garage-style loading door - I started off with just a beauty dish boomed up high for the first few photos - shot at a 20th - then shot the rest of the set natural light - I shot those at 3200 at 2.8 because I wanted really selective focus with the close ups and solid separation between Burton and the rest of the dudes.













































































We went inside to do two sets - I figured - lets get out of the sun! - We started in the middle of the floor - and I figured I would blast them with light so it would look some what studio-feel or at least a pitch black room - I did some shots with just a boomed beauty dish - and some with the dish and two umbrellas for fill - I had some light from the beauty dish causing lens flare in a shot or two - but i really like how it was hitting so i kept it. - these were shot at F18 at a 160th







































I had them sit down in one of the booths behind where we were shooting for a quick set - you may recall something similar in an Aiden shoot I did in January...or so.. but i figured i was going to shoot it differently and the two fan bases dont cross - so - all good.

I used a beauty dish up top boomed over them and used the flat table to somewhat reflect a touch of light back up - shot this at a 16th at 160th as well













I also remembered Byron used INTUNEGP guitar picks - who ive been doing photos for - for a while - so i did a quick shot with split lighting for that













Lastly Dino asked me to do some shots for his new t-shirt design which was going to be a skull and crossbones type of look with two guitars - I lit it with just the beauty dish to start but brought in and crossed two umbrellas at a 45 degree angle to light each guitar and fill in a bit more - I shot these at F18 - 160th ISO100 - keep your eyes open for that T-shirt coming out soon via Dino



















































It was an honor and a privilege to get to work with such a legendary band - who I had been listening to since I was little, as well as VERY cool to get to see Dino, Gene, and Byron again.

Cant wait to see these dudes on their next run!

Todays Shoot - Me... and my Monster

So for those who know or follow whats been goin on - you know I've been doing some work with Monster Energy drinks - and in turn was lucky enough to get a bunch of cases/cooler delivered to my studio for when I have photo shoots. Lucky for them I stopped drinking caffeine in november - or my veins would probably be green by now.

Anyhoo - Monster is not just an energy drink - the music division of monster aka monster music endorses and sponsors bands, tours, festivals, and luckily for me, artists! woo!

When I got my pile of monster - i figured - ooh - I wanted to do a quick epic metal manowar type shot - my foot up on a mountain of monster - then maybe incorporate the fridge some how.

After the Acacia Strain shoot I went back with my friend Dan who was assisting both shoots - we set up a beauty dish and two 3x4 soft boxes - with another 1x4 soft box very close to the ground to throw some light on the front of the monster cases - shot with the 24-70






































I also did some shots with the fridge - i couldnt think of anything really exciting to do with it - but while moving the fridge - dan took out the close to the ground soft box - and broke the profoto compact 300 - ugh. in for repair it goes. - anyway - so this is that






































I figured why not show monster some love when they do so many amazing things for the music industry - the metal and hardcore community especially. thanks monster!

Todays Shoot - The Acacia Strain

Todays shoot was with my good friends The Acacia Strain - for their upcoming issue of Outburn magazine.

Setting this shoot up was a bit difficult now with Vincent living in NY, and DL having a full time night job, but luckily, we were able to make it happen in a pinch!

It was a very humid and some what hot - and VERY buggy.

We started in studio I used two rims at 50% power pointed toward their backs - I had those up a touch about head level - and boomed a 3x4 soft box above them horizontal at 75% - all profoto compact 300s

I was using the 70-200 and 24-70 shooting at ISO100 - F14 - at a 160th - we did some serious and some fun shots along with solos - even some with vincents dog coco - unedited images below
































































































after shooting with triangular lighting I moved on to just a boomed beauty dish - for these shots i was shooting at F18 - as the lighting is hard lighting rather than soft - I really like the look this type of lighting gives me - which is why ive been using it some what often - unedited images below













































After finishing studio stuff - we went outside with three jackrabbit uni400 dynalites - two with cold tone umbrellas - and one with a beauty dish.

The first set we actually did outside - I used natural light - i jumped my iso to 800 and shot at 2.8 with the 24-70. I figured the green would be soft enough to give solid seperation with out overpowering them - unedited images below















The next set we did was on the hill in the sun and it just turned out to be way too buggy and brutal - so we moved to a more wooded area - which also had a small imperial fleet of bugs. - for these I used two umbrellas for side lighting - i turned them on and off during this set - and used a boomed beauty dish up high for a main - i shot this at a 200th at F14 - ISO100 - unedited images below


























the buggy hill













next spot we hit was next to a creepy shed which was also loaded with the swarm of death. - for this i did the same but much closer - used two umbrellas split - a boomed beauty main - and i loved the outcome here - i jumped the speed down to a 100th to get in some natural light - i wasnt really worried about getting motion as the lighting locked that in nicely - unedited images below






































































the last set we did was just a few feet away in the open parking lot - i figured the sky looked decent - i figured id use it - so i put my speed up to a 160th-200th and shot with two umbrellas and the boomed beauty dish. - unedited images below













































We finished up in the same location with solos of vincent while the other dudes were purposefully in the background making fun of him - which i thought worked well for these dudes - unedited images below


























a very quick yet successful shot - the photos had to be fed-exed within an hour of completing this shoot - and they made it! the spread will be out soon and will look KILLER! im stoked we got to do this because I always want my friends to look the best as they possibly can - and i was told by their team - that the photos that WOULD have been used are horrid - which in turn would make for a bad spread.

so big ups to the guys for making it out on such short notice - and to scott and leah for making it happen!

i love being from western mass - we have the best people and the best bands here.

im glad we shot when we did - as i was leaving the sky opened up and didnt stop pouring all day/night

Todays Shoot - My Children My Bride (live)

Due to an extremely heavy workload I was unable to attend the first of two local MCMB shows (the palladium show) but I wasnt going to miss hanging out with the best dudes - and seeing the new jams live. - So I went down to the Hartford show at the Webster

I really wanted to get good sing along type shots - because it was one of those small club shows where i was dodging mosh a bit - there was a pregnant girl moshing - that was gross.

Anyway - i shot these with the 40D - the 16-35 to really get wide shots of the sing alot - because i was at the far side of the floor i was always shooting toward the center - using the 580 ex2 speedlite - with the lumiquest 80/20 diffusion - shooting iso 400 because theres NO lighting for the most part - oh - and joe - their bassist - he smashed his foot - so in the photos - his leg is up on a chair








































































































oh and look! MCMB in the new issue of outburn - GIT EET!


























it was awesome getting to hang with the dudes as always - some of whom have become really really good friends/fam.

cant wait to see these dudes again - their new cd kills - go get it.

oh p.s. they have a mcmb fragrance out - it smells like 12 year old girls body spray from middle school - just a warning. i think theres even pink glitter in it. so i should probably go get another bottle.

Todays Shoot - Jeffree Star

There are few shoots I get really pumped on prior to actually doing the shoot.. Jeffree is one of those people where I know, whatever we come up with, it will be amazing, so I have been super pumped on this since it was first talked about.

The original plan was to do some stuff in studio, then hit worcester, and do some more shots there. Due to some trailer issues, we had to push our shoot back to just in Worcester, but none the less we had some excellent ideas.

For our shoot I wanted to do something very organic and clean. His shots are usually very VERY bright and colorful - the first time i shot with him I was looking to do something darker, more evil, and the result was his most commented photo on myspace - as well as one of the most commented and controversial photos ever to hit with 10s of THOUSANDS of views in a week. This time I wanted to NOT make a mess (no blood!). Since he was getting a super swank hotel room - I had an idea to shoot him in bed, something sort of - out of both of our elements but with our twist on it.

Anyway - We got to the hotel and unloaded gear - As Jeffree was doing his makeup I wanted to take some shots using just his mirror for lighting - which - with the hotel mirror behind that - made for a really cool reflective shot - I had to jump up to ISO1250 - shot at 2.8 with the 24-70 - at a 125th













Then we went on with the aforementioned bed shots - I basically turned the bed upside down - and set up the pillows by the foot of the bed - for lighting purposes.

I used two 3x4 chimaira soft boxes on the dynalite uni400s put them up high and angled them in at about a 45 degree angle - powered them at about 50% - Shot at ISO100 at a 160th F16 - I broke out the 16-35 2.8 for this one - which I havent used in a while.

I started shooting side of the bed - but the shot i really wanted was from above so i actually ended up standing on the bed next to him, shooting straight down - one of those shots will be on sale soon via his merch - so keep your eyes open for that

(ill post a link here once its available)

I then shot down the head of the bed - some cool crops with his head/face real close to the lens - very wide feel to them.













After doing that set - i turned the 3x4 boxes vertical but to give it more height and depth i ended up going horizontal/diamond shaped - between horizontal and vertical - however you wanna call it. and did a bunch of shots of him throwing pillows - and i really used the wide angle for depth on those shots.



















After finishing up with the bed we went into the massive living room area he had at the hotel and shot a few sets on the chair - we found the hotel bible... getting me near a bible is generally a bad idea for that bible - especially during a photo shoot. - so we did some shots with the bible, then some shots with out - for these i used the two soft boxes vertical with the same settings.













After that it was time for the show

It was sweltering hot in there - super sold out and packed - rather then being engulfed in a sea of glitter, sweat, and makeup in the front - i shot side of stage and back of stage - I was shooting the the 16-35 again - and using the 580 EX 2 with the lumiquest 20/80 system with diffusion. I was shooting around a 10th to soak in some of the lighting which was BRIGHT WHITE up front - so at first i go too much saturation - jumped toa 15th or 20th and soldiered on - i was between F4.5-8.0 depending on how far away I was - i just really wanted to capture how many kids where there - while separating Jeffree from getting lost in the sea of kids.

































































After the show we did a quick run to the book store - I saw his new shot in AP - which is dope - its him, daniel, and Michael recreating a famous manson cover. I also picked up the new copy of ALT - which oddly enough - also has Jeffree featured on the first page (which I found out a few days later)

We ran back to the palladium for the signing, which lasted thru and beyond the brokencyde set. I brought a box of the IWABO outburn, of which my last shoot with Jeffree was featured, so it was kind of cool to have him signing those for kids.




















































All in all, it was an excellent shoot, i cant wait to see the posters in print, which will be on tour with him shortly, so keep your eyes open - and pick one up. We should be shooting again next month, so more awesomeness on the horizon!