So I pushed really hard to get this House of Pain photo shoot, lined them up with some solid press, and kept on everyone involved to lock it down.
Anyway, so the shoot was at first going to be just after doors, then got pushed to 45 mins before they go on stage (no big, im used to this).
The band arrived about 10 minutes after the shoot was supposed to start, and walked straight to their dressing room, while their tour manager said "yeah, they dont wanna do a shoot"
I dont do that whole "no" thing very well, so I had the TM introduce me to Everlast/crew so I could explain what I was doing, why I was doing it, etc.
First thing said was "NAW Im not tryin to do a 45 minute photo shoot" - I explained it would be 10-20 mins tops at which point, after a group vote, they reluctantly accepted and told me I have 10 mins.
...great.. well - I can do this, I am used to making shoots happen in a short amount of time.
So as we were walking down to the first set up he said "clocks ticking" ...OK! they are serious about this being quick... I'll make it quick!
Anyway - we start off in the newly painted halloween orange - downstairs dressing room - used two umrellas split - shot at F10 - ISO 125 (used the entire shoot) - and used the 16-35 2.8 lesns the entire shoot - and again - I was RUSHING though this - so I posed slightly - took about 2 mins to do the shots then said "OK! next spot!" - for these shots I was really going to push the corner in the wide angle to give it a really wide feel.
right away they were impressed - "i like the way you work!" hahhaha.
Anyway - so the second spot was right in that hallway of the downstairs dressing room, I used split lighting again but placed one of the lights more behind them to get a bit of the environment lit. - I really wanted more time to be able to shoot - check the shots - reset the lights if needed - but there really wasnt time - so i do regret not being able to spend the time needed on this set to make it look the way i wanted. - settings were the same as the first shoot - and check it out! Everlast even showed some love for METAL!
The third spot we hit was the walk way from the stage doors to the front of the building, I just used one boomed beauty dish up high pointing straight down - going for a dark feel. - this was my favorite set - shot with a single dynalite uni - at half power - i used the 16-35 lens and jumped the fstop up to 18 or 20 - shot at a 20th to get some ambient light bled in for a slightly warmer tone (which i did desaturate 10% anyway)
The fourth and final set we did was in the side room right next to the stage - i couldnt shoot at some angles because there were alot of dicks and balls drawn on the walls, and they wouldnt be photographed with balls or dicks behind them. (understandable) - so again we shot with split lighting but much closer and more front lit then side lit - i jumped the Fstop to F13 - and other then that - all the settings were the same.
After the shoot I showed them the images, and they were stoked on them! and I did ask "how did i do on time?" - of which they responded "perfect!!"
Sometimes shoots can be difficult, but your job (my job) as a photographer, is to make them work, and make the group happy, even if they arent to begin with.
mission accomplished!
Then - on to the show.
The guys were super SUPER nice and gave me permission to photograph the entire set, which ruled because I wasnt sure if they were going to do La coka - THEN House of Pain... or what.
They ended up combining their sets, which was kind of a bummer to be honest. I would have much rather seen an opening set of La Coka songs, then a closing set of House of Pain - being that its the same line up for both.
the front lighting was all white with purples and greens for back light - i switched between using a flashblend shooting F5.6-10 at a 10th-20th - ISO400 - and would switch up to natural - shooting at 2.8 at a 125th-160th - i used my 70-200 for close ups - my 16-35 for wider shots and the fisheye for super wide shots
Wow, nice photos, even under pressure! Your first portrait here reminds me of portraits shot in the corner by Irving Penn. (There's just one thing that bothers me, is that the line is going through guy's head.) Keeva
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