Todays Shoot - The Chariot

Back on the Ghostbustour! - I planned on doing a shoot with The Chariot before I left for rock and shock, but ended up doing this in Hell Paso Texas! - it was super nice out, I just wanted to do something quick and simple for the ghostbustour spread, and we ended up having the most amaaaazing sunset happening behind them

I just boomed a dish up and pointed it at more of an angle toward them so their faces would go bright with out losing the clothing and body, but i BLASTED the light to 1/1 and shot at F22 - but at a 30th to really bring in the sunset behind them.




































After shooting that, we did some shots against the wall behind them as there was no more daylight left to use, I turned the light down to 1/8th and turned the dish straight down to get a different feel for these shots.
















































Quick, simple, easy. started the shoot half way through sunset, lasted 5 minutes, and the sun was GONE, but the job got done :)

The Chariot are not only one of the (if not THE) best live bands ever, but they are also some of the best dudes on earth, and it was an honor to spend a month hanging out with these dudes.

also! - the Chariot had an AWESOME photographer out with them named Brian Hall - you can check out his work with them here = http://www.brianhallphotography.net/blog

Cant wait to see these guys again!

Todays Shoot - Danny Trejo

There are few movies now a days that arent shitty remakes, or relaunchs, especially in the horror and action genres.

Machete is probably the best action movie to come out in YEARS, and for the first time, Danny Trejo was staring in a movie. I've been a fan of his work since seeing desperado years ago, and finally, seeing him star in a movie, is just awesome.

SO! When the opportunity to possibly do a photo shoot with Danny was around the corner, I immediately put out a feeler email and got 3 responses for spreads (one shoot, 3 mags!)

So, it was the last day of rock and shock, and if I was going to get this shoot, I had to make it happen quickly between him signing, and leaving the event.

I set up a boomed dish up super high, and as soon as he stood in, I realized hes way shorter than I am (and im pretty short!) - so I lowered the boom a bunch, I put it up against a large metal grated garage door, and figured it would give a good fall out, reflect just a bit as its worn matted metal, and would provide a clean and consistent background for the shoot

I did about two shots of him with his jacket on, then he took off his shirt, and did the rest of the shoot topless, as he is very famous for his tattoos, etc.

I shot these at F20 at ISO100 at a 160th with a canon 24-70 on the mark2 1ds

check it!











































































It was AWESOME getting to work with someone I've watched on screen since I was little, he is the nicest dude, and getting to shoot him at the current height of his hype (being machete) is even cooler. I really hope I get to work with him again in the future

Todays Shoot - Suicide Silence

Pretty much any time Suicide Silence comes around, we end up doing a shoot. They have become great friends over the years, so this time around, we were doing a quick shoot during rock and shock, which, as you can tell from these posts... is HECTIC!

We shot in the backstage dressing room, I wanted to go with something dark, but more serious looking for one shot, then have a very contrasty fun shot/close up.

I boomed a dish for the first set which was shot with them all sitting on a couch.

I shot these at F14 at a 160th ISO100 using the 24-70 2.8





















































After the serious shots we had fun, and even did some shots using the literal name of the band - these were shot with the dish straight on at F16




































This was a fun but quick shoot, I'm really hoping that in the near future we can do an all out shoot, go for a bit longer and get a bunch of different stuff! Always fun working with these dudes.

Todays Shoot - George Romero - Godfather of Zombies

Well, its my birthday (almost). and what am I into? Zombies! Horror! etc.

What is a better way to spend ones birthday than to do a photo shoot with the mighty GEORGE ROMERO?! - can not be topped, ever. period.

if anyone doesnt know who Romero is... leave my blog! ..i kid... but Romero basically created Zombies with his horror classic Night of the Living Dead, and sequels, Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and also so many other legendary horror movies like Creepshow 1 and 2, the crazies, and so on.

Anyway, so I was staying in the same hotel as everyone at rock and shock, so it was really easy to do a hotel room shoot with George. It was actually the SAME EXACT ROOM I had done a photo shoot with Jeffree Star just a few months earlier.

Due to lack of space and a VERY low ceiling, I wanted to boom a beauty dish, but it was difficult, as the ceiling was low, George had the heat up to 85 degrees in his room, and he is SUPER TALL!

So I boomed a dynalite uni400 with a dish, and had him sit down, I wasnt really into those photos, so I had him stand up, which basically brought his head INTO the dish, so i moved the dish forward and tilted it a bit so itd scrim across his face perfectly giving a softer feel with a strong fall off. I also did this so his glasses wouldnt reflect any light at all

I shot these at F20 ISO100 at a 160th using the 24-70 2.8


































It was certainly an honor and a privilege getting to work with THE definitive zombie/horror legend, hopefully more work like this will be happening more often in the future.

Todays Shoot - Maris The Great

If you dont know who Maris is... HE WILL KILL YOU! or I will explain a bit... I first started conversing with Maris as he worked with my friends in Bury Your Dead. What he does, is, he MURDERS bands. Basically think of the most gory, brutal, murder photos, and thats what he does. oh and p.s. hes a homosexual zombie. self-proclaimed "zombie fag".

I love zombies! so horror + music + photography = my thing! So we ended up working together in 2006 on ozzfest as he murdered Walls of Jericho and The Red Chord, but havent crossed paths again... until today!!!!

Originally the idea was, I was doing a shoot with him and was going to be killed, however, my death will have to wait until the next time our paths cross.. So I just ended up doing a really cool photo shoot with him.

Because this was mid tour, I wanted to do more simple lighting, so I wasnt lugging around tons of gear, with a zombie, in crowded public areas where we would be mobbed by Maris fans, or on lookers.

We started in the dressing room, which was seemingly unused by the band anyway, so I started with a boomed light, took one shot i liked, then switched to split lighting - two umbrellas on dynalite uni400 jackrabbits tuned in just a little bit.

Remember, if your subject is wearing a mask, or facepaint, you have to shine about 1 extra stop worth of light to really get it to expose correctly, as facepaint doesnt reflect light the same way skintone does, it mattes it out a bit.

I shot with the canon mark 2 1ds - using the 24-70 2.8 - i was shooting at a 160th - at F10 (normally id be at 14 here, but had to brighten it up for the attire and facepaint) or to ummm, catch the brutal decaying skin of the zombie!





















































































I then had an idea to shoot him naturally, coming through the door, I shot these at 2.8 to get a real strong depth of field, but with the lights primarily being back lighting - i had to jump to ISO 1k and shoot at a 30th





























After those shots we went outside, for all the outdoor shots I generally used a boomed beauty dish, which is perfect because it brings out his mohawk and face perfectly. There are some shots where I dragged the shutter a bit to get a bit of a blur and bring in the red street ligthing, making it look really creepy! for those i exposed for a full second, other than that i was at a 160th - F14

check it out










































































































I was sooo pumped to finally get to do a photo sesh with the mighty Maris The Great! - this has been YEARS in talks and in the works, and it finally happened!

I also did a video of him stalking the band I was on tour with - IWRESLEDABEARONCE - you should check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RbDiLf9zFo

Hoping my paths cross with Maris sooner rather than later.

BEST ZOMBIE EVER!

The Ghostbustour: Pre-tour video

for the next month ill be updating with links to what im doing on the Ghostbustour!

http://theghostbustoursite.com/a-taste-of-whats-to-come/

Todays Shoot - U-God of The Wu Tang Clan

My girl, has been friends with the Wu-Tang crew for a while - so she mentioned my work, what i do, etc. to the guys, and U-God - who is a close friend of hers - wanted to come up for a shoot.

SO! She rolled up to the studio with U-God for a quick shoot

I decided to try and do this entire shoot with just ONE LIGHT!

We started in studio - shooting with a boomed profoto compact 300 at 50% pointed straight down with a beauty dish

I was shooting with the 70-200 2.8 L lens - shot at F20 - ISO125 - at a 160th - we did some serious shots and some fun shots - he saw the guns in the studio and right away was like "we GOT to use them!" haha.





















































































After shooting in studio we went outside and shot against a concrete wall using a boomed dynalite uni400 with a beauty dish - again pointed down but with a slight angle toward the wall - this time shooting with the 24-70 2.8 L ISO100 - F20 - 160th














































I wanted to give him a different look - more stylized and darker than what ive seen in previous work, but I also wanted to give him some warm, brighter photos - So I did some with natural light shooting at a 2.8 at a 200th - he even gave a DIO/Metal tribute during the shoot



















































We did a set inside the building - which, as im sure youve seen, is a creepy industrial building, I wasnt feeling it as much as outside - but I got one shot I really liked - same settings as before 160th at F20












So being that I liked outside better - we went back outside - I wanted to get some shots against the stormy sky - these were shot at a 125th F20 - I really like the shot with his hands up.





























I get asked alot why I shoot at a high f-stop sometimes - and generally its because I want EVERYTHING in field, sharp. with very little fall out. - hope that makes sense? - in these images - you can really see everything as sharp as can be - in other situations ill shoot a lower Fstop - more like a 10th-14th... i think every shoot has its own necessary settings :)

After the quick shoot, They took off as she had a shoot to do, but even with a quick shoot, the outcome was so awesome. Hopefully I will be working with a few other of the Wu-Tang dudes, and if all goes well - im really hoping - and its looking like - i may do a shoot with the ENTIRE CREW! in the near future.