Shot a pretty cool outdoor photo session the other day for the excellent local Cleveland area wedding band Follow the Sun. One of the ideas from the band was a collage type box layout with all the members in a cardboard box. My brain immediately referenced the old shows, Hollywood Squares and the Brady Bunch for those of you who remember. Along with this type of shot, they also wanted a handful of other more traditional group shots.
Sometimes I like to write about things. Exciting things, boring things. Kind of an exercise in typing and word smithing that I like to keep sharpened or at least above dull. The stuff that I may blog about could be anything from a new piece of gear, a recent bottle of bourbon review, to a full breakdown of a music video shoot. I will try to blog more often for the 3 people who might read them but it really is pretty tough sometimes carving out the time. So anyway, stick around for some more ramblings of indetermination.
- Gabe
There are typically two kinds of music projects that I shoot, music promos and the music videos. Shooting 'music promos' in a live scenario is what I call, a guerilla shoot. It's dicey business. You have a challenging one shot at everything, good or bad in a matter of a brutal 30-60 minutes.
So a few months ago my friend Chris Emig of the killer Cleveland metal band Olathia contacted me and said that she wanted to shoot a new music video for her original number The Forest Witch. Being such a cool chic and an absolute gem to work with, I was of course all in. The concept was some creepy witchery elements along with some non musical acting and a performance segment shot entirely in the deep woods.
Had a blast shooting a music video for the Cleveland, OH metal band Destructor a couple of months ago. Man these guys rock & have been around the block & globe and for a long time! Such a great bunch of guys delivering the goods ever since the 80's peak metal hay day. Dave Just the frontman is the real deal and a bona fide artist. Authentic to the core.
Recently had the excellent opportunity to work with the positively electric Chris Emig from the local NE Cleveland Ohio metal band Olathia for a music video. These guys have an all-in, one speed setting…..on. It really is a pleasure to do work for such a high energy band. The song is an all-original number called Shotgun with all kinds of in-your-face kinetic metal energy going on.
So after having tried many bottles of bourbon and rye I decided it was time to actually visit where this magic juice comes from, Kentucky. The land of 95% of the world's bourbon. Since I'm from the Cleveland Ohio area the trip via car wouldn't be too much of a big deal despite the ridiculous and out of control gas prices. Our trip would be 403 miles and around 5.5 hours at a considerably brisk pace.
Recently I picked up the Primary Arms PA SLx 1X and since then I found a need for another 3x multiplier. Having thoroughly wrestled with myself on getting a LVPO versus another 3x, the magnifier route again won the competition. I will still likely get a 1-6x LVPO down the road.
So the other day I got a late season request to do an autumn, outdoor witchy photo shoot with some smoke, levitation and a little saucy creepiness. I never done one quite like this before so I was all game. It was a bit of a trick getting the schedules and weather to cooperate but
Well I thought I'd run a few thoughts on what is turning out to be my favorite distiller of the year - Lux Row Distillers. These folks seem to have this bourbon game down pretty darned well. Without getting into their entire backstory, I've found myself thoroughly enjoying their products and really look forward to grabbing up a few more of their bottles..
I recently got commissioned for a car wash shoot of a driver's drag car and a girl in a bikini. An interesting shoot that presented a few challenges - how private of a location am I shooting at? Some lighting questions as to will I be in the shade or out in the sun?
Pretty stoked about this. The Primary Arms SLx 1X MicroPrism with Red Illuminated ACSS Cyclops Gen 2 Reticle. Not a red dot. Essentially a 1x scope with an etched reticle that can be illuminated.
I recently got the very cool opportunity to shoot a music video for the electric and super sweetheart Chris Olathia, of the band Olathia. After laying some groundwork along with a few minor setbacks, a Cleveland landmark was decided on for the shoot location, the old Variety Theater.
A quick review of the DJI Ronin S video stabilizer on both the Canon 5DmkIV and the Canon C100mkII.
Totally wimping out on doing a writeup on this thing. What I can say after shooting with it for 8 hours covering a music video, this little sucker rocks. For those who say it's too heavy, work out more you pussies. This thing is a dream.
So after around two years since my foray into the whiskey drinking experiment, I believe that I have a much better understanding of the magic elixir that is whiskey. My personal breakdown of approximately 32 bottles of various sizes over a period of 20 months. So rather than do a complete blow by blow analysis, I'll give some very basic specs and a grade ranging from D- to A++.
So after a few years of closely watching the booming technology of aerial drones develop and refine, I figured finally that the tech was right around to where I think I should take the dive into a purchase. Looking closely at a few drones by DJI and knowing that they were one of the top leaders in the field, I narrowed it down to two drones by them, the 249 gram Mavic Mini and the 570 gram Mavic Air 2.
Since my foray into the recreational occupation of whiskey appreciation, I've come to the conclusion that I prefer the more zesty profiles of rye. One of the top recommendations that I've repeatedly read about is Pikesville Rye.
Being a big cigar smoker and a recent appreciator of slowing things down to gain clarity, I thought given the popularity of pairing cigars with whiskey, I'd take a deeper look into this concept of making cigar smoking an even more pleasurable & meditative experience. And so it begins...
I got commissioned for another intimate shoot by a return client the other day and she mentioned wanting a different vibe this time around. So having remembered a conversation about alternate shoot locations from a past MUA that I was working with, I decided to follow up on that lead.
About a year ago I started an Instagram page chronicling one of my favorite pastime vices - cigars. To some people smoking cigars represents a bad habit, stinkiness and filth. They're messy, they have a powerful odor that sticks to just about anything and they can be expensive. For people like myself smoking cigars really is something much deeper than a tobacco wrapper, binder & filler.
I recently had a repeat customer contact me about a group type shoot involving some bikes, girls & maybe a little graphic work for some promotional material for his band. I was more than willing to take on the task as this was pretty much right up alley.