Twilight and Dusk

Anatomy of a New Smoke Machine

Life does have its weird way of coming back around. Back in the early nineties, the band I was playing in had no interest in playing at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ. For whatever the reason back then, it had no appeal to us. And now I am there on a regular basis.

About 18 months ago I picked up a gig with the music review site, Speak into My GoodEye, and this started a regular weekly adventure for me shooting bands every Monday night at the Wonder Bar. The Wonder Bar is one of the premiere music venues in Asbury Park, offering some great local music as well as national touring acts coming through. Recently, sound man extraordinaire Billy Colledge from Asbury Audio installed a new smoke machine and I came across a set a shots that perfectly emulate its nature.

I love smoke. It makes everything look so much better, giving depth and personality to the photos. Tough when it hides the drummers, but so cool under the stage lights. And for those on stage right, we are almost guaranteed of a good photo. Red lights still kill, but black and white is beautiful.

The following shots depict the beginning of the waft of smoke and finally overtaking the stage and creating some striking images as a result:

Just Before:

and here it comes

My two favorite images from the whole sequence

I often find it is the simple things that excite me, but there is nothing simple about capturing images conditions. The musician in the photo is Andrew Milea, front man for Wild Americans. He has a great look and a super groove. If you are local, stop by on a Monday night and check out the tunes. And keep your eyes peeled for some other great shows that go down at the venue.

Thanks for stopping by!

Phil

The Sun Dancers

An early morning began with the intent to get in some sunset images on a full frame body I was trying out. But I am a people person, and as we progressed throughout the afternoon, I asked my wife and daughter to join in. When they said sure, I thought getting my daughters dance team sister in the mix would be a great idea too! Little did I know that we all would be so taken with the images we created. But after all, that is always the end goal, right?

One image in particular struck a nerve for all of us, and when I shared it with her mom, one of her close friends, who just happens to be a writer, commented on it. Having previously collaborated with her on an image I asked her if she would be willing to have a go at this one.

The words were inspired by this image:

SUN DANCER

A blazing orange sunset

visits the shore.

Sun-drenched love from sea depths

kisses the chin of grace.

Pointed toes and sculpted limbs

adorn the beach

with the beauty of balance.

The audience to this sand ballet

is the surface of the sea itself –

reflecting back to the shore

a dance of freedom.

Color melts from the sky

in hues of caramel and mango.

The body moves to the rhythm

of storied waves and unfinished tales.

There is so much still to be written

with each fluid movement

of arched back

and essence reaching to the sky

in prayer.

Cristina is the Managing editor at Blue Heron Review as well as an established author. You can take in many of her poems and other writings on her writers blog.

This is our second collaboration together and if our children and mother nature are willing, we will create some more art in the future. If you would like to read the first one it can be viewed here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Phil

A little Point and Shoot at the Summer Stage

Legendary Asbury Park, NJ venue The Stony Pony kicked off their Summer Stage Outdoor series in grand fashion with a sold out show courtesy of Halestorm. Along for the ride were supporting acts The Pretty Reckless and Starset. This show had been on my radar since it was announced back in late winter and my wife had been expressing her interest in it rather enthusiastically as well. Of course I had ulterior motives with my desires.

Waiting till two days before the show to secure our tickets, the event promoter was doing the stingy with the press pass so I hit up the box office for three and made sure the Canon G12 was charged and loaded. If you live in NJ and are planning to go to a show, do yourself a favor and make the trip to the box office instead of purchasing online and paying service fees. Well, your choice, but I thought the $40 savings was pretty nice. Yes, I was bummed that my trusty steed would remain stagnant for the evening, thinking it would be a great way to start the summer, but it is what it is, move on.

We arrived to find the line wrapped around 75% of the building, holy crap. It moved fairly quick though and after a bite and a brew went to secure the spot.

but not that close as witnessed by this shot of The Pretty Reckless.

Starset was the first to hit the stage and I was not all that familiar with them but did actually know two of their songs. Very Breaking Benjamin with more Moog. I like their sound, they are brilliant minds and stand for a great cause, but I could do without the outfits.

In between all the heads, arms and cell phones in the air I managed to get a few shots off. The G12 is a great little compact camera under normal conditions. Music photography is not by any means normal. Most of the photos from the night have a rather healthy crop to them and I was pleased they did not lose that much detail when cropped.

The Pretty Reckless was next and the push forward had begun. Let the bracing begin. And the photos of people taking pictures and videos on their phones. At least no one pulled out an iPAD.

My wife and daughter got to meet and hang out a little with Lizzy Hale a couple of years ago and have been fans ever since. And of course they turned me onto them as well.

The lighting on the wings was terrible for my little shooter and they all went to the trash bin. I have become very critical of stuff and have no reservations about getting rid of files if I do not like them. Plus they take up way too much space.

This next photo I have some uneasy feelings about. I do not use the “P” word much, or maybe, and thankfully, I have not had to use it or even think it that much. BUT, look closely. Double neck, looks cool, yada, yada… However, there are six pegs on each neck…What’s up with that?

At the end there was much rejoicing and everyone was happy. Watching Lizzy’s brother Arejay on drums was awesome. One thing I did not know and thought was very cool – Their dad played bass for them when they were just starting out.

Getting to shoot and hear many of the bands coming through Asbury Park has indeed allowed me to become a bit spoiled. You can check out my musical adventures and the guys I shoot for here. I do have a few things on deck for Twilight and Dusk so I will be back soon.

Thanks for stopping by, Till next time…

Phil

A New Year, A New You

Here we are already three weeks in to the new year, so why does it feel like yesterday and why do the days go by so fast. Yeah I know, why ask why. Just take it and run with it and try and keep up. One thing I always keep up with is watching “my” dancers grow. I refer to them as my dancers mainly because they are in front of my lens for the better part of five months out of the year. I am like a proud father watching the maturation process take place throughout their years on the dance team.

Kelsey is one of the girls who has grown into not only a gorgeous and artistic dancer but has blossomed into a beautiful woman as well. She came in over the holiday season to update her head shots and capture a few portraits.

I was excited that she understood the need for a good head shot as they can be applied to so many outlets now. Social media is ripe with selfies and if you are creating a presence or portraying your personal brand the ole selfie is not the way to go. I think the one outlet that I am amazed at is LinkedIn. Holy mackerel, why do people do that to themselves? Do your self justice and have a photo that represents you. Granted my profile photo is not that great either but I just can not get my wife to press that button for me…Selfie with tools…

Back to Kelsey. I finally secured a couple of the modifiers I have been pining for and what a difference. I shoot in a somewhat confined space and I feel a medium softbox is a bit large for my purposes when it comes to head shots. A couple of strip lights do the job quite nicely.

After we had secured our head shots she sat for a few different portrait looks. One with a bit of a fine art feel to it.

And one that truly shows her spunk

And I think this one may be my favorite of the bunch

To Kelsey and the rest of my dancers best of luck in the coming months and to those of you who need to update your presence, get in touch with me and lets make the world a more attractive place.

Thanks for stopping by!

Phil

Asbury Music Awards: Photos

This one is all about the photographs.

The Asbury Music Awards were held at the Legendary The Stone Pony recently. Had an excellent time. Had an even better time capturing some amazing local bands on the Stone Pony Stage. Been wanting to shoot there for a while and finally got the chance. Almost like I was in heaven. You can find a complete list of winners here. Some of the choice shots from my night.