Guitars!

I've added a new side track to my project.  I've always loved guitars, because they make such beautiful music and can be such great pieces of visual art.  I listed them in the Louisiana Live Music section and gave them their own gallery, as a musician or band would get.  I think they deserve the spot. 

John Gros brought his band to Baton Rouge.  John has been a friend of mine for many years and there is no doubt about his prowess on the keyboard.  He is an unbelievable talent.  Everyone he brought was great.  I was impressed with Eric Bolivar on the drums (though he was in the "aquarium"!) and Andrew Block on the guitar.  Andrew is a young talent that can really make the guitar wail.  Though I have to say that I am truly impressed with Cassandra Falconer on the "Funky Ass Bass".  I haven't seen her play with Cowboy Mouth, yet.  But, I can't wait for the opportunity.

Another great gig we got to see was Kirk Holder.  He is quite a fun act to watch and he participates so well with the audience.  He plays a great guitar and hopefully I will get a good shot of his guitar soon!

Hopefully, we will get to some more of this great music soon and get some more pics up.  If you know of any acts that are a "must see" drop me a note. 

Lots of Pics / Lots to Learn

I have now taken pics of a few bands and learned a lot about the lighting in the typical venues for these bands....it sucks!  Obviously, some are better than others and day time venues are great!  But, I still got some neat pics in each of my shoots.

First, many thanks to the groups I have photographed.  They have all been receptive and a lot of fun to shoot.  And the music has been awesome.  It makes doing this kind of stuff a whole lot of fun.  Special big thanks to Chris Leblanc who has been more than encouraging and I am blessed to call him my friend.

I have basically used three lenses, a 50mm F1.4, a 14-50mm F2.8 and a 70-200mm F2.8.  I have kind of gravitated to to the 14-50mm lense at about a 3200 ISO. 

Also, I have found that I really like Black and White for this project.  It just happened.  I love the way it looks.  I will be experimenting with some styles of Black and White, but I am pretty certain most of my shoots will end up in some Black and White treatment.

My good friend John Gros plays in Baton Rouge Friday night and I can't wait to get some shots of him.  Let's hope I continue to improve and keep getting some shots I like. 

Rich

Journey Begins...

I took a great seminar this weekend on becoming a Great Photographer.  It was given by one of my favorite Photographers, Mr. Steve Simon ("The Passionate Photographer").  If you are not familiar with him, check out his site, www.stevesimonphoto.com .  He is a certainly amazing photographer, a good teacher and a pretty nice guy.

So, one of the big steps in becoming a great photographer is starting a Project.  This was initially daunting to me.  What kind of project?  I just like taking pictures, why do I need a project?

We talked about what makes a good photograph.  The technical details, the right moment, catching the light and you can add some of your own.  But, what I got out of the seminar was that a great photo has depth.. It has details.  It belongs to something.  It is relevant.  Sure, a lot of photos are visually beautiful but that doesn't make them a great photo.  I brought in some pictures that I thought would be instant favorites, the response was basically that sure its nice and pretty - but what does it tell me?  Its a postcard shot, nothing else.

Some shots that I didn't expect much from were explored in more depth and a piece of a story was revealed.  That's when it finally starting to sink in.  A project give a good photo a place to belong.  Its still got to have the other aspects.  I have to take a technically perfect (or near perfect) picture, it has to have some visual value and it has to be a part of a story, or theme.  Some pics I think can stand on their own, as their own story.  But, these are rare gems indeed. 

So, I will start some projects.  Heck, I already have some projects started that I didn't even know were projects!  But, my main project will be on one of my other "Passions", music .  Louisiana Live Music.

So, I have some learning to do, some pictures to take and some music to enjoy.

I will be a fun and interesting ride.  I don't know where this journey will end up.  But, that's not really the point, is it? 

Thanks Steve.